Autographs
Over the years opportunities to get celebrity autographs presented themselves. Some of these were received personally and others were obtained through the kindness of others.
Robin Williams was an award winning actor and comedian who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and continued living here until his passing. His ability to engage audiences with his performances
or make them laugh hysterically was unequaled. During the years I owned Comics And Da-Kind (Jan. 1998 - June 2001) he would occasionally stop by to take a look around at all the latest pop
culture items for sale. He enjoyed manga (Japanese comics), movie based action figures (particularly those made by McFarlane Toys), and anything else that was new and popular.
I was lucky he found my store at all as it happened to be right in between two other stores he frequented. He enjoyed the latest video game console at the time made by Sony called the Playstation. A
few blocks up the street was a game store that sold all the latest games from Japan. He would stop there to see what was new and then would head down the street to a laser disc store (remember, this
was the late 90's). Right in between those two stores was my store (luckily, I was on the same side of the street). So, on the days he was looking for video games or the most recent movie release, he
would always stop in to my store to see what was new and hot.
Robin Williams was the nicest person who always had something to say to folks who recognized him. It was his kindness that allowed him to walk (or bike) the streets of San Francisco without an entourage
or private security. He wasn't the manic personality he portrayed on screen or television. He was just one of the nicest people (who happened to have world wide fame) I ever met.
Robin Williams receipt
Lane Nishikawa is an award winning playwright who wrote, directed, and acted in "Only the Brave", a 2006 motion picture about the 100th/442nd Infantry Battalion in WWII. This movie starred a who's
who of Asian actors at the time - Jason Scott Lee, Tamlyn Tomita, Pat Noriyuki Morita, Mark Dacascos, and my cousin Garret Sato. While never theatrically released, "Only the Brave" made the rounds at
multiple film festivals, had a run on Netflix as well as multiple pay cable stations, and can now be seen on both Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
"Only the Brave" is an important film that reveals what Japanese Americans endured and sacrificed during the war. It was lavishly produced with grants from the California Civil Liberties Public
Education Program and donations from families of the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service via the National Japanese American Historical Society. To ensure
this movie would be made, the actors worked for less than scale so the injustices faced by Japanese Americans during WWII would never happen again.
Back in May 2010, Nakayoshi Gakko had a screening of "Only the Brave" at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple to raise funds for the school. Lane Nishikawa made an appearance to introduce the screening
and answer questions at the end. It was during this screening that I was able to ask him if he would sign my dvd.
Cousin Garret had a role in this film. He played a soldier named Richard "Hilo" Imamura. He can be seen extensively in the poker sequence acting with Jason Scott Lee and Mark Decascos.
Lane Nishikawa (Only the Brave dvd)
Cast of Only the Brave (2006).
June Kuramoto is the acclaimed koto player from the jazz band, Hiroshima. She also released a number of solo albums, two of which are pictured here. My brother Joel got these for me.
June Kuramoto (Spirit and Soul) |
June Kuramoto (The Way of Tea) |
Kalapana is an award winning contemporary band from Hawaii. Formed in the early 1970's the group has evolved over the years and continues to perform to this day. Their many hits are considered
island staples and are required tracks in any contemporary Hawaiian music collection. In October of 2019 the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin held a fundraiser to support their "Generations" campaign.
This ongoing project is to help fund their seismic upgrading and renovations of various buildings. Kalapana performed a one-night benefit concert for the temple followed by a meet and greet at the
Hukilau restaurant afterward.
Kalapana |
Kalapana (A Tribute to Malani) |
Back in the early 2000's contemporary Hawaiian music was all the rage particularly on the west coast among people with ties to the islands. Musical groups like Na Leo Pilimehana, Colon (with ukelele
master Jake Shimabukuro), Ten Feet, and Kalapana would make the trip to California to perform. Future concerts would also include other island talents such as Kapena, Sean Na'auao, and Keali'i Reichel.
