THE OUTLINE OF THE TERMINAL ISLANDERS

Terminal Island is located at the mouth of the Los Angeles Harbor, directly across the channel from the city of San Pedro. 33 miles south of the City of Los Angeles, California.

In 1971, The Terminal Islanders held a reunion party at Golden Palace Restaurant in China Town at Los Angeles. Although scattered throughout the country, people came to this party from Chicago, Illinois and Seabrook, New Jersey. There were about 900 people at this reunion.

Few months later, the Terminal Islanders Club was organized by the former residents of this fishing village. This now extinct fishing village was once very active in the social structure of the Japanese community in Los Angeles. Following are some of the more active organizations: Southern California Fishermen Association, Japanese Association (Nihon Jin-Kai), Japanese Business Organization, JACL, Teen-ager and Kibei Nisei Young Men’s Association, Japanese and Nisei Ladies Society, Son-Jin Kai, Boys Scout, Japanese Language Schools and all religious church groups.

We, as former residents of Terminal Island, are proud of this fishing village, which existed from the year 1914 to 1942. With the beginning of World War II between Japan and United States, we lost our notable birth place. It was a mortal blow to the Isseis and the Niseis, who had a promising future there, to evacuate within 48 hours notice and later on 24 hours due to the order of the U. S. Military Government. We spent the duration of the war at the so called relocation centers.

At the end of the war, we were able to return to the West Coast to resume our normal livelihood. We worked and studied hard.

Today, Terminal Islanders consists of Physicians and Surgeons, Attorneys, Dentists, Pharmacists, Architects, Artists, Engineers, Machinists, Mechanics, Businessmen, Technicians, Nurses, Gardeners and some are still continuing the fishing industry, etc.

We, Terminal Islanders, came back strong like our beloved pioneers, who arrived in this country, without the knowledge of the language and the culture of the United States. In comparison, the early pioneers fought and overcame much more of an obstacle than ours. The evacuation and subsequent detention in relocation centers must be one of the dark side of the history of the United States.

We came back and made a virtue of necessity and returned to normalcy within few years. This is the “Terminal Islanders”.

And many thanks to the fellow Terminal Islanders, who made this project possible.

The Terminal Islanders

Projector, Historian

Presented by,

Tamikazu Tom Hamasaki