Terminal Islanders Get Update on Effort to Preserve Historic Buildings

By J.K. YAMAMOTO
RAFU STAFF WRITER

Terminal Islanders held their annual Shinnen Enkai program celebrating the Year of the Horse on Jan. 11 at The Grand in Long Beach.

The program included an update on efforts to preserve buildings that were part of the former Japanese fishing village.

Emceed by Midori Sanchez board secretary, the celebration began with a silent tribute to members who have passed away, followed by a toast.

Original Terminal Islanders in attendance were Joe Hamachi, Kats Izumi, Paul Kai, Masako Matsuoka, Asako Miki, Chizuko Minami, Moe Miyagawa, Ken Morimoto, Isao Mark Murakami, Alice Nagano, Walter Shioji, Miho Shiroishi, Mary Tamura, Yoshio Tani and Aiko Watanabe.

Attendees born in the Year of the Horse were recognized along with the oldest male and female attendees — Katsumi Izumi, 97, and Mary Tamura, 101 — and the attendee who traveled the farthest, Grace Bennett of San Antonio, Texas.

Everyone sang a New Year’s song, “Oshogatsu no Uta.”

The president’s message was delivered by Terry Hara, whose grandfather was a superintendent at a cannery while his father and two uncles were commercial fishermen at Terminal Island. He noted that last August the Los Angeles City Council voted to officially designate the Terminal Island “Furusato” Tuna Street Buildings as Historic-Cultural Monuments, preserving the last two remaining buildings of the once-thriving fishing village that vanished in 1942 when its residents were rounded up, never to return. The two buildings, located at 700–702 and 712–716 Tuna St., once housed the Nanka Dry Goods Store and A. Nakamura Company Grocery Store.

“It is an important story … It is an American story,” Hara said of Terminal Island’s history, thanking City Councilmember Tim McOsker for introducing the motion “that has allowed us to move forward with the designation process of the last two remaining Terminal Island buildings on T Street … We all have a history in those buildings that remain standing … We have a long road ahead of us … to ensure that we maintain the dignity, the history, and the story of what occurred before World War II.”

Hara announced, “Recently the State of California, from the secretary of state, approved a modification of our IRS status for our Terminal Islanders Club. It is now the Terminal Island Association … a nonprofit in which we can now fundraise … and also help to be in a position to financially support the renewing and the reuse of the T Street buildings.”

During the past year, Terminal Island has received coverage from KTLA 5 and NBC News, Hara said, and a filmmaker from Canada has expressed interest in the story. He added, “We have visitors from outside of our local area, but we also constantly have schools from different districts come to the Terminal Island Monument to learn about the story … as well as the consul general from Japan, the ambassador from Japan to the United States.”

He concluded, “We’re looking forward to a great 2026 as we continue to grow and spread the word about Terminal Island … Our annual picnic is coming up on June 14, 2026. So please save the date so that we can all get together again.”

Councilman’s Memories

McOsker represents the 15th Council District, which includes San Pedro, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Watts and Wilimington. He noted that Terminal Island was called East San Pedro.

“I grew up in San Pedro with a grandfather who grew up in San Pedro and … he would tell us the story of the day that kids didn’t show up to school because when they got off the ferry, they were collected and they were taken away,” he recalled. “He would say it with remorse and sadness because the families were business owners, were workers in the factories with us, and the kids were students in our school.”

McOsker told his 87-year-old father that morning that he was going to attend the Terminal Islanders event. His father responded sadly, “Isn’t it terrible what we did to the families on Terminal Island?” McOsker told him, “Dad, you didn’t do it,” adding, “There are folks who have come together to make sure they can preserve the memory and the history, and we’re going to preserve some buildings.”

Turning to events in the news today, McOsker said, “When folks go out and do their Peace Patrol regarding the current immigration sweeps, it is not lost on me that the folks who are doing the Peace Patrols are gathering at the Fisherman’s Memorial every morning. And it’s not lost on them that the inequities of yesterday become inequities today …

“I know there’s a lot of distance between World War II … and 2026. There’s a lot of physical and temporal difference. There’s no difference. When an inequity happens … it happens to every single one of us. And I think it’s important for us at these moments to stand up, to stand with Terminal Island … to stand with Latinos in California.”

Lee Williams of the city’s Board of Harbor Commissioners said that a number of Terminal Islanders gave him recommendations on what to see when he traveled through Japan in November. He was struck by “the innovation that the Japanese are responsible for, that our lifestyle has been influenced so heavily by that innovation.”