Na Leo Pilimehana
Jake Shimabukuro
Of course, if there's going to be an autograph page on this website it wouldn't be complete without some Star Trek examples. Here are a few I've been able to collect over the years. The first is from
the First Lady of Star Trek, Majel Barrett Roddenberry. I met her at the San Diego Comic-Con and remember her as being very friendly and gracious. Second is Mr. Sulu himself, George Takei. Jordyn met him
in Los Angeles after his performance in "Allegiance" and got his autograph for me. Next is Jonathan Frakes, Commander William Riker from Star Trek The Next Generation. He used to be the spokesman for a
company Deb worked for, Boole and Babbage. Once a year he would come to Silicon Valley to host the big company all-hands meeting. Deb ran out to Toys R Us, bought this action figure, and had him sign
it for me. Lastly, is Grace Lee Whitney, Yeoman Janice Rand from Star Trek the original series. She was appearing at a local comic book convention where I was selling action figures at the time.
Majel Barrett Roddenberry |
George Takei |
Jonathan Frakes |
Grace Lee Whitney |
This is an interesting autograph gotten at an airport in Hawaii. My parents and uncle were travelling inter-island and were waiting to board their plane. While at the gate my uncle recognized an old
classmate and said "Hi" to her. As it turns out, she was an executive for a company and was escorting a VIP who was travelling to make a public appearance at Shirokiya. The VIP was Ban Daisuke, the
star of the 1970's Kikaida TV show. Kikaida in Hawaii during the '70's was a huge hit for local TV station KIKU. Just about every kid in Hawaii knew who Kikaida was and his popularity knew no bounds.
Now, decades later a DVD set was being released by local media company JN Productions, Inc. Daisuke-san was busy promoting the release by making appearances all over the islands. Not to let an opportunity
go by, my mom told my uncle to get his autograph for me. So, my uncle (a Vietnam veteran, Bronze Star recipient, who attained the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army) asked Kikaida for his autograph for
his 40-something year old nephew.
Ban Daisuke - Kikaida
When we visit Hawaii we always have things we need to do besides see family and friends. We have to eat lunch at Rainbow Drive-In, we have to eat dinner at Side Street, Deb has to get shave ice,
the kids always have to go swimming at Grandpa's and Grandma's condo, and I always have to visit the swap meet at Aloha Stadium to buy t-shirts. In 2014 while looking around the swap meet we happened
upon an area with lots of Hawaii Five-0 signs and posters. As we neared a table in the midst of all this paraphernalia someone approached us and asked if we would like to meet Taylor Wily (Kamekona) of
Hawaii Five-0 fame. We were, "SURE! YES! DEFINITELY!". In a matter of minutes Taylor came walking over from the parking lot and signed this sticker and took pictures with us. We were really
surprised and excited to meet him.
Taylor Wily - Hawaii Five-0
Ran, Taylor Wily, and Deb
Just before I moved on from comic book retailing, customers would come by to say, "Good-bye". One customer was professional comic book inker, Walden Wong. Walden has gone on to become one of the
most prolific inkers in the industry. He's won mulitple Inkwell Awards including, Most Adaptable Inker and Favorite Inker. One of the nicest gifts I received was an autographed copy of Superboy #86
that he inked. This gift was made even more special because he found a way to really personalize it for me. On page 17 Superboy can be seen crashing through a large storefront window resulting in cans
and boxes being strewn all about. One of the items, if you look close enough, says "R SATO" on it. I was really surprised and honored to have my name on a page in a comic book.
Superboy #86 |
Page 17 |
Black and white stat.
Black and white stat close-up.
Back in September of 2017 we scored free tickets to the San Francisco Comic Con (thanks Tommy!). One of my closest friends, Dave, picked up Connor and me, and with his kids in tow we all headed down
to the Moscone Center in San Francisco. This comic book convention was perhaps the only major convention held in San Francisco in years. WonderCon used to be held annually at the Moscone, but due to
scheduling conflicts moved to Anaheim and never came back. At any rate, it was great attending a big convention in San Francisco again. I recall there were a number of special guests signing
autographs at the con like Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Firefly), Ray Park (Darth Maul, X-Men), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), and comic book artist Neal Adams. I felt this was my
best chance of scoring an autograph from one of my favorite comic artists, so when I saw his table I went straight over and bought a poster for him to sign.
Batman #232 poster
There are more autographs in the Sports page.
