For a century, the SEJSCC has been the center of togetherness for generations.

By J.K. YAMAMOTO

July 26, 2025, marks a historic milestone as the Southeast Japanese School and Community Center (SEJSCC) celebrates its 100th anniversary.

From its humble beginnings on Nawa Ranch in 1925, the center has evolved into a cornerstone of the community, fostering a legacy of cultural enrichment, education, and togetherness across generations.

Since its establishment, the SEJSCC has offered a diverse range of impactful programs. The Japanese language school has educated generations of students, preserved linguistic heritage, and instilled cultural pride. Programs such as ikebana, taiko and koto have created opportunities for artistic expression and deep cultural connection. Additionally, activities like ballroom dancing, hula, judo, kendo and basketball have promoted physical fitness, discipline, and camaraderie among participants.

“The Southeast Japanese School and Community Center has made an indelible impact by promoting Japanese culture and fostering community bonds,” said Dean Wada, SEJSCC board president.

Expanding the School

Kimie Matsumoto has been involved in SEJSCC since the late 1970s, when her children started going to the Japanese School. “As they got older, my children got involved with basketball program … we used to have baseball, too … My children grew up utilizing the Community Center,” she said.

As a member of the school’s PTA for over 20 years, Matsumoto had to deal with the need for more space. “Enrollment at the Japanese School became quite big. We didn’t have enough room at the Community Center … When we rebuilt, we added only enough room to put two rooms in … One of the biggest rooms was split into two. At the time it was good enough but as enrollment got bigger, there was no way to teach that many children.”

Matsumoto and others spearheaded a project to add more classrooms. “We had to get everybody else on board. You can only raise so much money just from Japanese School … Judo, kendo, the taiko group … we had to invite the others to give us their input.”

The old building was in bad shape and was a target of vandalism. After four years of raising money and consulting architects, the new building was finished in 1994, featuring 10 additional rooms plus a multipurpose room.

The Board of Directors approved the project, but when the building was completed they asked the members of the Building Committee to become the new board. Matsumoto has been a board member ever since.

Although the school had over 100 students when the building project started, it went down by the time the new building opened. At the time, the school was part of the Kyodo System, also known as the Japanese Language School Unified System. Matsumoto, who was teaching high school Japanese, learned that the parents weren’t happy with Kyodo. “So we decided we have to go independent. They asked me to be the director … I started doing that in 1996 when we became independent from the Kyodo System.”

Japanese was becoming a popular subject in high schools in the area, but the Norwalk school attracted people whose schools didn’t offer Japanese. “From the 90th anniversary to the 100th, we had well over 100 students enrolled every year except for the pandemic,” Matsumoto recalled. “One year we were online. During that time enrollment went down … When we went back the following year to in-person teaching, everybody came back. It hasn’t changed since then.”

More students enrolled during the past year because Orange County Buddhist Church in Anaheim closed its Japanese school. Matsumoto found out that many people were aware of the Community Center in Norwalk but had never heard of the Japanese School until now.

Regarding anniversary events, Matsumoto noted, “The 90th was the first time we did any kind of celebration for the Community Center. Prior to that it was just the Japanese School … The first time I was involved (in the celebration) was the 60th anniversary.”

Matsumoto and board member Toshi Teramoto were instrumental in having another anniversary celebration for the school’s 75th anniversary in 2000, involving past parents and students. They decided to make the 90th anniversary a celebration for the entire SEJSCC, and all affiliated groups were asked to be part of it. “It was good that we did a Community Center-wide celebration because that’s what it’s all about. It should be with everybody involved.”

Since then, the board members have retired in order to let younger people take over, and “they’re doing a terrific job,” Matsumoto said.

She added, “The Japanese School is what started the Community Center. It’s got to be protected and continue to thrive, beyond me and my children. My grandchildren have been going to the Japanee School, and it’s gratifying that it is still there.”

Remembering the Issei and Nisei

Linda Kusuda has been involved with SEJSCC since 1983, when she was recruited for the girls’ basketball team. At the time, “basketball the only thing in the world” for her, but eventually she volunteered to help organize the basketball group’s booths for the annual festival. That proved to be too much work for one person, so two vice presidents were elected, one to do the games and one to do the food.

