Danny Yamashiro

Daniel Keauhou Matsu Yamashiro ( ; born December 5, 1967) is an American author, guest lecturer at Harvard, a chaplain at MIT, researcher, clergyman, and podcast host who survived a fall from the Nuʻuanu Pali ridge in Honolulu, Hawaii, at 18. He is the first scholar to present aggregate data on childhood trauma as it relates to American presidents. Yamashiro also produced the first comprehensive study on American presidents that investigates the influence of religious development from a lens of trauma. Yamashiro had "a lonely childhood" as the youngest of four children in Moanalua, a residential area nestled between Fort Shafter and Tripler Army Medical Center. An American of Hawaiian, Okinawan, and Chinese ancestry, he is the great-grandson of Honolulu detective Chang Apana, inspiration of the Hollywood character Charlie Chan by Earl Derr Biggers. Yamashiro graduated from Iolani School, an institution affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States, in 1986.

Education Yamashiro matriculated at Harvard Extension School and earned a Master of Liberal Arts degree with a concentration in Government from Harvard University. He graduated on May 25, 2017, at Harvard's 366th commencement. An interview by Harvard described Yamashiro's journey to Cambridge from Honolulu. His thesis, Religious Influences on Crisis Presidential Decision-Making: A New Belief in the Operational Code Analysis of George W. Bush (2017), under the direction of David F. Holland from Harvard Divinity School, was featured at Harvard's annual ALM Thesis Symposium.

He attended the University of Oxford Theology Summer School at Christ Church, Oxford, England (2018, 2019), conducted research at ten presidential library archives (NARA),

Career Novelist Anela's Club by D. K. Yamashiro was published by Koehler Books in 2024. In 2025, the novel was named winner for Young Adult Fiction by the American Writing Awards.

Chaplain In 2021, Danny Yamashiro became a chaplain at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also co-chairperson of the Cambridge Roundtable on Science and Religion. The John Templeton Foundation sponsored program hosts meals each semester at the Harvard Faculty Club for MIT and Harvard faculty and colleagues from nearby schools and colleges to discuss topics on science, philosophy, and religion.

Researcher Yamashiro's scholarly work on American presidents and childhood trauma utilizes an interdisciplinary approach in the social sciences that involves educational psychology, presidential history, and religious education in exploring influences on children's developmental trajectory toward leadership formation. His investigations are theoretically grounded in the writings of Lev Vygotsky. His podcasts are heard on major podcast platforms. Yamashiro also hosts A Slice of The Good Life which airs daily throughout the United States, internationally in Ontario, Canada; Kent, England; and Malaybalay City, Philippines and formerly aired in Greater Los Angeles on Salem Communications 99.5 KKLA-FM. Since 2008 Yamashiro has hosted Hawaii's only locally based daily Christian radio talk show, The Good Life Hawaii, on Salem Communications 99.5 KGU-FM,

Evangelist and pastor In 1993, he founded Jesus Christ Is Calling You Evangelistic Ministry, Inc. (JCCY) and launched a series of large-scale revival tent meetings throughout Hawaii. Since 1998, his organization formed Paradise Global Mission and expanded to reach several countries worldwide with medical and dental clinics, sports clinics and numerous forms of humanitarian aid by supporting the work of Christian churches in rural locations.

He was the founding pastor of Christ's Church at Kapolei, affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America, and served as senior pastor for nine years (1998–2007).

Awards and associations Yamashiro won the Harvard Extension School Commencement Speaker Prize (2017). He was awarded Biola University's Young Alumni Award (2000) and has received numerous certificates of recognition from the Hawaii Senate, Hawaii House of Representatives, Honolulu City Council and the Mayor of Honolulu, Jeremy Harris. Yamashiro was selected for the Pacific Century Fellows and offered a prayer at a celebratory dinner hosted by the Governor of Hawaii, Benjamin Cayetano at the historic "Washington Place" (1999).

Danny Yamashiro is ordained by the Evangelical Free Church of America.

Personal life Yamashiro is married to Jamie (née Tokuda) Yamashiro. They have three children: Allie, Hugh and Luke.

On December 22, 1985, while attempting to rescue his stranded girlfriend from a mountain-climbing fall, Yamashiro slipped and fell head first and later another . The second fall took place during a rescue effort and was captured on film. It aired on newscasts throughout Hawaii. He suffered severe head injuries, skull fractures, multiple tears in his scalp, a shattered ankle, damaged organs, extensive lacerations, and became comatose.

On May 25, 2017, Yamashiro delivered Harvard Extension School's commencement address, titled "Falling 400 Feet."

Works Books Yamashiro has authored the following books:

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Academic Articles