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Broken Trust

Rally of Solidarity for Japantown ‘Y’

By Ethen Lieser

Longtime Japantown resident Dave Tatsuno stood on a podium in front of hundreds of gatherers at the “Broken Trust” rally at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California on July 12.

In a hoarse voice worn by age, Tatsuno, an active member of the YWCA for over 50 years, disappointedly said, “It’s a shame.”

The shame wasn’t in the rally itself, but rather the reason for the rally. Japanese Americans of all generations attended this monumental event to enforce what they say was a promise made by the San Francisco YWCA that the YWCA building, 1830 Sutter St., would be held in trust for the community, and not for making profits.

Even infants, who won’t have any personal recollection of this rally in the future, were proudly wheeled or rode piggy-back into the community center. The elder citizens who could have witnessed first-hand the sacrifices of the issei women in raising funds for the YWCA, also strolled into the center. In some ways, they have straddled the line of the outright prejudices of the early 1900s and the continuing fight for civil rights today.

Active community leaders speaking at the “Broken Trust” rally in Japantown. From left to right, Dorothy Harrison, Beth Abiko Gibson, Rev. Lloyd Wake, and Don Tamaki. Photo by Ethen Lieser.

The initial spark for this rally goes all the way back to the unconstitutional 1913 California Alien Land Law, which wasn’t repealed until the 1950s. According to this law, to sidetrack Japanese immigration into the United States, Japanese Americans were not legally allowed to own property.

“How can you get ahead in America without owning property? But that was the intent of the law,” said Don Tamaki, an attorney for the Soko Bukai, a Christian organization in the Japanese American community that has spearheaded the effort to regain control of the YWCA.

“This issue, the San Francisco YWCA’s broken trust against the Japanese American immigrant women and girls, is so clear cut,” said Carole Hayashino, the associate vice president of San Francisco State University. “It is so egregious to what we know about the democratic principles of fairness and justice. It is especially hurtful because the trust was broken by a nonprofit organization like the YWCA, an organization founded upon Christian values … to empower girls and women … and represented hope and opportunity for immigrant women.”

The YWCA could not be reached for comment.

A PLACE OF THEIR OWN

Eighty-one years ago, Japanese Americans were denied access to the San Francisco YWCA because it was a racially segregated institution. Desperate for a community service center for Japanese women and children entering the United States, several issei women raised funds to purchase the YWCA for $6,500. At the rally, Beth Abiko Gibson, the granddaughter of Lily Abiko, who was one of the leading issei women during the fund-gathering efforts, spoke about her grandmother’s courageous contributions.

“She was very involved from the beginning to get fundraising and getting women to join,” Abiko Gibson said. “It was because of her many of the programs got started … We need to remember.”

While the focus has been on the YWCA building itself, the overriding issue could be the Japanese Americans’ effort to safeguard a historical piece of their history and the honoring of the issei women. Through the past lessons of the Alien Land Law and the Japanese internment camps of World War II, the rally adamantly voiced a phrase: “We need to remember.”

“The YWCA today is not just a building, but an important historic landmark for the Japanese American community,” Hayashino said. “It represents the hopes and dreams of the issei women and girls. The YWCA today doesn’t understand this history. The YWCA also failed to understand the strength of our community, and our commitment to continue the legacy of the issei and nisei.”

Throughout the two-hour long rally, leaders in the Japanese American community petitioned the YWCA to give back what they say is rightfully theirs, citing the disconcerting actions that would allow them to profit as a result of the discriminatory laws. When the YWCA listed the building for sale at $1.65 million and claimed sole ownership of the center, the Soko Bukai, which formed the independent Japanese YWCA in 1912, entered a lawsuit.

Within the past four years, many attempts to negotiate with the San Francisco YWCA have failed. “We think the [YWCA] has lost its moral compass,” Tamaki said. The lawsuit contends that the YWCA agreed in 1921 to hold a “paper title” to the property, which San Francisco YWCA’s own minutes affirm, in understanding that it would be held in trust for the Japanese YWCA. The court date is set for Nov. 5.

“The churches got involved in this situation because in the early 1900s, it was the women from these churches that provided the leadership and went out into the community and raised money,” said Rev. Lloyd Wake, a member of the Japanese Christian Churches. “They wanted to have a facility that would serve the many women and children that were coming from Japan to this community. They knew the difficulties, but despite that, they raised enough money to get this building program started.

“The Soko Bukai is involved because we’re committed to keeping that spirit of service alive in this community. That building has provided a home, programs and resident facilities for young women, and over the years, it has found many ways to continue to serve the community. We want to keep that legacy alive.”

COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER AGAIN

The rally opened with a heart-pounding Taiko performance. Under the direction of Melody Takata, large drums were beat by several children dressed in traditional Japanese wardrobes. The tenacious, march-like beat boomed the gymnasium into a frenzy, seeming to call for a unified effort to regain control of the YWCA. Japanese Americans filled hundreds of folding chairs in front of the podium and the bleacher in the back of the gym, relegating many to stand on the perimeter.

On the backdrop of the podium, two gigantic black-and-white photos showed the legacy of the issei women in action. Japanese ribbons tied to basketball nets shone brightly, and pins saying “Broken Trust” were given out to all who attended. Donation tables lined the side of the gym, collecting money that will help offset the anticipated $100,000 legal effort of the Soko Bukai, for which many of the lawyers have been working free of charge. The rally ended with a candlelight march down Sutter Street.

“This situation touches the raw emotion in the community,” Tamaki said. “It is something every Japanese American family has experienced because they all went through the Alien Land Law period. This community wants to talk about it and let the public knowZwhat had happened. And they want to make sure the building is used for public service.”

Reach Ethen Lieser at elieser@asianweek.com.