By P.C. Staff
The San Francisco Japanese American Citizens League announces that applications are now being accepted for the 2015 Masanori “Mashi” Murakami athletic and academic scholarships.
Four scholarships of $2,000 each will be awarded to deserving applicants by the San Francisco JACL and Fred Tanaka and Jack Sakazaki, co-chairs of the Masanori Murakami Golf Tournament.
Applications are now available to Northern California and Central California college students of Japanese ancestry who carry a grade-point average of 3.0 and above and are a member of a college team.
The scholarships are named in honor of Murakami, who, 50 years ago, became the first Japanese baseball player in Major League Baseball. In 1964, he made his debut as a relief pitcher with the San Francisco Giants after being sent over to the United States by the Nankai Hawks.
Murakami’s successful experience in the MLB paved the away for future generations of Japanese stars such as Hiroki Kuroda, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki and Yu Darvish.
The deadline to apply for a scholarship is Sept. 30.
For more information and an application, contact the San Francisco JACL at sfjacl@yahoo.com.
