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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
Vol. CXXIII, No. 186
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF TACOMA Devoted to the Courts, Real Estate, Finance, Industrial Activities, and Publication of Legal Notices
Published Published Since Since 1890 1890
UW Tacoma
Japanese Language School Memorial to be unveiled Oct. 10 Posted online Tues., Sept. 23 Images Courtesy University of Washington Tacoma The University of Washington Tacoma (UWT) will hold a public ceremony in October to unveil a public memorial that commemorates the Japanese Language School, its principal and teachers, and the thriving Japanese-American community that didn't return to downtown Tacoma after World War II. From the 1890s into the 1940s, Tacoma's "Japan Town" was defined by a wide range of businesses, hotels, and homes primarily located between South 11th Street and South 21st Street near Pacific Avenue, according to UWT officials. For more than 30 years, between 1911 and 1942, the Japanese Language School, known as Nihongo Gakko, served Tacoma's thriving JapaneseAmerican community. The children from this community attended Tacoma public schools each weekday. After school was let out, the children gathered at Nihongo Gakko to learn the language, arts, and cultural traditions of Japan, the homeland of their parents and grandparents. Tacoma's Japan Town did not return to the downtown area after World War II and the in-
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ternment of the city's Japanese-American citizens. After World War II, the Japanese Language School building stood mostly vacant for decades. The wood-frame building gradually deteriorated. Cited by the City of Tacoma as a safety hazard in 2003, UWT officials hired a preservation-oriented architectural firm that determined the building could not be restored with historic integrity. The building was demolished a year later. Last year, UWT officials announced they were close to completing a fundraising goal to build a permanent memorial on campus to honor the historic Japanese Language School. The memorial will feature a bronze piece by sculptor Gerard Tsutakawa, a renowned artist best known for his "Mitt" at Safeco Field in Seattle. As part of the memorial project, an interpretive plaque cast in bronze will tell the story of the school and its community.
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ABOVE: Administrators, faculty, and students gather outside the Japanese Language School in downtown Tacoma on May 22, 1927. Between 1911 and 1942, the school served Tacoma's thriving Japanese-American community by teaching young people the language, arts, and cultural traditions of Japan, the homeland of their parents and grandparents. BELOW: The Japanese Language School Memorial on the University of Washington Tacoma campus will feature a bronze sculpture by Gerard Tsutakawa. UWT officials will hold a public ceremony to unveil and celebrate the Japanese Language School Memorial on Fri., Oct. 10, at 10 a.m., at the corner of South 17th Street and Pacific Avenue on the UWT Prairie Line Trail. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is recommended online at tacoma.uw.edu. More information is available online at tacoma.uw.edu. To read the Tacoma Daily Index's complete and comprehensive coverage of the UWT Japanese Language School Memorial, visit our Web site for the following articles: — UW Tacoma approaches fundraising goal for Japanese Language School memorial (Tacoma Daily Index, May 8, 2013) — City Hall presentation Tuesday on UW Tacoma Japanese Language School memorial (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 5, 2011) — UW Tacoma closer to final master plan (Tacoma Daily Index, Oct. 15, 2008) — One college structure being built, another being razed (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 11, 2004)