By J.K. YAMAMOTO, Rafu Staff Writer
The Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition celebrated its 10thanniversary with its biennial lunch on Sept. 23 at Friendship Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Located in Tujunga, Tuna Canyon was a Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was converted into a detention center for Japanese, German and Italian immigrants from 1941 to 1943. The barracks and other buildings are long gone, but a grove of oak trees from that era is still there, hence the name of a Tuna Canyon traveling exhibit, “Only the Oaks Remain,” which was on display during the luncheon. It includes a list of the detainees.
Formerly a golf course, the site has been designated a Historic Cultural Landmark by the City of Los Angeles, but the land is owned by a developer. Efforts are still under way to have a parcel exempted from development so that a memorial can be constructed.
“You all here, descendants and friends and allies of those men who were only businessmen, journalists, ministers of all faiths, martial arts teachers and farmers, join us today,” said actress and activist Tamlyn Tomita, who served as emcee. “We’re all gathered today to honor our parents, our grandparents, and great-grandparents. So thank you everyone for your continued support and for your telling of your own personal history so that it will be folded into our great American history, so these events should never happen to another community ever again.”
Teramura Ki presented a performance by two of her students, Carol Takatsuka-Garcia and Mia Takatsuka. Their instructor, better known as Nancy Teramura Hayata, explained that she choreographed the dance as a celebration of a big event.
Scholarship Recipients
TCDS President Kyoko Nancy Oda, who was born at Tule Lake, introduced the winners of the Marc Stirdivant Scholarships, named in memory of a founding member of the coalition who fought for the Historic Cultural Landmark designation.
“During COVID, the coalition started an online marketplace that now funds our youth- oriented outreach program,” Oda said. “The Marc Stirdivant Scholarship for Justice asks the students, ‘How will you make a difference?’ We are proud to introduce to you the high school students here with their families.”
? 2021, Essay, First Place: Sofia Nowell Palacios, Whitney High School, Cerritos
? 2021, Art, First Place: Mateo Djolakian, International School of Los Angeles, Burbank
? 2021, Essay, Second Place: Dylan Mathis, Richard Gahr High School, Cerritos
? 2021, Art, Second Place: Milo Kyselak, Highland Hall Waldorf School, Northridge
? 2022, Essay, First Place: Ella Tai, Cerritos High School, Cerritos
? 2022, Art, First Place: Abigail Cordero, Cerritos High School
? 2022, Essay, Second Place: Nishita Vadella, Whitney High School, Cerritos
? 2022, Art, Second Place: Valentino Alba, Gahr High School
? 2022, Essay, Honorable Mention: Alexander Uribe, Gahr High School
“I want to ask these students to be an ambassador, from the bottom of my heart,” Oda said. “We need people like yourselves to continue the fight. We want you to be the light.”
Tomita added, “You will continue to carry the torch with us … Good luck with the rest of your high school career and your college or your university or vocational careers into the future. We will always be here to support you.”
The students also received commendations from the office of State Sen. Anthony Portantino.
Jean Paul de Guzman, a founding member of TCDS and minister’s assistant at San Fernando Valley Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, provided opening words of gratitude: “We humbly remember and give thanks to the detainees of Japanese, German, and Italians descent who were incarcerated at Tuna Canyon as well as their descendants … that enabled us to gather here, to honor them. We express deep gratitude to all those who, through an enduring commitment to what is right, have excavated this important history.”
Special Recognition
During lunch, video excerpts were shown of Legacy Project interviews with children and grandchildren of detainees, including Conrad Caspari, son of Fritz Caspari; Barbara Kiemi, daughter of Chihiro Mikami; Kathy Kadota Masaoka, granddaughter of Soshi Kadota; Alice Monden, daughter of Hisaichi Monden; John Morey, grandson of Bungoro Morey; Mitsue Noda Oyama, daughter of Ichimatsu Noda; Tak Murase, son of Akiko Murase; Donna Sugimoto, granddaughter of Shinsuke Sugimoto; Jon Tanaka, grandson of Chikashi Tanaka.
