Symbol of Once-Thriving Sac'to J-Town Needs Desperate Repairs
The Nisei War Memorial Hall has seen better days. Now a committee hopes to raise the needed funds for renovations.
Shig Shimazu, 82, is one of the lucky few who can still share memories of the once-thriving Japantown in Sacramento's downtown core. As a young boy of eight, he and his dad would often drive into the area to patronage the more than 300 Japanese businesses.
"My dad used to drive me into Japantown as a child," he said. "I would just follow my dad and do our shopping."
A brief stop at the tofu shop or a quick snack at the manju store were often popular destinations for the father and son. Their trips to J-town were also a chance to catch up with community friends.
But today, all that remains of this historic enclave is the Nisei War Memorial Hall, a two-story building that stands just steps away from the Capitol.
Purchased in 1956 with funds raised by the community and seed money from a prominent Japanese American attorney, the building is now owned by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and the Sacramento JACL chapter. Years of usage with little upkeep have created much-needed renovations
Now the two groups have formed a committee to raise the monies to help preserve the historic building.
"The hall is the last figure of the former Japanese community in Sacramento," said Loren Ishii, VFW Post 8985 commander whose grandfather once owned a pharmacy in J-town. "We need to preserve the legacy and keep it as a symbol of what the Nisei did and what they endured."
"It's an historical building, the only Nisei building in Japantown," said Shimazu. "We have to preserve the legacy."
A Gathering Place
Erin Komatsubara, 49, lets out a giggle as she recalls attending dances at the Nisei War Memorial Hall as a teenager.
"I was a little wallflower. Boys would stand on one side and the girls on the other," said the current Sacramento JACL chapter president. "We had some good old times there. It's a near and dear place to us."
Although the once popular teen dances aren't held at the hall anymore, many community groups continue to use the building including Asian American dance groups and there are various Tai Chi classes and Mahjong clubs. It is also still the home of Boy Scouts Troop 250.
As a young child, Dean Okimoto, 34, would often accompany his parents to pick up his two older brothers from their weekly Boy Scouts meetings at the Nisei Hall.
"I remember often times wandering about the Nisei Hall, and cherishing the rich history that was installed upon the building," said Okimoto, a Yonsei member of the Sacramento JACL. "From the names of veterans on different plaques to the names of the Eagle Scouts, I relished my time reading the rich history and stories that the Nisei Hall had to tell."
Like Okimoto and Komatsubara, younger generations of the local JA community are now working alongside the largely Nisei members of the VFW to help preserve the Nisei Hall. They hope to raise about $250,000 for much-needed renovations - including electrical rewiring, ADA compliance, and asbestos abatement.
Their hope is that by renovating the building, more community groups and members will rent out the hall space, making it once again a thriving community center.
"With the renovations we hope it draws people back to using the building for events," said Suzanne Sasaki, 28, a member of the Nisei Hall board and Sacramento JACL. "There have been offers to buy the building but we have an attachment to it. It's part of our community, of who we are.
"We want to take pride in ownership of it and make sure it stays here."
Nihonmachi
From Third Street to the West to Fifth Street to the East, bordered by M Street to the north down to O Street, Sacramento's Japantown was once a bustling area of this Capitol City.
Komatsubara's great-grandparents and grandparents owned the Kobayashi Fish Market in Sacramento's historic J-town, a once popular destination for the community.
But like many of the JA families who owned businesses here, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Executive Order 9066 forced Komatsubara's family into internment camps for the duration of the War.
Luckily, a family friend looked after the fish market and the family was able to return to their home and business after the War.
"We were one of the first families to return to the area after the War," said Komatsubara.
By the late 40s and 50s, Sacramento's Japantown seemed to regain the luster it had possessed prior to the War. But like many areas undergoing urban renewal, the power of eminent domain would once again destroy the historic J-town.
With the city's desire to build a bustling Capitol corridor, the JA businesses were forced to sell and relocate to other areas of town. Although the community fought the orders, in the end the city got what they wanted.
"The Japanese Americans tried to fight it but they got nowhere," said Prof. Wayne Maeda, an ethnic studies professor and author of "Changing Dreams and Treasured Memories: A Story of Japanese Americans in the Sacramento Region."
But in a twist of irony, the JA community was able to raise the funds to build the Nisei War Memorial Hall. In 1956, the Flower Garden restaurant at 1515 Fourth Street was purchased for $27,000 from an African American family.
"The building was on the edge of what was once Japantown," said Maeda. "Symbolically it is the last connection to what was once Japantown."
"The Nisei Hall is really moving. This was a place where the Nikkei rallied and tried to fight city hall," said Donna Graves, project director of the Preserving California Japantowns project. "To have a structure to recall the history of the community that was completely replaced is so poignant and important."
A Moving Symbol
The Nisei War Memorial Hall may be difficult to find for those unfamiliar with the area. Large towering office buildings and massive condominiums surround the modest two-story concrete structure
Just steps from the Nisei Hall, a Japanese American Civil Liberties Memorial Monument helps tell the story of the JA community before, during, and after WWII. Dedicated in 2003, the monument and the Nisei Hall are both visible reminders of what was once a bustling Japantown.
"It really speaks to this idea of the underdog trying to hold onto its space. The building speaks on its own for the heritage its holding onto," said Graves.
The Nisei Hall also stands as a living memorial to the heroic JA veterans who fought for a country that was imprisoning their own families.
"That is the importance of the Nisei Hall," said Okimoto, "keeping alive the legacy of the Japanese American veterans."
The Nisei Hall board is getting ready for its first fundraising event this June 7. A showing of "Only the Brave" - a moving film about the heroic 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team - will be sponsored by the local Mikuni Restaurant with all proceeds going to the Nisei Hall renovations.
Community members hope a large turnout will go far in helping to raise the needed $250,000 to get the renovation project started.
"This is so important to the veterans. Their eyes light up when we talk about the fundraiser, they are so proud of the Hall," said Komatsubara. "That made it worth it for me."
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