By R. Vincent Tupaz
For Variety

SEVERAL senators gathered last Thursday at the Guam Legislature to honor the legacy of the late Honorable Tosiwo Nakayama, the first president of the Federated States of Micronesia, through a legislative resolution.
Nakayama passed away on March 31 at the age of 75. He was laid to rest in Chuuk on April 17.
On May 15, 1979, Nakayama became the first president of the FSM. At the time, the Compact of Free Association was still under negotiation between the United States and the FSM. The Compact was enacted in 1986.
Speaker Mark Forbes, R-Sinajana, Sen. Tony Unpingco, R-Santa Rita, and Sen. James V. Espaldon, R-Tamuning, sponsors of the measure, were joined by most lawmakers of the 29th Guam Legislature in presenting the gesture of condolence. Samson Pretrich, Counsel General of the Federated States of Micronesia, accepted the resolution on behalf of the FSM and the Nakayama family.
Forbes called Nakayama a statesman and described him as an honorable founding father of the FSM as he relayed his deepest sympathies to the Nakayama family.
Resolution 23 was adopted during session on April 9. Espaldon was joined by Sen. Frank F. Blas Jr., R-Barrigada, Vice Speaker Eddie J. B. Calvo, R-Maite, Forbes and all members in proffering the resolution.
Nakayama studied at the University of Hawaii’s Manoa campus. Nakayama was active in political life, both in his own district and at the territorial level. He served in the Truk District Legislature as a member from Ulul and was president in 1960-61. He was elected to the Council of Micronesia in 1962 and 1963. In January 1965, he was elected to the House of Delegates of the Congress of Micronesia.
At the House of Delegates’ organizational meeting, he was elected its president. In June 1961, Nakayama served as Micronesian Advisor to the United States Delegation to the United Nations Trusteeship Council. In 1965, Nakayama won election to the House of Delegates (later Senate) of the Congress of Micronesia. In 1973, he succeeded Amata Kabua of the Marshall Islands as president of this legislative body.
More than any other individual, Nakayama is credited with managing the complex, sensitive political negotiations on Saipan in 1975 that resulted in a national constitution for the different Micronesian states or districts that made up the then Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.