STEERE GIKAKU NODA
(1892-1986)
Founder of Asahi Nisei Baseball Team.
In addition to serving as treasurer, manager and
captain of the early Asahis, Steere Gikaku Noda was the team's first pitching and hitting
star.
In the course of winning 15 championships in the Hawai'i Baseball
League, the Asahis served as goodwill ambassadors throughout the Pacific Region. In
addition to trips to Japan and the Philippines, the Asahis were the first American team
invited to play in Taiwan.
In 1968, Asahi founder Noda was awarded the Fifth Class Order of the
Rising Sun by the Japanese government for his role in promoting goodwill and friendship,
beginning with the Asahis' first Japan trip in 1905. For his dedication to amateur sports,
he also was rewarded La Croix De Chevalier Avec Ruban from the French government.
He was a graduate of Mid Pacific High School, a delegate to the 1950
State Constitutional Convention, a member of the Territorial House of Representatives from
1948 - 1958 and served in the Senate in 1958. |