Participants in the Day of Remembrance event placed origami cranes on the Japanese Fishing Village Memorial in San Pedro.
By J.K. YAMAMOTO
RAFU STAFF WRITER
A Day of Remembrance ceremony was held in front of the Japanese Fishing Village Memorial in San Pedro on Feb. 19, the 84th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066.
The monument, which features statues of two Issei fishermen, commemorates Terminal Island, a thriving community whose residents were rounded up and imprisoned in 1942. The village was razed by the Navy during their absence.
Located at 1124 S. Seaside Ave. and created in 2002, the memorial also includes a torii (traditional Japanese gate) and panels chronicling the history of the Terminal Island community, which had a population of about 3,000.
The ceremony was co-presented by Harbor Area Peace Patrol and Little Tokyo-based Nikkei Progressives.
Harbor Area Peace Patrol was formed last year to monitor ICE activity during the federal raids in Southern California targeting anyone suspected of being undocumented. The Coast Guard base at Terminal Island was used by ICE as a staging area for months, but ICE withdrew just a week before the Day of Remembrance event.
Speakers included Maya Suzuki Daniels, a San Pedro teacher and co-founder of Harbor Area Peace Patrol. She noted that her grandfather served in the Army during World War II while his family was incarcerated without due process.
Amy Oba of Nikkei Progressives pointed to parallels between the treatment of Japanese Americans during the war and the current roundup and detention of immigrants. In both cases, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was invoked, she said, adding that Fort Bliss in Texas, where some Japanese Americans were held, is now being used as an immigrant detention center.
She noted that by fighting for their rights, Japanese Americans were able to win redress payments of $20,000 and an official apology for former incarcerees in 1988.
In January, Oba was a panelist on “Burn Order,” a program on MS NOW presented by Rachel Maddow, focusing on mass incarceration then and now.
Terminal Islanders President Terry Hara — whose grandfather was a superintendent at a cannery while his father and two uncles were commercial fishermen at Terminal Island — said that many Issei fishermen were stopped and detained as they returned to the island with their catch.
After returning from camp, Terminal Islanders were forced to settle in other parts of Southern California, but through their association they have passed their history and heritage on to the next generations.
Hara and Tim Yuji Yamamoto discussed efforts to educate the public by preserving two remaining Terminal Island buildings on Tuna Street that were designated as Historic-Cultural Monuments last year by the City of Los Angeles. Yamamoto’s grandfather ran a grocery store in one of those buildings.
Pastor Joshua “Yoshi” Kuramoto of San Pedro United Methodist Church closed the program with a prayer.
Attendees of all ages folded origami cranes, a symbol of peace, to place on the monument as a show of respect.