Japanese in Utah

Masashi Goto monument. Salt Lake Group Restores Memorial to Issei Aviator: The memorial to Masashi Goto. Angeles aviator who died on July 4, 1929 when his plane crashed in Utah's Uinta mountains, was re-erected on Sept. 9, 1950 at a site 16 miles west of Francis, Utah. The restoration project was sponsored by the Salt Lake JACL chapter with the assistance of the State of Utah which supplied the wrecker which raised the 3,000 pound stone from the creek bed where it had lain since it was toppled from its original base during World War II. The granite memorial was erected on a new site at a fork in the Wolf Creek summit road, across the creek bed from its original site. Prayers were read by the Rev. Terakawa of the Buddhist church and the Rev. Ota of the Japanese Christian church in Salt Lake City. Henry Y. Kasai arranged with Governor Lee and the State Road Commission for the use of the wrecker. George Mochizuki, president of the Salt Lake chapter, and Bill Mizuno, together with members of the staff of the Utah Nippo, participated in the restoration ceremony. The Japanese aviator crashed near the site of the memorial shortly after leaving Salt Lake City on July 4, 1929 on a projected flight across the land areas of the earth from Los Angeles to Tokyo. His body was not found until four days after the crash. Goto's tiny plane, 20 feet long and 14 feet wide, was constructed in a garage in Venice, Calif. It was designed by a friend, Takeo Watanabe, who originally had planned to make the flight with Goto until limited funds dictated the construction of a smaller plane. Goto helped raise money for the flight by working as a gardener. At the time the stone was originally dedicated by the Japanese Association of Utah the frame of the Goto plane was set in concrete as a part of the memorial. No trace was found of the frame near the memorial site.