Having Said Goodbye to Building - Congregation of Tacoma Japanese-American Church Continues On To Mark 100th Anniversary

(This original blog was originally posted under the headline "Another Legacy of World War II in Today's Japanese-American Community" on a internet website at The News Tribune, a daily newspaper in Tacoma, WA on 11/11/07 in a reader-generated section entitled "In Your Neighborhood."

My granduncle, Akira Aoyama, a devout Christian from his student days in his native Japan, no doubt touched base with a few members of Tacoma's Japanese-American community at the beginning of the twentieth century (1903) when he was compelled to wait in the city for several months before a long anticipated meeting and joining with a group of hardy and pioneering engineers led by Cornell University Professor William Hubert Burr (1851-1936) who were part of a field survey team headed south to become part of even bigger story - the creation of the historic Panama Canal.

During this time, said his Japanese biographer Tetsuro Takasaki, Uncle Akira took odd jobs to earn traveling money and continue his studies of English. He purchased and read a number of books towards this goal during his Northwest stay. And it is quite likely that he had some contact with fellow members of his Japanese brothers in Christ through local churches or bible study groups.

While not officially up and running during Akira's day, one such Christian institution was the Japanese-American congregation at Whitney United Methodist Church, formerly located at 1901 Fawcett Avenue built in 1929. Prior to the congregation's forced exodus from it's historic downtown chapel around 2000 as a result of it's property being included in plans for the University of Washington's campus in Tacoma, my family and I were fortunate to be able to attend a service or two at the original site.

The humble exterior of the church revealed a wonderful little worship hall where scattered echoes of the lively, hustle, bustle, loving warmth and nurturing care over the years by now invisible individuals and families who populated its larger, more active congregations in years past lingered in the polished old woodwork. flooring and stained glass windows

We were drawn to the Fawcett Avenue chapel by it's history, because of pre-World War II family ties on my father's side with two families of the clergy (Reverend Nancy Adachi-Osawa & Dr. Charles & Kikue Rich) who served at Whitney during the late seventies and eighties, and our curiosity about a denominational sister of Browns Point United Methodist Church in northeastern Tacoma where our family had most recently attended.

Whitney's pre-war Nikkei congregation enjoyed not only worship services and fellowship with their fellow Japanese-Americans, but much-looked forward to opportunities to share and celebrate traditional cooking and holiday observances with their children and grandchildren. Sukiyaki dinners, pancake breakfasts, mochi, pickle & makizushi sales made mouthwatering memories and brought generations together as they did for Nihon-machi (Japan-Town) residents in cities and towns up and down the West Coast.

Former church neighbors in Tacoma may be cheered by the news the congregation of Whitney United Methodist Church still lives on, recently celebrating it's 100th Anniversary of it's founding last September 22 and 23rd at its present location outside city limits in Puyallup, WA. Now led by the Reverend Edward Iwamoto, Whitney shares facilities with but maintains it's own separate and unique identity from the building's generous host, fellow Methodists at Puyallup United Methodist Church.

According Whitney's newsletter "The Kaiho" a newsletter dated October 2007 which arrived a few weeks ago in my mail, the two day centennial celebration was a resounding success beginning with a reunion luncheon on Saturday, September 22 at Kabuki Restaurant attracting over 90 members of the church's extended faith families. A number of former pastors of Whitney UMC were in attendance including the Reverend Gloria Kymn.

A summary of the lunch, featured Kymn's sharing of her memories at Whitney which thoroughly entertained the assembled crowd. The following day, it was observed that ceremonies were highlighted by Reverend Alpha Takagi whose energetic preaching to a standing-room only audience that eventually overflowed into adjacent rooms, stood in stark contrast to what might be expected of a man approaching his ninetieth birthday.

Before the crash of blog postings from this spring "In Your Neighborhood" here at the News Tribune, if I recall a handful of blogs raised the question about what happened to the Tacoma's Japanese-American community. Interested readers should consult local writer and historian Ronald Magden's excellent history "Furusato: Tacoma-Pierce County Japanese" (c. 1998) for almost any question in regards to this topic. The services of the Tacoma Historical Association may also be of service.

However, as the centennial events at Puyallup's Whitney UMC illustrate, in different times and in totally different community, the light from one of Tacoma's pre-war Japanese-American institutions still shines on - a brave and precious remnant of the talent, energy and perseverance that drove this long-gone but vibrant player in the city's historic past.