Former Lodi residents recall their youth as they see stores where they used to hang out. Amajority of this part of Lodi, on and near Main Street, was owned or leased by the Japanese who
lived and worked there. A tour was organized by the group Preserving California's Japantowns.

(Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)

Preserving Lodi's Japanese culture: Group tours
Japanese in Eastside
By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Last updated: Monday, June 11, 2007 6:37 AM PDT
Comments (3 comment(s))
Suga Moriwaki took a group of Lodi residents and other Northern California historybuffs to a broken brick object behind the office of architect Mike Smith, and asked what
it was used for years ago.
Some people guessed it was a kiln or an oven, but no one knew for sure.
That's when Nobi Tamura, who lived there just after World War II, came up with theanswer.
"My mom used to cook sardines in there because it stunk so bad inside," said Tamura,
who was a child during that time.
Residents and statewide leaders were excited to hear these and other new stories about
Lodi's rich Japanese history throughout the past century during a walking tour Sunday
afternoon.
A project called Preserving California's Japantowns is an effort to photograph existing
structures and hear about Japanese history throughout California.

There are three official Japantowns — in San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles. But
the statewide organizations are looking at other communities that had thriving Japaneseneighborhoods prior to World War II.

Gerald Kosak points to a piece of graffiti he had written in 1951, when he was about 15.
The graffiti was written on a old building on Main Street near Downtown Lodi. It's nowan architectural office, but had been a boarding house for Japanese people after they weretaken to refugee camps during World War II. (Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)
On Sunday, representatives from communities from Sacramento to Merced County met atthe Buddhist church of Lodi to discuss their findings. That was followed by an hour-longwalking tour of a two-square-block area on Main and Stockton streets between Elm andOak streets.
"I'm enjoying this," said Lodi resident Michelle Okasaki, 42, whose relatives once owned
the entire block on Main Street between Pine and Oak streets. "I didn't know this (study)
was going on."Okasaki told about the building now housing the Star Hotel on Main Street that her
grandfather owned around 1970. She remembers when she was about 5 years old, and she
wondered about one particular room at the hotel.
"I think my grandfather had a cardroom because it was a room I wasn't allowed in,"Okasaki said with a laugh.
Most of the hotel residents were employees who worked in the packing shed across thestreet near the railroad tracks.
As Okasaki talked about her grandfather, north Stockton resident Kathy Ikeda scribbled
notes enthusiastically, trying to fit the pieces into the puzzle.
Another stop was at the engineering office of Mike Smith, who remodeled an older
structure on a block of Main Street with otherwise rundown buildings.
Smith showed the Japantown tourists some historical pictures on the walls of his office at4 N. Main St. One picture, circa 1898, was of Smith's office building, but at the time, it
said "Joe Hinode Co., General Merchandise."It was behind Smith's office that the brick equipment in which to cook sardines in the1940s took was found.

Preserving Japanese culture
The California Japanese American Community Leadership Council is theleading state organization helping to preserve and bring new recognition to thethree remaining historic Japantowns in California, located in Los Angeles, San
Francisco, and San Jose.
The council was established in 1998 through a grant from the Sumitomo
Global Foundation to organize and coordinate statewide issues concerning theJapanese-American community.
For more information, visit http://www.californiajapantowns.org

While in Smith's backyard, Sumi Wakai Okuhara recalled her childhood in the 1930s.
Looking at the current Wong's Mandarin Restaurant building on Pine Street between
Main and Stockton streets, Okuhara told anyone willing to listen, "The downstairs was an
Italian bakery. The upstairs was a brothel."
There was a competing brothel at the northeast corner of Pine and Main streets, which
also housed a restaurant called Shanghai Express, Okuhara said.
Okuhara lived in Lodi until her family was taken to the Stockton Relocation Camp, now
the fairgrounds, then taken to Arkansas during the Japanese internment program during
World War II. She returned to Lodi in September of 1945.
Before the walking tour, people from throughout the San Joaquin Valley talked about
research they had completed on their town's Japanese culture, which included Stockton,French Camp, Isleton, Walnut Grove, Sacramento, Livingston and the Merced County
community of Cortez.
Project Director Donna Graves and Project Manager Jill Shiraki conducted surveys inJapantowns throughout California.
Eugene Itogawa, retired supervisor for the California Office of Historic Preservation, said
that Lodi's Japanese hub could qualify for listing on the National Register of HistoricPlaces.
"These buildings essentially did not change," Itogawa said.
Ikeda said the statewide organization will have follow-up meetings and do some oralhistories.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com..

Reader Feedback
3 comment(s)nylodian wrote on Jun 11, 2007 12:49 PM:" I hope the plans move forward. I think preserving such an important part of Lodi's
cultural history is essential. Do they still hold the Obon Fest in Lodi? I loved going to it
every summer. "4th Generation JA wrote on Jun 11, 2007 9:58 AM:" The future of the Japanese community in Lodi is actually quite bleak. The Boy Scouts,
Fishing club and basketball teams have all folded up, as younger folks leave the area orlose interest. Activities to reclaim the past and learn about their Japanese AMERICAN
cultural heritage is one way to bring back the 4th and 5th generation folks. Look at what adriving force Manila town has become for Stockton. We need to better understand andembrace the past to help folks feel a sense of identity and pride in who they are. "jhsato wrote on Jun 11, 2007 7:32 AM:" God, who wants to remember the olden days on Main street in Lodi in the 1940's and1950's. It's just best to bury the past in J'town and leave it there. Look to the FUTURE. .
Interesting story. "