Reportedly, the contract for the sale of the Cubs from the Wrigley family to the Chicago Tribune in 1981 included a clause to guarantee Kawano a job for life with the Cubs. Former Cubs player and enshrined member of the Baseball Hall of Fame Ryne Sandberg has suggested that if the Cubs were ever to change the name of Wrigley Field, that the ballpark should be named Yosh Kawano Field. Sandberg also thanked Kawano in his Hall of Fame induction speech
On June 16, 2008, Kawano donated his trademark fishing hat to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
According to the June 3rd, 1943, issue of The Sporting News, Kawano's first baseball job was as batboy for the Chicago White Sox during their California spring training that season. This assignment brought him reprieve from an internment camp for Japanese citizens. Kawano had been interned at the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona.
In all, Kawano worked under 37 Cubs managers, 12 general managers and two owners.