Unveiling of the first Alameda Japantown Historic Marker

WHAT Remarks from Japanese community members, the unveiling of the first of four historic markers, and TaikoPeace community dance

WHEN Thursday, November 17, 4:30-5:15 pm 

WHERE Alameda Marketplace, 1650 Park Street

In 1912, Japanese immigrants set up shops in what would be known as Alameda’s Japantown and resided nearby for mutual support. Alameda’s Tonarigumi, or close-knit neighborhood, formed deep ties that endured despite the racial animosity, forced removal, and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

More than a century later, the Japantown Historic Marker project is building new awareness of Alameda’s hidden Japantown by creating historic markers that share this rich immigrant history and the proud diversity we embrace today.

Join us on November 17, as the first of four historic markers are unveiled, connecting current Japanese American community sites with former sites of Japantown businesses. 

Alameda’s historic marker project is named “Tonarigumi,” which means “neighborhood.” Each of the four markers present a different aspect of the Japanese American community in Alameda’s Japantown, and all will be installed in the next few months:

• “Traces of Alameda Japantown” at the Alameda Marketplace
• “Life that Connects Us All” at the Buddhist Temple of Alameda
•  “Becoming a Japantown” at the City of Alameda Free Library
•  “A Beacon of Light” at Buena Vista Methodist United Church

Tonarigumi partners include the four marker locations and Rhythmix Cultural Works, with creative direction and design from Kazumu Julio Cesar Naganuma and Grace Horikiri.

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