Discovery of old memo ignites drive to build Garden of Remembrance at San Francisco State

By Donna Tam

It all started with a sheet of paper. From the moment she held it in her hand Carole Hayashino knew what it was.

It was a university memo to the faculty at San Francisco State University. The names of 19 students were listed along with text that plainly stated:

“Our roster shows that we enrolled nineteen Japanese students this spring semester. Already several of them have withdrawn and filed leaving cards. We know certain faculty have made personal arrangements with the individual students for him to complete his work in absentia. If you have made any such arrangements, please report this to us at once so we may post the fact on his record. Without this information we must mark the student withdrawn from your course.”

The document was dated April 6, 1942. No other information was written. But, Hayashino, who at the time was the associate vice president of university advancement and development, knew that the absentia stated in the memo was in reference to the Japanese American internment camps that existed during World War II. Some of the names she recognized. Some she did not.

She knew what injustices these 19 Japanese American students had to go through after losing their chance at a college education.

“It’s one of the ugliest mistakes in history,” said Hayashino of the interment camps. “That’s American History. They talk about the Japanese, but its American history.”

***

A small path gently winds through the secluded area. The surrounding trees and building provide enough shelter to make it hidden, but the open space allows visitors to experience the tranquility of nature.

Most people say that it’s beautiful. A piece of art built in the heart of SF State’s campus.

Spreading from the center is a plot of green grass, bordered by other paths and benches. The grass is dotted with a few trees and large boulders. These boulders seem randomly placed, but at the same time there is a feeling of familiarity. Those 10 boulders are there for a reason.

At the end of the path there is a delicate waterfall. The water trickles over carefully-placed stones into a small pond. More large boulders surround it, giving students a place to sit, eat, reflect, or enjoy the water’s comfort.

***

“No hesitation,” Isao Ogura said in a deep raspy voice. “Let’s do it.”

Ogura is a thin man with the dark, leathery skin of a man who has spent many hours outdoor. A professional gardener, Ogura played a major role in the creation of the Garden of Remembrance, the secluded memorial dedicated to the 19 students who were forced to withdraw from their classes. The memorial was designed by Ruth Asawa, an artist and former internee. He said he didn’t have to think about volunteering his time to work on the garden, he did it for the Japanese American community.

“It shows some respect for the past generations and what the past generations accomplished despite its struggles,” said Ogura, who didn’t arrive in the United States until the 1955. Although he escaped the experience of the camps, he still feels for the Japanese Americans who had to endure it.

Along with fellow gardener Shigeru Namba, Ogura worked on nights and weekends for about a year to finish the memorial. Both Namba and Ogura, members of the Professional Gardeners Federation of Northern California, had full time jobs in addition to the work they put into the garden.

Like Ogura, Namba, a soft-spoken man of few words, was modest. He talked about the placement of the 10 huge boulders and the stones in the waterfall as if they were a minor part.

Each boulder represents one of the ten interment camps in the United States that the Japanese Americans were diverted to. Shipped in from Santa Cruz, Namba placed each boulder according to the correlating location on a U.S. map.

He acknowledged his ignorance to the history of the camps.

“I didn’t know very much of the history. I came late and had a good time, and I didn’t have any interest,” he admitted.

But as he got more involved in the project, he began to learn and in the end was glad to give the community something close to his heart.

Ogura continues to be grateful for the work of Japanese gardeners before him. As a young immigrant who started out with only $90 in his pocket, he experienced the kindness of Japanese gardeners in the United States. They took him under their wing and taught him their craft.

“As Japanese gardeners are disappearing, I had to do something for the younger generation,” he said. The garden was as much a symbol of respect for the Japanese gardeners who came before him, as it was for the interned Japanese Americans.

***

Off to the side of the small path, near the waterfall, is a lone bench. A tree looms over it, almost camouflaging it. It’s placed away from the other benches, which are along the path, surrounding the garden. Each bench was donated, with small plaques that honor an individual or individuals within the Japanese American community.

The bench that sits off to the side also has a plaque. It speaks to the honor of Tadashi Hikoyeda, a Japanese gardener whose family was interned, yet volunteered for combat duty in Europe.

It was donated by Phil Evans, director of campus grounds. He identifies Hikoyeda as his mentor, who helped to him to flourish his career as a landscaper.

“After the war, (Hikoyeda) found narrow opportunities for employment, and became one of the many Japanese-American professional gardeners whose work incorporated principles and aesthetic from the Japanese garden tradition,” Evan wrote in an email.

“These gardeners had a great influence on American garden design, and on me personally. I will never forget the exemplary graciousness of Mr. Hikoyeda, despite the tremendous injustices he experienced. He dedicated his life to the work of a gardener, bringing beauty, order, and forgiveness to the culture which had feared him.”

***

Carole Hayashino’s father was a college student when it happened. He had just enrolled at the College of the Pacific, now known as the University of the Pacific, in Stockton, California, when his family was forced to move to the interment camp in Rohwer, Arkansas.

“After the war, they returned to Stockton, but they had to find a new home…As a result my father never had a chance to go back to college,” Hayashino said. “It had a deep impact on me. I grew up listening to their stories.”

She cites this experience as one of the reasons why education is so important to Japanese Americans. When she saw the memo from 1942, she knew she had to do something about the injustices to these 19 students. An SF State alumnae and an active member of the Asian American community, Hayashino wrote to President Robert Corrigan and asked him to issue these students honorary degrees from the University.

“Had it not been for WWII, these students would have been alumni…their education was just stopped,” said Hayashino, who is currently, the Vice President for University Advancement at Sacramento State.

Corrigan agreed. In 1998 he issues honorary degrees to each of the students. Then in 2001, after enough funding was secured, construction of the Garden of Remembrance began.

“We hope it’s a place for students to sit and reflect. Not only on the Japanese American experience, but also about civil rights,” Hayashino said.

***

The waterfall is a symbol of energy and renewal, celebrating the release of the Japanese Americans interned.

Not too far from it, is a bronze plaque atop a rectangular marker. Its color is so unassuming it looks to have grown from the dirt and plants behind it.

The plaque displays several official documents, left unchanged so that visitors can decipher history for themselves.

One of the official documents printed on the plaque is the memo Hayashino first discovered. After the text discussing the unexplained withdrawal of the students, the names of these 19 students are listed:

“People learn in different ways—books, performance, music—for people to learn through these gardens, that was our hope,” Hayashino said, adding that the garden was made for people to be apart of it.

She said the rocks are there for people to sit on, lean on, eat lunch on, but also to be curious about.

“People have to ask questions and that’s what it’s about. We want people to ask questions,” she said. “It’s not just the end product, it’s the process.”