Descanso Gardens will display an exhibit of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station that was created by the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition. The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, March 7, through Sunday, March 9.
Descanso Gardens is located at 1418 Descanso Dr. in La Cañada Flintridge.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger connected the Tuna Canyon Coalition with Emi Yoshimura and Lina Swislocki of Descanso Gardens, making this special weekend display possible.
There will be a “Japanese Garden History Talk and Tour” scheduled for March 8, 3 to 5 p.m., across from the Japanese Garden at Descanso Gardens. The program will include remarks from Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles Kenko Sone; Sean Iwaoka and Donna Sugimoto, Tuna Canyon descendants; Dr. Kendall Brown, professor of Asian art history at CSU Long Beach and Japanese garden expert; and Arian Noorzai, Descanso’s camellia horticulturalist and a first-generation Afghan American whose horticulture career began while studying at the American University of Cairo.
After the speakers’ program, Brown and Noorzai will give a guided tour of the Japanese Garden.
Iwaoka will give a presentation written by Dr. Russell Endo on how Fred Waichi Yoshimura was arrested by the FBI in March 1942 and taken to Tuna Canyon Detention Station, located five miles away from Descanso Gardens. Yoshimura’s detainment at Tuna Canyon enabled Manchester Boddy (Descanso Gardens’ original owner) to buy up Yoshimura’s camellia stock on the cheap.
Endo, who cannot attend, is a retired ethnic studies professor at University of Colorado and a Tuna Canyon descendant. The full transcript of his presentation is on the tunacanyon.org website.
Sugimoto, the granddaughter of Shinsuke Sugimoto, will talk about how she discovered her grandfather’s life story after finding pictures and papers after his passing.
The Tuna Canyon Detention Station, formerly a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, was used during World War II to hold and process people of Japanese, German, and Italian descent who were considered “enemy aliens” by the U.S. government. From 1941 to 1943, over 2,000 people passed through the camp. This exhibition tells their stories.
A partial list of detainees can be found on the Tuna Canyon Coalition website at www.tunacanyon.org/names-of-detainees/
No reservations required; included with admission or membership. Ticket prices: adults, $15; seniors (65+) and students with ID, $11; children (5-12), $5. children 4 and under, free.
For more information:
www.tunacanyon.org/descanso-gardens-japanese-garden-history-talk-and-tour/
www.descansogardens.org/event/tuna-canyon-history-exhibit/2025-03-07/
— Submitted by Kyoko Nancy Oda and Mary Uyematsu Kao