North Alabama Congregations
Honor Ishii’s Epic Devotion

On Saturday, July 12, The Huntsville Times recognized a treasure long known to many in North Alabama Presbytery. Times reporter Sarah Pavlik wrote, “Born in Tokyo in 1929, [Washio] Ishii’s survival during World War II, conversion from Buddhism to Christianity, subsequent call to ministry, and journey to a country church in the still-segregated South read like an epic poem.” All quoted material to follow is from Pavlik’s July 12 article on Rev. Ishii.

After receiving his M. Div. in 1963, Ishii served the Madison Larger Parish in North Alabama, serving the Big Cove, Madison Crossroads and New Market congregations. “My friends from seminary told me, ‘You don’t want to go there. They are segregationist. They’ll never accept a Japanese pastor,’” Ishii remembers. “But I said, ‘Who are you to tell me not to go where God is telling me to go? He will take care of me.’”

Ishii’s composure in the face of difficult circumstances was nothing new. During World War II medical supply shortages meant he had to endure an emergency appendectomy with nothing more than a local anesthetic. Despite the distractions of war, Ishii was still expected to excel in school and choose a career that would maintain the family honor. Just weeks before Ishii was due to enter the Japanese Air Force as a Kamikaze pilot, the war mercifully ended.”

After the war, though he prospered as a stock broker with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, “the carefree ways of the American GIs he passed every day on his way to work and the big band sounds of Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller drifting through the family radio reminded him of his childhood dream to emigrate to the United States. “When I was little, I would stare out my bedroom window and wonder if the moon looked the same in America,” said Ishii. “As long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to come here.”

But the way to America would not be easy. “First I made [my father] angry for abandoning the Buddhist faith and now I was bringing the ultimate ‘omei’ (shame) upon the family. I was going to become a minister, the lowest class in Japanese society.”

Still, once he answered the call to serve the Madison Larger Parish, it became apparent that Ishii offered gifts that more than compensated for his nationality and language problems. “We were looking at the man, not his nationality. His kindness and ability made it easy to accept him,” said James Scrimshire, an organizer of the appreciation day.

His courage continues to serve Rev. Ishii. His son Timothy has been a quadriplegic since he broke his neck in the 101st Airborne 25 years ago. His wife died of heart failure shortly after Washio retired from the ministry in 1989, and he has suffered heart problems, a stroke and loss of vision in his left eye. His autobiography, The Grandson of a Samurai, under consideration for publication, is an account of his life and a meditation on his selflessness. “I have some of that Samurai blood in me because I was also dedicated to my people. I hope, like the Samurai, that I was totally devoted to my Lord.”