Over hot dogs and sushi rolls, members of Sacramento's Japanese American community revived a tradition Sunday, one that has united family and friends for generations since World War II – a home-style picnic in the park.
"It's all about fun," said Erin Komatsubara, president of the Japanese American Citizens League, which organized the picnic after a hiatus last year. "This is about the community getting together."
Sunday's event at William Land Park featured Boy Scout Troop 250, bingo and the family relays that have sparked spirited competition over the years.
It was also a chance for reunions and for elders to share stories with younger generations, including some from darker chapters in U.S. history.
For nearly 50 years, Komatsubara said, Japanese American groups have hosted picnics that have evolved into social events of the year – and always on the first Sunday in June. The picnics began after families came home and were reunited after the experiences of World War II sent more than 120,000 residents into internment camps – including more than 5,000 from Sacramento – and sent other Japanese Americans overseas to fight in the war.
The picnic united the community after nearly 50 Japantowns across the West Coast all but disappeared – including Sacramento's, between Third and Fourth streets and L and M streets.
Ninety-nine-year-old Yoshie Iwasaki remembered the bustling Japantown and remembered how her family, her children, were uprooted and sent to an internment camp at Tule Lake. It was a part of her past, she said in a soft voice, that she didn't want to talk about.
Instead, Iwasaki turned her head of curly white hair to survey the relay field and joked about how she planned to compete.
The picnic has long been an event she looks forward to, relishing the chance to see old friends, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
"My friends are just about gone, but I love to see the little kids running around," she said. "The kids I thought were youngsters once, are now mothers and grandmothers."
Across the park, Suzanne Sasaki said she has attended the picnics since she was about 8 years old; she started volunteering to help coordinate the youth relay at age 12, and at 16, joined the JACL board. Now 28, Sasaki is also part of a community effort to renovate the Nisei War Memorial Hall on Fourth Street, the last reminder of where Sacramento's Japantown once flourished.
The hall, co-owned by JACL and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, is in a building that was purchased by members of the local Japanese American community in 1956. It is in critical need of renovations, including asbestos removal and electrical and plumbing upgrades.
The first fundraiser in a year-long effort to renovate the Nisei War Memorial Hall is scheduled for Saturday. "Only the Brave," a movie about the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team, the all-volunteer Japanese American unit during World War II, will be shown at the Crest Theatre.
Sasaki said it is important to restore the hall's luster for future generations, to help foster community ties and traditions, such as those seen at Sunday's picnic at the park.
"One day, I will be one of those little old ladies sitting under a tree," she said.
Call The Bee's Crystal Carreon, (916) 321-1203. Bee researcher Jason Coughran contributed to this report.
