Mystery of the Cover Solved

Tets Furukawa of Santa Maria has solved the mystery of our book cover!

Furukawa, who grew up in Guadalupe, west of Santa Maria, visited the small town this week to compare the storefronts along Highway One with the storefronts on our cover.

They matched. The windows are all the same. The only thing missing is the "Noodles" sign.

He also figured out which parade appears on the cover. We had previously learned that the older girl shepherding the children is Midori Suzuki. And we had learned that the first girl on the left is Yo Hozaki, daughter of the photographer.

Since the photo was mixed in with others of the Lompoc Fourth of July Parade of 1933, we believed that this one also was a shot of that parade. But at the Montrose party two weeks ago Yo Hozaki Hongo said she thought that was wrong. She remembers her father taking the picture.

"It was in another town," she said. "It was for a church opening or something like that. Our outfits were for church."

Tets Furukawa's research shows that there was a parade in Guadalupe in October of 1933 to celebrate the placement of an altar at the Buddhist Temple. People came from all over the region including Lompoc.

Almost certainly that explains the story of our cover.

Thank you Tets Furukawa.

Dr. Kent Haldan to Come to Nor Cal Book Launch

Dr. Kent Haldan, whose research made possible Vanished: Lompoc's Japanese, will be present at the Northern California Book Launch and Lompoc Nisei Reunion Party.

Haldan, a professor at Diablo Valley College in Concord has devoted much of his academic career to the Nikkei community in Santa Barbara County. When he learned of the research for Vanished, he generously made his work available.

Haldan provided a hand-written list of all one hundred Lompoc Issei families, copies of the results from the survey of Lompoc Issei farmers in February 1942, a copy of the famous map of the Lompoc Valley showing Issei farms and Camp Cooke which Earl Warren used to urge evacuation, and copies of the War Relocation Authority final report for the Lompoc area. All of them were vital for understanding the interviews conducted for the book.

Dr. Haldan is the second "big name" to announce plans to attend. Chiyo Iwamoto Kobayashi, whose family serves as the connecting link to the various portions of the book, previously said she would come all the way from Los Angeles for the occasion.

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NorCAL Book Launch and Lompoc Reunion Party

The Northern California Book Launch and Lompoc Reunion Party has been set.

It will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 6 at United Christian Church, 1886 College Ave., Livermore CA 94550. Directions are as follows:

From I-580 driving east, take Portola exit, stay on Portola, turn right onto L Street, pass First Presbyterian Church, turn right on College. Church is one block on the right at the corner of College and M. From I-580 traveling west, take North Livermore exit, go south on North Livermore several miles, go through town. Near city buildings turn right on College, go to the corner of College and M.

Anyone interested in the book and the stories surrounding it is invited. We look forward to meeting you.

Montrose SoCal Book Launch Party

They could have come for the food. That alone was worth the drive. Or for the stories. It was a historian's delight. They could have come for the camaraderie. People who had not laid eyes on one another for 68 years reunited. Or they could have come for the book. It was good too, and, for them it sold at a discount.

Fifty people, fourteen onetime Lompocans and their relatives and friends, enjoyed all four payoffs as they gathered Saturday at the Montrose Library for the Southern California Book Launch of Vanished: Lompoc's Japanese.

Mike Mori, grandson of the photographer of the book's cover, presided. He regaled the crowd with his story of telling his mother to never answer questions from a reporter unless her son were present. And then the reporter turned out to be White!

George Yoshitake retold his favorite yarn, the one about urging a friend of his, a Lompoc writer, to look into the forced evacuation of the Nikkeijin from Lompoc in 1942, and their non-return in 1945.

The reporter talked too, about how the book received its name, from the ignorance among current Lompocans about the Nikkei departure. He talked about the research process triggered by Yoshitake, and why he kept digging. Janet Kawahata Saisho answered that one for him. "He's a reporter!" He finished by retelling Chapter One: "Chiyo Goes to the Prom."

But the best stories came from the former residents themselves. Hank Iwamoto talked about his father being refused service at Lompoc's La Purisima Inn in July of 1945, and people telling him "We don't want you."

George Murakami remembered the "No Japs Served" sign at A.L. Johnson's gas station. Chet Kitaguchi talked about his service time with the 442nd in Italy and France. He was one of the reinforcements who took over immediately after the Lost Platoon was saved.

And Yo Hozaki Hongo, the little girl on the left on our book's cover, shared her doubts about the location of the parade. She thinks it was not in Lompoc.

