08 Dec A One-day Exhibition at the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden
Sunday December 14, from 10am to 4pm
The Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden was designed by Japanese American landscape architect Kintsuchi Fujii and was completed in 1940. During World War II and prior to the more widely known mass incarceration of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, Fujii was part of a large group of immigrants who were targeted, arrested, and detained as a result of the US government’s Alien Enemy Act which authorized Presidential Proclamations 2525 (2526,2527). Considered a community leader, Fujii was among those deemed to be “enemy aliens” and ordered to be detained at the Tuna Canyon Detention Station, located in Tujunga, only a few miles from the garden. Due to capacity limits at Tuna Canyon, Fujii was ultimately held for one day at a Tuna Canyon substation at the Griffith Park Internment Camp. His name is included on an Honor Roll list of detainees of Tuna Canyon.
From 1941 to 1943 the Tuna Canyon Detention Stationheld over 2000 prisoners—mostly Japanese, but also Germans, Italians, and others. Today, only the old oak trees remain, and few people know of its history. In 2013 the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition (TCDSC) was founded to illuminate this tragic event so that such injustice is never again experienced by any group (https://www.tunacanyon.org/). The TCDSCshares the history of Tuna Canyon and stories of its prisoners through the booklet, “Tuna Canyon Detention Station” and an exhibition Only the Oaks Remain.
In honor of Kintsuchi Fujii and the many others unjustly held at these lesser known confinement sites, the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden will host the Only the Oaks Remain exhibition on Sunday December 14 from 10am to 4pm. The exhibition is free with garden admission.
At 1pm, we will hold a program with remarks from members of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition, including coalition president Kyoko Nancy Oda, and renowned Japanese garden historian, Dr. Kendall H. Brown. The remarks will be followed by light refreshments and a shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) performance at 2pm on the teahouse verandah by Rachel Rudich, a seasoned shakuhachi player who has performed internationally and locally, including at REDCAT at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.