Picture with Jimi and his wife at the Buddhist Temple
Day 1: To start off our (Alex's and my) first day, we met with Curt Fukuda, who is currently writing a book on the history and culture of San Jose Japan Town. To start us off, he gave us a few tips to use while we interview people, such as knowing the person before hand and how nisei act differently than sansei. He told us stories that he became familiar with through writing his book, such as how there was a Filipino stabbing in the mid 1900's, and many of the people who he interviewed had their own recounts of the story.
We then met with Jimi Yamaichi, the San Jose Museum curator and director, who spoke of his story about growing up in San Jose his entire life. Everyone we met refered to Jimi as the "treasure of SJ Japantown," and through his many stories we found out why! He practically grew up with Japantown, so he knew everything and experienced all the changes within the community! He spoke of how the Christian and Buddhist churches came to be, and how he came back after internment (he was 20 at the time) and faced intense prejudice because he had a Japanese face. He was not able to get his carpenter's license because of this prejudice, but because he endured like many of the other Nisei, he managed to create a better life for his children. He reiterated many times to us how he just had to take the racism and hold it in and just move on.
We then ate at Gombei's Japanese food restaurant with Jimi, and we asked him many questions about how San Jose Japantown had changed over the years. He explained how there used to be three gas stations, and now there are none, and how one of the gas stations became Roy's station, a coffee shop which now brings a lot of business and foot traffic into Japantown. Many other stories like these made the lunch fly by, and soon it was time to go back home. Learning about all the stories that Jimi experienced really emphasized the importance of the history of SJ Japantown, and even just after one day, I felt so much closer to the community.
Day 2:
Today, we met up with Jimi again, and took us around Jtown to meet and talk to different store owners in the community. Alex and I felt that meeting different shop owners was the most intriguing part of the community, because each shop and store owner has their own story for why their family came to the community, and why they chose to stay.
We first walked over to Ken Matsumoto's Art Object Gallery, where we caught him in the middle of a stone cutting art project. After introductions, he spoke of how he came to Jtown in 1986, during the dot-com economy boom, and how his opening sales were so successful that he was able to stay in Jtown with his art. He explained that the community was so supportive of him, and many would buy his art, and he would also have music nights and exhibitions to bring a unique crowd to Japantown. He then took us behind his shop, into a huge exhibit! Just walking through Japantown and seeing his yard with a few rocks and stone cuttings, I would have never imagined that there was an exhibit filled with so many pieces of artwork!
After leaving Ken's shop, we passed by one of the landmarks of Japantown, a rock bench cut by Ken Matsumoto! It was great to see how each person in the community gives back in their own way. We then stopped by the Buddhist temple, where we met with a group of volunteers there. We helped out labeling newsletters and setting up some of the rooms for staff pictures, and through talking with many of the volunteers, we learned more about the upcoming obon on July 9-10th, and how each volunteer plays a role in making sure the event happens. Jimi took us next door to the Buddhist Temple, where he explained how he played a large role in designing and overseeing the construction of the building, whether it be putting in the waffle style ceiling, adding the pews for people to sit on, or even exchanging the American gold for Japanese gold for the decorations because Japanese gold has a better color.
Afterwords, we stopped by Kamimoto Strings, a violin shop that was once Japanese owned and how is Chinese owned. We walked around to the back, and we learned how a fire had burned down one of the storage areas for the violins.
We then went to Nichi Bei Bussan a store that sells traditional Japanese clothes, martial art supplies, and other Japanese antiques. We met with Arlene Damron, the daughter of the founder of the shop, Masuhara Dave Tatsuno. She explained the history of both the shop and her family to us, and we ended up staying there two hours listening and asking questions! Her father had opened up the shop in 1902 in San Francisco with the intent to sell NB, or name brand clothes, that would fit Japanese people. When internment began, he was fortunate enough that the government preserved his possessions. Arlene was born in one of hte horse stables at the Topaz relocation camp. During internment, one of his friends back at home sent a camera illegally to him through one of the guards that he got to know, so Mr. Tatsuno was able to take pictures in the camp, which eventually became used as part of a film. After they were released, they moved to San Jose and Arlene later took over because both her brothers had little interest. This brought up the topic of how transitions between generations and lack of interest causes many family businesses to shut down, just as how Dobashi's shut down and became Nijiya. Arlene started selling martial arts supplies and antiques to change with the changes in people's interest, so her shop was able stay open for so long.
Meeting all these people really brought more meaning to the stories of internment and post-war problems, because we were able to hear first hand what each individual faced through the difficult times, and how they ended up in Japantown. It was each individual story that really sparked my interest, and this internship has proven to be a perfect opportunity to get the most out of being implanted in the community.
