By MASAO MORISAKU
Have you been to Little Tokyo lately? In the past, I often went to Japanese restaurants, or to buy things from Japan, but now it is crowded and the Japanese atmosphere has disappeared. Even the food has changed, according to the people who gather. Also, parking is getting expensive and I don’t have a chance to go there, and so on.
Well, I think many people feel the Japanese atmosphere in only a few things, like the murals of Shohei Otani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Fire Tower.
But wait! Little Tokyo is home to the Japanese Americans of Southern California. I believe the people who came here as immigrants initially chose the City Hall vicinity as a relatively safe place to live and work and gather. Chinatown and Koreatown are the same way.
We, the Japanese Americans, have many facilities in Little Tokyo, like the Budokan and Little Tokyo Tower. The Japanese American National Museum, Little Tokyo Service Center, Higashi Honganji and Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temples, Centenary United Methodist Church, Southern California Gardeners’ Federation (SCGF), Aratani Theatre, Teramachi Condominiums, Koreisha Senior Care & Advocacy, Keiro, Bunka-Do, Omasa Restsurant, and Fugetsudo. They are also doing their best. The Rafu Shimpois also in Little Tokyo.
In the middle of it all is the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC). If you search for “Japanese Garden in Los Angeles” on the Internet, you will find the James Irvine Garden in Little Tokyo. A Japanese garden in Little Tokyo? I think there are people who shake their heads, but that is the Seiryu-en at JACCC. Unfortunately, it is not open to the public for security reasons. It would be nice if it could be opened even if there is a time limit, but it can be used for group tours or events with permission of the JACCC.
When JACCC was completed in 1979, it was decided to create a Japanese garden in the remaining triangular and sloping space. Professor Takeo Uesugi, who was teaching at Pomona University, was asked to design it. Following the professor’s instructions, SCGF volunteers gave up their Sundays to build it over a period of two years.
SCGF was established in 1955, 10 years after the war. Japanese Americans were released from concentration camps, but they had no jobs. Since the American people trusted the gardening work done by the Japanese before the war, many returnees re-entered their jobs as gardeners or became gardeners for the first time.
There are records that one in five Japanese Americans in Southern California was a gardener, including immigrants from Japan under the Refugee Relief Act. Professor Uesugi said that the two streams of water in Seiryu-en represent the first, second and third generations of Japanese Americans coming together.
In 1981, the Japanese garden received the highest award from the American Association of Nurserymen. At that time, representatives of the Gardeners’ Federation were invited to the White House and received an award of appreciation from First Lady Nancy Reagan.
SCGF has continued to care for the garden with volunteers. But since 2000, the number of Japanese American gardeners has been decreasing. Gardeners tend to have their children seek higher education, and the children tend to stay away from the gardening profession. A senryu left by one of our senior members says, “Lawn mower made my children and grandchildren become doctors.”
But the feelings of Japanese Americans who love flowers, plants, and gardens remain the same. This year, Southern California Gardeners’ Federation is celebrating its 70th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the federation has decided to erect a memorial monument in the Seiryu-en at JACCC to pay tribute to its predecessors and for the future generations to know the work of the Japanese American gardeners.
With the gracious consent of JACCC, a commemorative ceremony and unveiling of the monument will take place on Sunday, March 30. Thank you very much for your cooperation. Let’s protect and revitalize our Little Tokyo.
We hope that all of you of Japanese descent will come to Little Tokyo, where you can enjoy a moment of tranquility in a Japanese garden, a symbol of Japan’s culture.
For more information, please contact the SCGF office at (213) 628-1595 or [email protected].
Masao Morisaku is vice president of the Southern California Gardeners’ Federation.