Mike Masaru Masaoka (Japanese: 正岡 優, October 15, 1915 – June 26, 1991) was a Japanese-American lobbyist, author, and spokesman.

[1] When Masaoka was young, his family moved to Salt Lake City, where he legally changed his first name to "Mike" and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[4] Masaoka was one of the primary drivers of the JACL's policy of cooperation with the Japanese American internment plan during the war, believing that resistance would be counterproductive and increase the tension between the Nisei and the FDR Administration.

[5] He also advocated for "problematic" internees to be separated from the rest of the people in the camps so that they would not stir up trouble among the masses, though the War Relocation Authority cast the net more broadly than Masaoka had anticipated.

[16][5] Masaoka lobbied for the JACL until 1972, working on issues related to immigration and naturalization laws, as well as civil rights.

[14] During this period, Masaoka partnered with Latino community organizations in his civil rights advocacy and joined Martin Luther King Jr.'s August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

[19] Masaoka was awarded the Third Class Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government on October 31, 1958 as part of the Meiji Centennial celebrations.

[20][21] This was allegedly the highest honor bestowed on any American-born Japanese, and Masaoka was the youngest person to ever receive the medal.

Masaoka noted with ironic humor that, unlike Moses, he led his people on a journey from the promised land of California to desert internment camps.