Others contributed in their own way.Allison Kiyoko Nakamura shot forty pictures. Lynn Mori and Jean Nakashima Tekawa, and others, commandeered the food. Yosh Nakayama, who had come all the way from Utah, held up a Lompoc High School yearbook with his picture.

Michi Hozaki Mori just leaned back and smiled at what had resulted after her son and that strange reporter met up.

Thanks to everybody. It was a wonderful day.

The Reporter

Launch Looms!

The official Vanished Southern California Book Launch and Reunion Party is just hours away.

Mike Mori says people are volunteering food "right and left." Thanks to several of you, a writer from the Rafu contacted me by e-mail today. He would like a photograph of the gathering. If you have a camera, bring it. The latest ex-Lompocan to join the guest list is Yo Hozaki Hongo, the third girl from the right on the cover of the book.

The first commitment for the Northern California party on November 6 is Chiyo Iwamoto Kobayashi. This little book seems to be gathering a bit of a following. Thank you, thank you.

I'll write more after Saturday. I suspect I'll have a lot to write.
John

Glendale Looking Exciting with Vet Kitaguchi

One of three Lompocans to serve in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team will be with us on the 16th in Glendale, it was announced yesterday.

Chitose Kitaguchi, 87, who with his brother Akio and Ken Sakanashi were Lompoc's contribution to the 442nd, is making plans to attend. "I'll take him myself," said his son Rich, who called for more information. The 442nd was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal this week.

It was also learned that Kiyo Iwamoto Nakamura and Yosh Nakayama will be coming all the way from Utah to Glendale. Also Jean Nakashima Tekawa and May Murakami Musenga are planning to attend. Also George Fukawa and his sister Chieko Fukawa Iida. Also Judy Kikuno Nakatani.
We already knew about Hank Iwamoto and Michiko Hozaki Mori and Janet Kawahata Saisho. That makes a total of eleven former Lompocans planning to attend this event. We only had six on October 2 in Lompoc and that was a blast! George Yoshitake made sushi. We just learned that Patti Fukawa Nishimura is going to bring Famous Gardena sushi! If Lompoc was a blast maybe Glendale will be a BIGGER blast!

Here's a cute story that surfaced today at the Lompoc Valley Historical Society. It concerns how Katie Inouye Kayser came to have an English instead of Japanese first name. It comes from Katharyn Donnelly of South Carolina. She says that when Koto Inouye was in the "convalescent home" in Lompoc with her newborn daughter she told Dr. Jones that she would like her daughter to have an English name.The doctor replied, "I just delivered a Katharyn." So Koto gave her infant daughter the exact same name. Katharyn. (Kay) Hennessy Donnelly now lives in South Carolina.

Lompoc Pre-Launch Party

Hi Everybody:

Here is the first review of the Lompoc Pre-Launch Party on Saturday and its aftermath. The words come from Chiyo Iwamoto Kobayashi.

“I finished the book Sunday night. I had a very good feeling about how you interspersed all our comments with the research. I thought you did a good job without hurting anybody. You put it in such a way that nobody will feel anything derogatory. You had the insight to do a marvelous job.”

The turnout at the party almost doubled predictions. Seventy people attended including former Lompocans Kaoru Bill Honda, Michi Hozaki Mori, Katie Inouye Kayser, Kuni Inouye Omura, Chiyo Iwamoto Kobayashi and Marian Nishimura Konishi. Many of their friends and relatives came too, along with Lompoc contributors to the book such as George Yoshitake, Donnie Grossi, and Madeleine Zeische Evans. A delegation from the Lompoc Historical Society, a raft of proofreaders and editors, and, from Santa Maria, Tets Furukawa and Dawn Kamiya also attended.

Among the most moving moments came when George Yoshitake took the microphone to talk of the significance of 1942 and 1945 and how it should not be forgotten. He remembered that on his last Pilgrimage to Manzanar he met a delegation of Muslims.

The surprise attendee was Aki Iwata who came all the way from Sunnyvale. It was Mr. Iwata’s eyewitness view of Lompoc in the early 1950’s which allowed the book to contrast the postwar period so dramatically with the rich Nikkei community of 1941 and before.

As expected, a photographic breakthrough took place. We identified two of the four figures on the cover. The woman overseeing the little girls is Midori Suzuki. The third little girl is Yo Hozaki, eldest daughter of the photographer.

The first error also cropped up. Mr. Iwata’s name appears in the Family Tree section where it should not, but it is missing from the Index where it should be found. Oops.