01 Mar Dr. Russell Endo – Descanso Gardens Talk
My name is Russell Endo and I am a retired professor of sociology and Asian American studies at the University of Colorado. I am also the primary researcher for the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition. My grandfather, Heigoro Endo, was detained at Tuna Canyon.
During World War II, Japanese Americans on the West Coast were forcibly removed from their homes under Executive Order 9066 and sent to concentration camps. Among the victims were the Yoshimura and Uyematsu families. Fred Waichi Yoshimura and Francis Miyosaku Uyematsu were nurserymen who had developed extensive stocks of plants including camellias, some of which were rare and unique breeds. Under duress and with few options, the Yoshimuras and Uyemastsus sold their camellias to E. Manchester Boddy for what we now know was less than their true market value. These plants were the foundation of what is now Descanso Gardens’ acclaimed camellia collection.
However, Fred Waichi Yoshimura was not present at the time of these sales. He had been arrested by the FBI and detained by the U.S. Department of Justice. Here is his story, which is part of the history of Descanso Gardens.
Waichi Yoshimura was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture in Japan in 1895. In 1917 he emigrated to America with the intention of becoming a businessman so he could financially help his parents. After being employed in various jobs throughout Southern California, in 1922 he began work as a gardener in San Gabriel. Over time, Waichi or Fred as he became known, saved enough money to start the Mission Nursery on San Gabriel Blvd. He married Mitoko Naito and they had four children. Eventually his business had 50 employees and a gross annual income of $1.6 million dollars in today’s currency. Fred was the president of the San Gabriel Japanese Language School, the Yamaguchi prefectural association, and the 150-member Southern California Japanese Nurserymen’s Association. He also was a member of the San Gabriel Chamber of Commerce, and vice-president of the San Gabriel Grower’s Association. He generously donated money, manpower, equipment, and merchandise to San Gabriel community activities.
At the start of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526, and 2527. These authorized the arrest and imprisonment of Japanese, German, and Italian immigrant leaders who were seen as threats to national security. Japanese language schools were thought to be teaching loyalty to Imperial Japan, so in March 1942 the FBI arrested about 275 Japanese language school teachers and officials throughout Southern California. Fred was among them. After a search of his home for contraband, he was taken to the Los Angeles County Jail. The next afternoon, he was transferred to the Tuna Canyon Detention Station in Tujunga.
When Fred arrived at Tuna Canyon, it was almost filled to capacity with nearly 250 detainees. These prisoners lived in six barracks surrounded by a ten foot fence topped with barbed wire. Armed guards patrolled the camp. At Tuna Canyon, Fred was briefly interrogated. He completed a questionnaire in preparation for a hearing in Los Angeles. Fred was able to contact his family and they solicited letters supporting his release. If his family was ever able to visit Tuna Canyon, it would have been when very large crowds of individuals tried to briefly communicate in Japanese with detainees through the perimeter fence. Because of the impending arrival of new prisoners, most Tuna Canyon detainees including Fred were later transferred to the Santa Fe, NM detention camp. At Santa Fe Fred had his hearing.
Detainee hearings were used to determine the future status of arrested individuals. They were not trials. There were no judges, only a hearing board of two or three civilians. Detainees were not allowed to have legal counsel. They did not know in advance what accusations would be made or what evidence would be presented. In short, there was no due process.
Fred’s hearing board saw him as a dangerous individual because he was an important Japanese community leader. No evidence was presented to show that he posed an actual threat to national security. He was presumed to be guilty and was unable to prove his innocence. The hearing board recommended that Fred be permanently interned in an Army camp.
This recommendation was sent up the chain of command to a government reviewer. Remarkably the reviewer recommended Fred’s release. In part he was influenced by six letters submitted on Fred’s behalf. A prominent San Gabriel attorney wrote that Fred had an excellent reputation for honesty and integrity and was at all times loyal to America. These sentiments were echoed by the manager of a major San Gabriel bank. In an unusual action for a municipal official, the Clerk of the City of San Gabriel submitted an official letter of support. In his report, the government reviewer perceptively concluded that “The only thing that supports the hearing board’s recommendation [for permanent internment] is the fact that the subject is Japanese. All of his activities have been in harmony with American concepts.”
Unfortunately Fred could not be released. While he was imprisoned, the government was incarcerating all West Coast Japanese Americans under Executive Order 9066. In Fred’s absence, his wife Mitoko had to dispose of all of the nursery stock, including the camellias. She and her children were removed from their homes, first to a temporary detention center and then to the Gila River War Relocation Authority camp in Arizona. So Fred was transferred to Gila River.
In early 1945, Fred and Mitoko were released to return to San Gabriel. They painstakingly rebuilt a nursery business, the San Gabriel Nursery and Florist, which is still in existence. In 1954 they became became naturalized U.S. citizens. Fred continued to be an active community leader until he passed away in 1976. Mitoko passed away in 1990.
Thank you for this opportunity to briefly tell the story of Fred Waichi Yoshimura. I want to conclude by expressing my appreciation to Descanso Gardens for their recent efforts to publicly acknowledge the camellias acquired from Fred, as well as Francis Miyosaku Uyematsu, and to help correct the historical record about their acquisition.