Commending the group on its mission, he said, “What you’re doing helps educate and inform and helps people understand the contributions and how our community is built. When I look at Terminal Island, I think about how the tuna industry would not exist without the long-pole fishing techniques that were brought by the Japanese. That wouldn’t have happened, and people need to know that.”

Maritime Museum Exhibit

Maryfrances Trivelli, director of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, said, “Last year when I had the opportunity to speak, I described the exhibit that we were starting to build at the museum, which was 125-foot interactive timeline of port history. And I want thank you again for the generous donation from the club that helped make this possible. So a lot has happened in the past year. We are under construction, which is exciting and fun and very exhausting … but it means that the second floor is closed off. But the good news is the ‘Tāminaru’ exhibit [which focuses on Terminal Island] remains unchanged and will be available to everyone once we open our new exhibit. In the meantime, if you’re in San Pedro, please let me know. I will lead you upstairs …

“I wanted to tell you about a very special artifact that is going to be featured a few years ago that had family gifted us with a miniature version of the memorial … It’s very beautifully made. It’s going to be part of this timeline because it reflects our history and it also reflects the current port. This is something people should see and learn from. Part of having that artifact there is first, of course, to honor the Terminal Islanders, and secondly to remind them that we have this beautiful memorial, now we have these buildings and it’s well worth it for people to make the trip to Terminal Island.”

“Waves of Change: The Story of L.A.’s Port” is scheduled to open this spring.

Board member Paul Hiroshi Boyea reported that the preservation effort has made “considerable progress” with the City Council’s designation of the Terminal Island “Furusato” Tuna Street Buildings in honor of the Issei and Nisei who established the fishing village around the turn of the century. He explained that “furusato” can be translated as “home sweet home.”

He also thanked the Los Angeles Conservancy, which “continues to be a great partner … and have been with us since the beginning,” and the National Trust of Historic Preservation, which last year named Terminal Island one of the “11 most endangered historic places” in the country.

“We’re going to focus on a strategic approach to ensure the survival, relevance and public acceptability of the historic buildings for future generations,” Boyea said. “We’ll also focus on the understanding that the significance of these historic buildings relies on their cultural and educational value as well as their rarity … The buildings matter, not just the structures, but because they’re tied to real people and lived experiences of Issei and Nisei.

“We represent a specific historical injustice, the forced removal and incarceration, and they serve as a tangible reminder of the community’s present and loss. We plan for the buildings to be reconstructed as an educational center and a gallery, which is called an adaptive reuse.”

Gruen Associates will be the architectural and planning firm for this initiative under the leadership of principals Mike Enomoto and Debra Gerod. Enomoto led the design process for the memorial, which was dedicated in 2002.

“We feel that they have a better understanding of what our needs are and they display both a level of understanding and willingness to work with us … We look forward to our future meetings with them,” Boyea said.

Andrew Salimian of L.A. Conservancy shared, “Over the past year-plus, this story, your story, has been one of the our favorite stories to work on. It’s so relevant to what’s happening today … I’m a son of an immigrant myself, and every immigrant sees a little bit of themselves, of their story, reflected in yours.

“So when in May this was designated as one of the 11 most endangered places, we heard from all kinds of people from across the country, from Canada, from Japan … because they see themselves in you … It’s important that you preserve that and tell it because it means a lot to a lot of people.

Salimian recently visited the buildings, including the interiors, and found it to be a “powerful” experience. The Cultural Heritage Commission also did a site visit.

“It’s going be a long process, but it will be worth it,” he said.

“Taminaru Yogore no Uta” was sung by a group of young members: Jared Masao Ryono, Mariko Lynn Ryono, Tonindeye Ryono Mariscal, Kosijo Ryono Mariscal and Malik Sho Ryono. Sung to the tune of “Shanghai Doyori,” the song was written by Minoru Hinoki while incarcerated at Manzanar. “Yogore,” which literally means dirt, was a slang term that referred to delinquents or troublemakers.

Music was provided by the High Five Band (Sam Baton, Russell Hoshizaki, Vernon Matsushita, Ruben Reyes and Tommy Yee) and Ryujin Taiko (Steve, Robie and Cayli La), which invited the special guests to take part in the drumming.

The program closed with a raffle and ondo dancing to “Tanko Bushi” and “Sukiyaki.”

2026 Officers and Board Members

President: Terry Hara

Vice president: Clifford Kusaba Vice president-events: Donna Reiko Cottrell

Treasurers: Diane Yamashita, May Nishiyama

Secretary: Midori Sanchez

Board members: Rene La Page, Carolyn Carroll, Nancy Kwong, Joy Le Page, Paul Hiroshi Boyea, Tim Yamamoto.