| Mamoru Eto | |
 Eto in October 1990 at the age of 107 | |
| Birth: | 3 February 1883 Taketa, Oita Prefecture, Japan |
| Death: | 16 February 1992 Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Age: | 109 years, 13 days |
| Country: |  JPN USA
|
| Centenarian | |
Mamoru Eto [Etō] [Japanese: 衛藤衛] (3 February 1883 – 16 February 1992) was a Japanese-American missionary and centenarian who was the last known Russo-Japanese War veteran.
Biography[]
Mamoru Eto was born in Taketa, Oita Prefecture, Japan on 3 February 1883. He graduated from Kobe First Middle School and Nihon Taiiku Daigaku.
He recruted to the 12th Division of Imperial Japanese Army in 1903. He participated in the Battle of Liaoyang during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904.
He moved to the United States in 1917 to study physical education. He worked as an agricultural laborer, farmer, and gardener before becoming a Christian lay minister of the First Japanese Nazarene Church in Pasadena, California.
He married Kura Tada in 1914. The couple had 10 children: Hitoko (1915–1994), Ken (1919–2004), Daniel (born 1920), Joseph (born 1921), Mitsuko (1923–2008); Mary (born 1926), Esther (1928–1988), Moses (born 1929), Davi (born 1931) and Ruth (born 1931).
In 1933, he quarreled with his son Ken (later known as Joe Tanaka), who left home and later becoming a mafia. His wife returned to Japan in 1933 and died there in 1942. He was ordained as a Nazarene Church minister in 1946.
He became the last known Russo-Japanese War veteran, following the death of 110-year-old Eiju Tsuru on 11 January 1990. He became the oldest known living man born in Japan, following the death of 108-year-old Gihei Oka on 20 September 1991.
Eto died in Los Angeles, California, USA on 16 February 1992 at the age of 109 years, 13 days. Following his death, then-107-year-old Gengan Tonaki became the oldest known living man born in Japan.
Gallery[]
References[]
- Family registrations Ancestry
- Receiving first reparations check NMAH, 9 October 1990
- Breaking the Long Silence : Mamoru Eto Los Angeles Times, 25 November 1990
- 連載 神戸秘話 ④ 牧師の息子は稀代のギャングスター Kobecco
- Finding Aid for the Reverend Eto Mamoru Papers, 1918-1991