File #: 2024-4307   
Type: Regular Agenda Item
Body: Social Service Human Relations Board
On agenda: 8/29/2024
Title: Discussion of Tonarigumi (Japantown) Marker in the City of Alameda
Attachments: 1. Exhibit 1 - Tonarigumi (Japantown) Marker Slideshow

Title

 

Discussion of Tonarigumi (Japantown) Marker in the City of Alameda

 

Body

 

Honorable President Scott Means and Members of the Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB)

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

City of Alameda (City) staff have invited former Alameda Free Library director Jane Chisaki to speak at the August 29, 2024 SSHRB meeting.

 

BACKGROUND

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 continues to build new awareness of Alameda’s hidden Japantown by creating historic markers that share this rich immigrant history and the proud diversity we embrace today.

 

DISCUSSION

City staff invited former Alameda Free Library Director Jane Chisaki to speak at the August 29, 2024 SSHRB special meeting.

 

This item is for discussion purposes only.

 

RECOMMENDATION

This item is for discussion purposes only. No action is needed.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Andre Fairley, Management Analyst

 

Exhibit:

1.                     Tonarigumi (Japantown) Marker Slideshow