September 2020
Dept. of Transportation Monthly Newsletter
Connecting the DOTs... Remembering Former DOT Director Dr. Fujio Matsuda
By: Brandon Hee
Dr. Fujio Matsuda recently passed away. He was our Director of HDOT in 1963 through 1973.
I thanked him for that compliment, as it was only since 2014 that I started studying philosophy.
I met him at Moiliili Hongwanji when I was a guest speaker on October 8, 2017.
After the initial meeting, I would see Dr. Matsuda at other Hongwanji events, and I would say hi to him, and he would always then ask who I am, and I would reply that I am the one that talked about how Star Wars
Dr. Matsuda came up to me after the service to talk. He said, “I hear you work at HDOT. Do you know who I am?” I said, “Sorry, no, I do not.” He said, “I was the Director of HDOT, but you may have not been born at the time. When were you born?” I said, “1969.” He said, “Well, you should know I was the President of UH from 1974 to 1984.” I said that was also before I went to UH and was not aware of what happened before I went to UH. Dr. Matsuda told me that I am more of a philosopher than an engineer.
relates to Buddhism.
He would then say, “Oh yes, the philosopher.” I would just smile back. I wanted him to hear my first Dharma message presented in 2015 talking about the movie “The Last Samurai,” but never got him to critique it. I miss this man who is so likable, approachable, decent, and honorable. He would have made a good president of our See MATSUDA on page 2
