Two of Min Tonai’s children, John and Teresa, at the Terminal Islanders’ annual picnic on June 14 at George Bellis Park in Buena Park.
Throughout his long life, Min Tonai (1929-2023) preserved the history of the Los Angeles harbor communities of Terminal Island and San Pedro. “Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp” tells his family’s harrowing experience from his idyllic childhood, to their devastating experience during World War II, to their resolve to make their lives better again.
The book will be featured at two upcoming events:
- Saturday, July 11, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: FAB (Festival of AAPI Books) Long Beach at Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, 5870 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach.
Pictured at the Amache camp in Colorado, from left: Yutaka Tonai (younger brother), Rumi Tonai (older sister), Min Tonai, and Donald Shintani, son of their father’s business partner Ken Shintani.
Sponsored by Bel Canto Books and the Long Beach Public Library, FAB celebrates children’s, young adult, and adult authors, vendors, arts and crafts, and more from across the Asian diaspora.
From 1:30 to 2 p.m., read along with author, teacher and librarian Jolene Gutierrez. All authors will sign their books from 3 to 4 p.m.
Directions and details: belcantobooks.net/fab-long-beach
- Sunday, July 12, 1 to 3 p.m. at Los Angeles Maritime Museum, Berth 84, foot of 6th Street, San Pedro.
Co-author Gutierrez, illustrator Chris Sasaki and the children of Min Tonai will explore the origins of the book and Min’s connection to Terminal Island and San Pedro.
Children’s storytime from 1 to 1:30 p.m.; book-signing from 1:30 to 2 p.m.; panel discussion from 2 to 3 p.m.
Tickets available online: lamaritimemuseum.org/visit/
For additional information, visti: www.UNBREAKABLEMinTonai.com
Special Guests
At the San Pedro event, the Tonai family will have the Meacham family as special guests. “Their grandmother wrote a letter of support to the FBI for our grandfather and her kind and brave actions are recounted in the book,” said Susan Tonai, who provided the following account:
In 1940, Min and his family moved to a new home on 24th Street in San Pedro. It was closer to his school, Leland Street, which was fortunate since even then he was always late. The Meacham family were their new next-door-neighbors.
Roma and Mae were childhood sweethearts and married the day she stepped off the train in California. Mr. Meacham and Min’s father Gengoro were busy with their occupations — Romy was a fireman and Gengoro co-owned a growing chain of produce stores in the greater L.A. metro area.
While Min’s mother Toyone often helped out with the new store openings, she also had time to encourage her children’s schooling and socialize with neighbors and friends. Mae was a talented homemaker especially skilled in baking and sewing. Both women were avid gardeners and socialized over their shared garden fence.
Min always said that his mother had some unusual tastes for a Japanese woman — one of which was her fondness for chayote, which, as it turns out, grew on the chain link fence between the two gardens.
The families were neighbors for less than two years, but the connection between the two mothers was genuine and when Toyone reached out to her friend Mae, asking for her help, Mae wrote a letter to the FBI for Gengoro and his family. Most people of that time would never have written to the FBI in support of a Japanese family. It was kind and exceedingly brave. The Tonai family never forgot her generous spirit and are forever thankful.