Special honors were presented by TCDS board member Dr. Sigrid Toye, whose father, Eugen Banzhaf, was detained at Tuna Canyon and Griffith Park, and Vice President Claudia Rizzo Culling. The honorees were the co-directors of the Legacy Project: June Aochi Berk, who was incarcerated at the Rohwer camp in Arkansas and is active with the Japanese American National Museum, and Russell Endo, retired professor of sociology and Asian American studies at University of Colorado and grandson of Tuna Canyon detainee Heigoro Endo.
Describing Endo, who was unable to attend, as “a researcher like no other,” Toye said, “He has been so helpful to so many of us. He has come up with the stories of our ancestors, and as descendants we are most grateful to him.”
Toye said of Berk, “June has touched all of our lives, every single one of our lives, in so many ways … June goes on to educate our next generation and the generation after that, and there could be nothing better.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of recording the stories of (Tuna Canyon) descendants and in the process I have learned so much,” Berk said. “I am very grateful for that opportunity.”
Paying tribute to the Issei, Berk noted, “They have taught us the word **gaman,** which means to bear with dignity and to bear the suffering without complaining. So they never even told their children what they went through … The third and fourth generation realized what their parents and grandparents had gone through, so they formed a committee … to record the stories of Issei parents.”
Now that “all of the Issei are gone … and we’re losing the older Nisei generation,” Berk said, the commnity is relying on the younger generations “to help us carry on the story so that this never happens again to anyone.”
Calling Berk “an elder sister of mine” because they are both former Nisei Week Queens, Tomita said, “Not only is she beautiful outwardly, but she’s even more beautiful inwardly in terms of the service that she provides for our communities.”
A musical interlude was provided by Michael & Miko — pianist Michael Murata and singer Miko Shudo.
In Memoriam
Nancy Takayama, TCDS assistant treasurer, introduced the “In Memoriam” segment, which honored the following individuals:
? Lloyd Hitt, a member of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council who worked with Paul Tsuneishi for more than 10 years to compile information and advocate for the Tuna Canyon Detention Station site.
? Hans Eberhard, a founding member of TCDS and advocate for the German American community who was instrumental in bringing about the Cultural-Historic Monument designation.
? Rev. Alfred Tsuyuki of Konko Church of Los Angeles, whose father, Rev. Taichi Tsuyuki, was interned at Tuna Canyon. He conducted a Konko ceremony to purify the space under the giant oaks in 2013 and also blessed the traveling exhibit.
? Mary Adams Urashima, who led the Historic Wintersburg Preservation Task Force in Huntington Beach and collaborated with the Japanese American National Museum on many projects.
More music was provided the Otonowa Jazz Band, led by drummer Akira Tana, whose father, Daisho Tana, was held at Tuna Canyon. The band also featured Art Hirahara (piano), Masaru Koga (woodwinds), Saki Kono (vocals) and Noriyuki Ken Okada (bass). The featured artist was Yoyoka, a teenage drummer from Japan who has gained international acclaim.
The audience was invited to join in singing the Kyu Sakamoto classic “Ue o Muite Arukou,” better known in the U.S. as “Sukiyaki.”
Closing remarks were made by H. Ernie Nishii, a board member of TCDS and the ABC Unified School District. “One person (President Roosevelt) can write an executive order to put 120,000 people in prison for three or four years, but everyone in this room, every important person in this room, will be able to stop that, to stop the injustices,” he said.
The members of the coalition come from different backgrounds but share a common vision, Nishii said, “that our kids will someday … stand in front of those oaks, feel the breeze of the oaks going by them, touch the ground, know that people lived here, they suffered here, and will stop that from ever happening to anyone else. That’s the real hope … and it’s all your talent that will make it happen.”
For more information, visit www.tunacanyon.org.
Photos by J.K. YAMAMOTO/Rafu Shimpo