David 'Mas' Masumoto: Opinion Columns & Blogs

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Navy and Marine commission officers toss their hats as they celebrate during the USNA Class of 2018 Graduation at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Friday, May 25, 2018 in Annapolis, Maryland. Bee columnist David Masumoto says the graduates of 2018 are considered “dragon children” under the Chinese zodiac.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Here’s to the class of 2018, full of ‘dragon children’ ready to succeed

According to the Chinese zodiac, “dragon babies” are predestined for great prosperity. They are ambitious, superb leaders, bright and driven to realize their dreams. They have endless energy, and are charming and glamorous.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

It’s time that the San Joaquin Valley becomes the ‘other line’

Waiting, being patient, accept delays, writes David “Mas” Masumoto. We in the Valley have often heard these excuses as the larger cities and coastal regions of the state were often higher priority for public funds, foundation support and educational initiatives.

Water runs over rocks in the Merced River in Yosemite National Park as the snow melts. The experts at the PPIC Water Policy Center created a “Water Playlist” to share their thoughts on the state’s return of drought.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

And now from California, a little water music, and other songs for these dry times

The experts at the PPIC Water Policy Center turn to music to share their thoughts on the return of drought.

We are all interconnected. So are our good intentions, including the resolutions we make on New Year’s Day.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Why your New Year’s resolution matters to me

We are all interconnected. So are our good intentions, our words and our deeds.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

We should share more than a meal on Thanksgiving. Here’s how we can break the ice

David “Mas” Masumoto reflects on Thanksgivings full of food, football and shopping and wonders: How can we get good conversation back in the picture?

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Discovering the power in our local, authentic stories

Disasters dominate our attention, but there are local stories to discover that inspire and deserve to be told and retold.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Un-natural disasters we often bring on ourselves

David “Mas” Masumoto column: Hurricanes, wildfires, epic flooding: In imagining we can control nature, we forget to plan.

Giorgio, an 11-year-old Havanese, with his past certificates and achievements at the Yale Canine Cognition Center in New Haven, Conn. Researchers in canine cognition are engaged in numerous tantalizing debates about the extent to which dogs are unique among animals, and how their brains work.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

I talk to our farm dogs, and Science says they understand me

New research has discovered dogs process words more like humans: they listen not only to the words but how you say them, writes David Mas Masumoto.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

On farming and the art of repair, and extending the lives of old things

I’ve joined a green wave of a recycling business model, writes peach farmer David Mas Masumoto of Del Rey. “We have learned to live with things old.”

Mas Masumoto, Del Rey farmer and author, has found that just sitting and listening to folks on their farms opens people up to telling their stories. And that is a very cool trend today on radio and podcasts.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

‘I discovered that listening is love’ – the priceless art of storytelling

We must ask and listen, collect and preserve memories for ourselves, our families, our communities, our nation.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

In Trump landscape, 1970s book ‘Rules for Radicals’ is a playbook for both sides

“Rules for Radicals,” Saul Alinsky’s handbook for changing America in the 1060s and 1970s, has applications in today’s political world, writes David “Mas” Masumoto. This presidency invites and encourages strategies of confrontation. And conveniently, it could also pose as a primer for new progressives as they fight against the current state of affairs. Imagine, a rule book for both sides.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Who belongs here and who doesn’t?

Columnist David “Mas” Masumoto: During the first months of our new president, the question of belonging hangs over many. Sadly, those impacted the most are often invisible, hidden precisely because they do not feel like they belong. Belonging is personal. You feel like you belong. You develop a sensibility, staying in places you know you are welcomed. With belonging comes belief that you have a right to be here.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Remembering the pain and shame of Japanese American internment

David “Mas” Masumoto column: For Japanese Americans, Feb. 19, 1942 marks the day 110,000 Americans were denied their rights as citizens and imprisoned. His father, a quiet, reserved man, quietly shared a bitter memory of feeling abandoned by America. Through it, Masumoto more deeply understands his family’s history.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

That’s not true: Stand guard against internet’s fake news virus

We now live in a different media world with web-generated information. Based on information he had read online, one man believed a Washington, D.C., pizzeria housed an international Satanic child sex ring with the Democratic party as the evil center. He broke in and shot employees.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

What kind of legacy are you creating?

Many smart people have said many different things about legacies. Award-winning author and Valley farmer David “Mas” Masumoto has thought a lot lately about what he will leave behind.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

My father’s Cubbies

My father understood there are more losers than winners in baseball and in life. The Cubs taught him that.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Farms and food forgotten in 2016 campaign

There was a time that the rural vote mattered in national elections. Presidential candidates carefully crafted an ag policy agenda as they barnstormed across the nation campaigning for the farm vote. That’s not the case anymore.

Oklahoma employs a public notice of voters that a study shows raises the number of people who register and vote. A person with a bag over their head.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Voter shaming: What if the neighbors knew you didn’t vote?

Are you more likely to vote if everyone knows? We live in an increasingly public and transparent world. We are more likely to comply when people are watching.

This military memorial service took place in 1944 at the Gila River Relocation Center for Japanese Americans located about 30 miles southeast of Phoenix. From left to right, the Furukawa, Komoto and Masumoto families.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

My grandmother became a Gold Star Mother while held captive

My grandmother accepted the flag of a fallen son while held captive because of her face. A Gold Star mother loses her No. 1 son and spends the rest of her life bewildered because America is where they take freedom away from you. Yet despite the racism, my family returned to California and this valley, worked hard in the fields and struggled to re-establish their identity as Americans.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

Finding the right words to say ‘Happy Birthday’ with meaning

My wife celebrated a special birthday this year, so I searched for the best birthday wish I could find. I hoped to avoid the typical clichés and in the process discovered that extending appropriate birthday wishes can be a challenge.

David 'Mas' Masumoto

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