GARDENA — “Terminal Island: Lost But Not Forgotten” is the theme of the 2024 Day of Remembrance program to be held Saturday, Feb. 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Main Hall of the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute, 1964 W. 162ndSt. in Gardena.
From the early 1900s until the outbreak of World War II, the fishing village of Fish Harbor on Terminal Island was a thriving community of 3,000 people, primarily Japanese immigrants and their U.S.-born children. The local canneries and fishing boats played a vital role in the American fishing industry. In the village’s neat rows of shops and homes, people loved, laughed, worked, played and raised families.
On Feb. 25, 1942, all villagers of Japanese descent were given 48 hours to leave Terminal Island. By April the village was gone, homes and livelihoods taken away and villagers sent to concentration camps.
A screening of the 2007 documentary “Furusato: The Lost Village of Terminal Island” will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Michael Enomoto, architect of the San Pedro Terminal Island Japanese Fishing Village Memorial; June Miyamoto Donovan, president of the Terminal Islanders Club; and David Metzler, director of the documentary. Edgar Award-winning author Naomi Hirahara, who co-wrote “Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor,” will moderate the discussion and Q&A.
This program is partially funded by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the Aratani CARE Award.
Admission is free but donations are greatly appreciated.
For more information, call (310) 324-6611, email [email protected] or visit www.jci-gardena.org.