Shogo Moriyama ’54 has died.

He was born on January 7, 1930, in Itsubu, Naze City, O’Shima Gun, Ryuku Islands. He prepared for college at O’Shima Boys’ High School and 7th High School in Kagoshima-Ken, Japan. He was fresh out of high school in 1946 when the Ryuku Islands separated from Japan and a U.S. military government was established. He became the country’s only native interpreter and was considered largely responsible for smoothing tense post-war relations between the military government and the native residents. He served as an administrative assistant in the government and legal section of the Anami Civil Administration Team from 1946 to 1950. In 1950, he enrolled at Bowdoin with the Institute of International Education under the Exchange Visitor Program, and joined Kappa Sigma fraternity. In the summer of 1951, he served as the interpreter for a finance delegation to Washington, D.C., from the Ryukyu Islands, and then returned to Bowdoin after successfully petitioning for a one-year extension from the Institute. He won a second extension and intended to return for the 1952-53 school year, but he was unable to when the Ryuku Islands were returned to Japanese jurisdiction. He returned home to his former position with the Anami Civil Administration Team. From 1955 to 1957, he worked as the manager of Adams and Co. Ltd. In Tokyo before establishing his own Tokyo-based import/ export business – Ishioka and Company – specializing in importing English woolens and exporting Japanese goods to United States, Europe, and Hong Kong. In 1980, he opened a boutique in Hawaii, where he had a second home. He enjoyed golf, and was a member of the Hakone Country Club in Kanagawa-Ken, Japan. He married Fumi Takayasu in 1956, and they had a daughter Michiyo and a son Takashi.