Picture with Leon Kimura in front of the Issei Memorial Building
Day 3:
This morning, we met with Leon Kimura (the President of JACL) at the Issei Memorial Building. He explained the significance of the IBM building, and how it is a "living landmark." The building was originally created in 1910 as the Kuwabara Hospital, then became a refuge hoe for returning internees, then became a community center for Yu-Ai-Kai, the Asian Law alliance, JAMsj, JACL, and San Jose Taiko. The fact that this building was used for so many significant community events and organizations illustrates the history that is preserved in SJ Japantown, something that is not found as much in other Japantowns. We also became familiar with the current problems of the building and of issues JACL are having, such as the lack of youth membership and the aging of the building, and Leon set out many possible opportunities for us to help out.
We then at at Omogari Korean Restaurant with Leon and Jimi, and Leon explained how the JACL persuaded the Japanese to go into the campls without fighting, and to this day many Japanese Americans hold a resentment toward JACL. However, the JACL chapter in San Jose continues to be committed to bringing the community together and getting their voice heard. Afterwords, we walked around Japantown and Jimi told stories of how a fence was placed on the 2nd floor of a building behind the Buddhist Temple parking lot to prevent gamblers from jumping out of the window of what used to be a gambling house, and how the Blockbuster stands on top of what used to be the home plate of the baseball field.
We stopped by the Biscuit's dog store and talked to the owners about how they started up 8 months ago, and we learned how much they enjoy the community because it is so supportive and close. This, they said, is unique because no other commercial district will ever have interactions between neighbors and community members as Japantown does. Biscuit's store donates many goody bags to community events.
We then went to the JAMsj to move old books from the library into storage, our first manual labor of the internship! It was nice that we could help Jimi out a little after all the time that he took to show us around Jtown.
We spoke with Michael Sera, one of the volunteer workers at JAMsj (the museum is run totally by volunteers), and he explained why he got involved. He works in sales between Japan and America, but he saw the museum as a place to give back to the community, and as a unique network of people that he wouldn't be able to interact with otherwise. He explained to us how important having a plan of the future is, and he even gave me advice on how to relate my career in civil engineering to working in Japan!
We then had a casual interview with Joe Yasutake, the vice president of the museum's board. He explained that the JCC (Japantown Community Congress) was originally created to support the Senate Bill 307, which gave money to preserve the three remaining Japantowns, and is now an organization so that various groups of the community (business, nonprofit, education) can all get together and see how they can help the community.
Even though we jumped all around Japantown today, I felt that I really gained a sense of what makes San Jose's Japantown so unique and close knit! Just the fact that people live so close to the shops and museum and historical sites makes the community physically closer. It is the living monuments and treasures of the town, such as the Issei Memorial Building and Ken Matsumoto's art gallery that really gives Jtown a unique and diverse identity. However, it is the dedicated people like Jimi and Joe and Leon that really push the community to its greatest, and are root cause of this close community and why it is so successful today.
Picture with Joe Yasutake
Day 4:
Today, Alex and I drove to SJ Japantown one hour early to have a cup of coffee with Jimi. It was nice just relaxing with Jimi, who over the span of just a week, I felt I became very close to. Many people we met called Jimi the godfather of Japantown, and throughout this week we found out why! Afterwords, we walked to the Buddhist Church to find many women cooking the lima bean paste that is put into the monju! Lee Uyeda, one of the volunteers we met on Wednesday, took us around and introduced us to many of the other people working there. We met Jimi's wife, who is in the picture at the top of this post!
Afterwords, we went to the Japantown Business Association building on 6th street, and we met with Kathy Sakamoto and her two interns: Antonia and Toshiko. We talked for almost 6 hours! We discussed an array of topics, such as how some culture from Japan, such as Anime and Manga has become very popular in America. She explained how stories such as Gantz (a manga and anime) poses many questions about sociology in the modern day time. Because it was Antonia and Toshiko's last day on their business internship (Toshiko was moving back to Japan to start up his career in architecture), we got lunch together and talked a lot about our future in our respective majors, and how we could always come back to this close knit community that we have become part of in San Jose Japantown.
I think that this fact is what truly makes Japantown unique. So many people go off in their own lives and make their own way, but they come back to San Jose Japantown for the community that they can call their home. Whether it be to come back to give back to the community or start a new life, each person brings a unique culture and gives as much as they can to the close knit community, an attitude that brings everyone even closer.
Picture with Kathy Sakamoto, Antonia, and Toshiko
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