Preserving California's Japantowns
Preserving California's Japantowns
is the first statewide inventory of historic resources associated with Japantowns or Nihonmachi in California. Sponsored by the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council and funded by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, the project is focusing upon nearly 50 California communities.An Expert Advisory Committee helped to select the communities for study to reflect the geographic, cultural and economic diversity of California's pre-World War II Japanese American communities. The forced removal and incarceration of all Japanese Americans living on the West Coast during WWII severely disrupted the development of California's Japantowns, with many of the local enclaves never regaining their pre-war vitality. New development pressures, closures of long-time community businesses, and loss of the Nisei (second) generation who returned to and rebuilt their communities after WWII have also contributed to the vulnerability of these once vital hubs of community identity.
The project aims to raise widespread recognition of California's historic Japantowns by extensive community involvement, including enlisting local participation in identifying the resources and fostering local stewardship. Project Director Donna Graves and Project Manager Jill Shiraki engaged community members and volunteers in some areas to gather information and document the resources. Elsewhere, a series of community meetings have drawn upon the memories of individuals who grew up in these Japantowns, sometimes augmented by treasured family photographs, to amplify details of these vanished centers of cultural tradition.
The results of the Preserving California's Japantowns project have broadened public awareness and encouraged the preservation of places and memories significant to historic Japanese American communities across California. The project's collaboration with community members, a website at www.californiajapantowns.org, and extensive news coverage are inspiring better stewardship of California's Japantowns and a tool to plan for preservation and interpretation of Japanese American heritage, even in locations where that history has been "lost."
What brought you both to this project?
Donna Graves (DG) -- I first became involved in a Japantown as Executive Director of The Power of Place, a non-profit organization that worked to weave the multi-ethnic history of downtown Los Angeles into the urban fabric. Little Tokyo was an important piece of that story. Later, I worked with fellow UCLA alum, Gail Dubrow, on a book titled Sento at Sixth and Main that documented ten sites that illuminate Japanese American history on the West Coast (Gail was also involved with the initial planning for this project). I began participating in conversations that were happening in San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles about how to preserve these three remaining Japantowns. In 2005, the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council asked me to work with them to craft a funding proposal to answer the question, "Where were California's other Japantowns, and what is left of them?" We've been very fortunate to receive generous support for Preserving California's Japantowns (PCJ) from the California State Library's Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
Jill Shiraki (JS) -- Prior to PCJ, I worked on the California Nisei High School Diploma Project, a statewide effort to coordinate outreach and support for Assembly Bill 781, authored by Assembly member Sally Lieber, that retroactively grants high school diplomas to Japanese Americans whose high school years were interrupted due to the forced evacuation and internment during World War II. To witness the Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) honored through graduation ceremonies that reconnected them with their hometown was very moving; and provided me the opportunity to learn about the local history and encourage intergenerational exchange of "living history" between the honorees and the high school students on the impact of the internment. When PCJ needed someone to help as a community liaison, I was excited to continue statewide efforts to link community history and preservation advocacy with the designated Japantowns of SF, LA, and SJ. Although I have been working in the community for many years, the arena of historic preservation is new to me and I am learning from Donna Graves, alongside the community, as we explore preservation opportunities.
Was California unusual in having so many Japantowns? You are considering almost fifty in the project, how many Japantowns existed in California on the eve of WWII?
While Japantowns grew up and down the West Coast beginning in the late 19th century, California definitely had the largest population of Nikkei (people of Japanese descent) and the greatest number of Japantowns just prior to WWII. Defining "Japantown" for the purpose of this study was one of the first tasks we faced. Our goal was to encompass the diversity of Nikkei community life and we designed our survey to document a wide range of pre-war communities, from large Nihonmachi in metropolitan areas that included numerous community institutions and businesses to Japantowns with smaller populations and more limited community facilities dispersed over a rural landscape.
We began by assembling data on over seventy Japantowns that held populations of 100 or more residents. Our expert advisors helped us define criteria for selecting Japantowns for the PCJ study that encompassed the many regions of the state, and ensured that distinctive economic characteristics and cultural features associated were included. The historic population of various communities and the known presence of historic resources that could catalyze public energies toward commemoration, preservation and stewardship also influenced our selection.
As the survey unfolded, we often heard "I never thought of this as a Japantown" from people, which I believe reflects two different perspectives on their community. For non-Nikkei, the history of Japanese Americans associated with their town or city was invisible due to the radical disruption of WWII and erasure of physical signs and public memory to reconnect their histories to the place. On the other hand, some Nisei had never thought of their hometown as a Nihonmachi because they reserved that term for larger and more densely concentrated Japantowns. Yet we believed that a broader definition of Japantown allowed this project to capture the stories and physical remnants of the many Nikkei enclaves throughout the state that proved significant to Japanese American heritage and the history of California and the nation.
Has the community-based aspect of your fact-gathering been well received and have you ferreted out any information that surprised you?
JS - We have discovered community treasures through our meetings with Nisei who often have amazing recall and stories of pre-World War II community life. Yet, sadly, Japanese American communities are rapidly losing their elders and community memory. We have had the opportunity to record several place-based interviews and continue to encourage local efforts to record their community history. Our research trips have uncovered archival and research materials that have limited access and distribution. Thus, the on-line bibliography on our website is our attempt to share these resources more widely.
Meeting with community advocates and enlisting their volunteer support in our initial survey work helped to establish local support for the documentation and advocacy of the historic Japantowns. We were amazed to find numerous historic buildings intact and have begun conversations on the importance of Nikkei community history, opportunities for preservation, and the links to be made to local resources and statewide efforts.