Kusuda did not want to be president of the board, but one day she missed a meeting because she went Kaiser to see her husband, who had suffered a heart attack. “I found out the next day they elected me president because i wasn’t there.”

During her one-year term in the early ’90s, one of the changes she implemented was fundraising for basketball through a pancake breakfast. Although the board had no experience putting on such an event, a past president who was a chef showed them how to cook mass quantities of eggs, sausages and pancakes. A friend of the center sold jewelry at the event, and this in turn led to the annual craft fair. Around this time SEJSCC also launched its scholarship program, which made people more likely to buy pancake tickets for the sake of the kids.

“My son joined judo, so I got involved with judo too, helped with judo functions like washing rice for mochi, helped judo sell cha siu bao, chirashi sushi,” Kusuda said. Money raised from lunch sales was used to start a judo scholarship.

She stressed the importance of having enough volunteers to raise funds for and implement such projects as repairs, modernizing the bathrooms, getting surveillance cameras, and installing TVs to show videos.

As one of the historians of SEJSCC, Kusuda noted the contributions of Juichi Nawa. “The tenacity of just one man and a few farmers to continue teaching Japanese culture and language to their children started a church in Norwalk, continued to have school buildings built on his property and have it continue there, from 1925.” In 1930, about two acres next to the Nawa farm were bought by Kinso Nakatani. a U.S. citizen, who asked his father Takuichi, a shrine-builder in Japan, to design the new school. The elder Nakatani also helped build the famous Moon Bridge in San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden.

Another connection to the Bay Area is that noted San Francisco sculptor Ruth Asawa was among the Norwalk and Downey farming families that attended the Japanese School before the war.

After the wartime incarceration, the Nawas — who owned their property because they had purchased it before the Alien Land Law of 1913 — provided a place to stay for returning Japanese Americans who did not yet have housing. Thereafter, SEJSCC “thrived as a community center where people could come watch movies … Other clubs started opening up, ikebana, fishing, poker, too,” Kusuda said. “And other Japanese activities like kimekomi, chigirie, minyo, karaoke.” Plus judo, kendo, and of course, basketball.

When funds needed to be raised for a new community center, the elders did whatever they had to do, including “l(fā)ooking to the White Pages for any Japanese names” and asking for money, Kusuda said. “Some people who recently passed were very influential in raising money.:

Referring to the sports programs, she added, “With the passage of time, the senseis who taught these activities got older and passed away.”

Reflecting on this history, Kusuda is always amazed at what “a few people through their tenacity and endurance” were able to accomplish. “You have to have something bigger than yourself to be involved with … It’s the hardest thing to get people newly involved to realize the work that Issei and Nisei had to do for something they believed in.”

For the Japanese American community of Southern California, SEJSCC is “really a gem,” she said.

From Parent to Board Member

Toshi Teramoto’s involvement with SEJSCC began “when our son enrolled in the Japanese School back in 1982. Besides the Japanese School, my children joined the Norwalk Youth Group and played basketball.

“After our children graduated from Japanese School and aged out from the sport group, the parents stayed and volunteered. Mrs. Matsumoto, I, and six other volunteers were recruited as board members in 1994 and Mrs. Kusuda joined the board a few years later. We served as the board members for the last 30 years until June of 2024.”

Having witnessed many changes through the years, Teramoto said, “There is so much to say on the 100th anniversary — my appreciation to the Issei pioneers for their foresight to lay down the foundation to follow, the Nisei for preserving and constructing the multi-purpose building, and the Sansei and Yonsei for modernizing with the new annex building for everyone to enjoy.

“I hope everyone who participates in the activities at Southeast Japanese School and Community Center appreciates what we have here and volunteers willingly when asked.”

Centennial Celebrations

The SEJSCC kicked off centennial celebrations with the Reverse Draw on March 8, which will be followed by a dinner/dance on May 24. The grand finale will be a celebration dinner party on July 26.

To commemorate this milestone, the SEJSCC will also release an anniversary book chronicling the center’s rich history from its early beginnings to the present day. This publication will highlight the evolution of the school, the stories behind its sports and cultural programs, and photographs from the anniversary celebration.

The SEJSCC invites everyone to join this historic events honoring 100 years of community, culture and heritage. Here’s to another century of creating memories and enriching lives together.

For more information about the celebrations or the anniversary book, contact [email protected].

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