James “Jimmy” Katsuhide Asato passed away on May 11, 2022 at the age of 94. Before beginning his career at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM) in 1958, Asato was a running back on the university’s football team.

Asato started as a health and physical education instructor and retired as an Assistant Professor and Chair of the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) program. For more than three decades, he taught classes in everything from basketball, swimming, tennis, golf, and volleyball to coaching and teaching team sports.

Born in Makawao, Maui, Asato was passionate about football from an early age. In addition to teaching, he served as a UHM assistant football coach for eight years and as the head coach from 1961 to 1963. Before his retirement in 1990, he was inducted into the university’s Sports Hall of Honor for his contributions to the UH football program.