A group tour of historic Japantown in Lodi, CA
DG – One of my favorite examples is that of Lodi's historic Japantown. Located in a fertile agricultural area between San Francisco and Sacramento, Lodi had a large population of Japanese immigrants and their children who worked in local vineyards and farms. Lodi's Japantown, which included boarding houses, stores, restaurants, a tofu maker and a pharmacy, was centered on Main Street between the Buddhist Church and railroad tracks and packing sheds that shipped local produce across the US.
When Jill and I first came to Lodi, we found a remarkable collection of intact historic structures, -- the most concentrated of any in our survey. But there is nothing that tells you "this was Japantown" and the City had not designated any of these early 20th-century structures as landmarks. Our project inspired an equally remarkable group of local volunteers who have identified a potential historic district and begun to raise awareness about Lodi's Japanese American heritage. We recently heard that Lodi's Buddhist Church and the City's Art in Public Places program are partnering to sponsor a mural that will illustrate the Japanese American heritage of the area.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose are recognized as having the most intact Japantowns today, what were some of the other primary population centers for Japanese Americans in California?
The studio of famed artist Chiura Obata. Berkeley, CA
DG - San Diego, Sacramento and Oakland all had very robust Japantowns with over 1,000 residents in the 1930s. But we found throughout California that often residents of one Japantown were connected to adjacent communities, so the boundaries weren't rigidly defined. For example, Fresno's Japantown served as the cultural, social, political and commercial hub for Nikkei in smaller Japantowns in the Central Valley such as Fowler, Reedley, Selma, Clovis and Parlier.
One of the most wrenching aspects of this study has been visiting places where the historic presence of Japanese Americans has been literally erased. Vacaville, in Northern California, was the place where Japanese immigrants began working in agriculture and had a very large Japantown early in the 20th-century; all that is left of that thriving community are the headstones in the "Japanese" section of the local cemetery. The most ironic example is Santa Barbara's Nihonmachi, which was demolished in the 1960s to make way for a state park recreating the 18th century Spanish presidio that had preceded it.
JS – Although many of the former Japantowns may be gone, the memories are strongly etched and yearning to be discovered. After driving across the Vincent Thomas Bridge, past ship containers, and deserted streets, the Terminal Island Monument offers a prominent tribute to the Japanese village of East San Pedro Fish Harbor. In spite of being the first to be evacuated due to its location on the Los Angeles harbor, the commercial area being razed during the war, and, after the war, the prohibition of Issei from obtaining commercial fishing licenses, the Terminal Islanders ties remain strong. The monument's torii gate and arched bridge replicate cultural symbols of the lost community and serve as a framework for two bronze Japanese fishermen and a panel of photos commemorating the proud history of Fish Harbor.
The Obata family stands in front of the building that used to house Chiura Obata's studio in Berkeley, CA
Where people still gather around Japanese food, a semblance of community may be found. Even though only a handful of Nikkei nurseries and businesses from pre-WWII continue, West Los Angeles' Sawtelle Boulevard remains an active commercial corridor of Japanese restaurants, markets, and shops through new businesses. In the residential neighborhood, the former Sawtelle Gakuin (Japanese School) serves as a community center, offering language and cultural classes; and both the Buddhist and Methodist churches attract families and friends for their annual obon and bazaar festivals. Tying the Nikkei history to the commercial corridor would help to solidify the early immigrant contributions to the changing landscape of Los Angeles and support the emerging "Little Osaka", annex to L.A.'s Little Tokyo.
Have you experienced reluctance or reticence from community members who would prefer not to revisit the past?
JS - On the contrary, I would say that most people are happy to share their memories of their youth in pre-WWII Japantowns. The growing resources on Japanese American history, particularly on the World War II experiences supported through the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program and the federal program, has helped to validate the importance of the first-hand stories. While some Nisei may tire of sharing their camp experience, they delight in sharing their childhood memories and recounting what they remember of the Issei, their immigrant parents.
DG – And non-Nikkei are often humbled and fascinated by this aspect of their community history. Our project inspired Berkeley's City Council (which has no Asian American members) to recognize local Nikkei heritage by honoring the PCJ project and the three historic Japanese American churches that are still vital community centers.
Has your research revealed any new (to you) Japantowns or additional historic resources associated with the Japanese American community?
DG - Speaking of Berkeley, as a long-time resident I was astonished to find that many of my local "landmarks" -- such as the place I shop for kids' birthday presents, a local nursery, or the neighborhood martial arts studio -- were Japanese American-owned businesses before WWII. We found over sixty extant historic structures in our Berkeley survey, and more than 100 in Oakland – all quietly holding this rich history waiting to be told.
One of the most striking findings of our survey was the continuous role of churches in maintaining Nikkei presence in what were once-thriving Japantowns. We found many, many extant church buildings, Buddhist and Christian, now often used by new immigrant congregations. Along with Japanese language schools and community halls, churches were really the anchors for Japantowns, and many communities have kept the churches going. We hope to pursue a multiple property nomination for these particular property types to help local communities in considering whether their historic resources should be landmarked at the local, state or national level.
How do you envision preserving both individual narratives and community memories when the places that are their underpinnings have disappeared?
DG - Our project has shown Jill and I that, while much of California's historic Japantowns has been lost, many places still survive and often hold some vestige of Nikkei heritage, whether it is through a lovingly tended garden, a long-time business, or a church that still draws Japanese Americans. Making the connections between these places and the individual memories and community heritage they hold more evident is the next step. Preserving California's Japantowns has created a foundation for preservation, interpretation and community programs that can rebuild those connections and enrich understanding of our shared heritage for California and the nation.
JAPANESE AMERICAN RESOURCES (Partial list)
Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project
Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego
Japanese American Museum/San Jose
Japanese American National Museum
National Japanese American Historical Society
