YOKOTA’S LENGTH OF SERVICE HONOREES

30

YEARS

NORIO AKIYAMA

IT ASSISTANT

Force Support Squadron

Norio Akiyama has worked for United States Forces Japan for 31 years. He started as a warehouse worker for the Commissary in 1990 before moving to the Civil Engineer Squadron working as pest control. In 1992 he started his job as an IT Assistant, working to troubleshoot systems. Mr. Akiyama can recall the early years when there were no computers in any offices. Now more than 30 years later, technology hasn’t been the only thing that’s evolved and changed. “Coming onto base everything looked like little old America – there has been big changes since.” Even though the environment and culture of Yokota has changed throughout the years, Mr. Akiyama’s favorite parts of his job have stayed the same. Working on computers, printers and restoring connections for personnel on base all while making his own personal connections along the way. “30 years is long, but to me it’s not really long – I’m glad to be here for so long and share the culture between Japan and the US.” Masatoshi Abe was in technical school when he found an opening for appliance maintenance in Yokota’s Civil Engineer Squadron. Since 1990, Mr. Abe has worked for United States Forces Japan as a domestic appliance repairer. He remembers when the base buildings were built out of wood and when the Commissary and Exchange were separate buildings. But while Yokota has changed, the military families and their needs haven’t. Despite the language barrier, Mr. Abe still enjoys seeing happy customers after he’s fixed their appliances. He recalls, when he first started, his supervisor at the time was chosen to be recognized for this award. Now that it’s his turn – 30 years later, it’s a bittersweet feeling. Mr. Abe attributes his length of service to his supportive relationships and leadership, without them he wouldn’t be receiving this award for his service.

30

YEARS

MASATOSHI ABE

DOMESTIC APPLIANCE REPAIRER FOREMAN A

Civil Engineer Squadron

The Length-of-Service Award recognizes employees with 10, 20, 30 and 40 years of service to the United States Forces Japan. Norio Akiyama, Masatoshi Abe and Koji Ohshima are just three of the 190 host nation MLC/IHA civilian employees being recognized within the North Kanto region from Air Force, Army, Navy and AAFES agencies. The government of Japan Ministry of Defense along with the United States Forces Japan joint-hosted 2021 Length-of-Service Award Ceremony for the local national MLC/IHA workforce was canceled due to Covid-19.

30

YEARS

KOJI OHSHIMA

WATER PLANT OPERATOR

Civil Engineer Squadron

Koji Ohshima started working at the Yokota Commissary in 1990 before transferring to the Water Plant Operations a year later. He has since worked as a Water Plant Operator, checking pumps, water quality and making sure the systems are working properly for our community. He recalls a time when his work on the current electronic based system was all handwritten on paper. But Mr. Ohshima has enjoyed learning new things and refreshing his knowledge on new equipment. It can be a thankless job but as Mr. Ohshima noted, he is grateful that many people do not know about his job because that means he’s doing it correctly.