A Cultural Haven in the City of Gardena
The center was filled with a cacophonous orchestra of voices, speaking a mixture of Japanese and English, as the seniors hurried to take their seats beside the stage. At one corner of the room, a band of Ukulele players, wearing colorful Hawaiian shirts, awaited their turn on stage. Over the noise, the faint twang of traditional Japanese music wafted through the air, while two Kabuki dancers practiced their choreography upstairs. In the midst of all the festivities stood a woman with a clipboard in hand, who surveyed the room with a look of control and pride.
For Alison Kochiyama, this was just another Friday morning as the executive director at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute.
“Most Japanese centers in these Japanese-American communities started as Japanese language schools,” Kochiyama said, as she excused herself from the crowded room and sat down in her office. “Today, we are celebrating all of the seniors’ birthdays for this month, we all look forward to all of the performances.”
“We incorporated in 1967 as the Gardena Valley language school and then a year later we changed our name to the Gardena Valley Cultural Institute, because it was more than just language it encompasses Martial Arts, traditional arts and dance and different Japanese cultural traditions,” said Kochiyama.
Alison Kochiyama has worked as the executive director at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute since 2004 and finds joy in helping provide the community with a sanctuary built on the ideas of cultural expression and acceptance.
“Day time is predominantly our senior time, as you’re seeing today,” said Kochiyama.“We are very, very fortunate to have a great participation from our senior community as well as our senior volunteers. The seniors are basically teaching their own classes and programs and it’s a mix of different cultural aspects.”
Bando Hidesomi is a traditional Japanese Kabuki dancer and teacher and uses the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institutes as a place to teach her students.
“My passion is my job, so everything is rewarding to share what I love and naturally it extends to the community,” Hidesomi said when asked about why she enjoys teaching Japanese dance.
According to Hidesomi, traditional Japanese dancing started in Kabuki during the Edo period approximately 400 years ago. Hidesomi belongs to a group of dancers who study and perform under the Bando School of Nihonbuyo. The Kabuki dance has been passed down for generations from teacher to teacher.
“Cultural center wise, they support me one hundred and ten percent,” Hidesomi said. “I think that is what’s special about the Japanese Cultural Institutes, there’s this one in Gardena and one in Pasadena. It is comforting for us to know that there’s people that support us,” she said.
According to the website, the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute strives to understand and appreciate the history and culture connected with Japanese-Americans living in Gardena.
“Although World War II is definitely a part of Japanese-American history; it’s more importantly a part of United States history. That’s why we have to do our annual day of remembrance program, to continue to bring awareness and to commemorate the Japanese-Americans that have experienced that,” Kochiyama said.
Dale Inafuku, the Office Manager of Programs and Technology Specialist at the center, says he was humbled when Nisei veterans came and spoke at the center.
“Currently, we are displaying tributes of Japanese World War II Nisei soldiers and we actually have a program honoring the Nisei soldiers,” Inafuku said pointing at a large display in the center’s Japanese library. Gardena has a large population of Asian-Americans with 27.4% of its residents being of Japanese or Asian decent. This is comparable to one of Gardena’s neighboring South Bay cities, Inglewood, which has a population of 0.6% Asian-American, according to City-Data website.
“I would like to think that issues on discrimination have become better, but with all immigration populations, we continues to face a lot of these issues. I mean it has come up recently with the Muslim community. I think that it is just continual education and reminders that we have to keep alive the history of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps,” said Kochiyama.
According to Kochiyama, the Institute is very inclusive and welcomes all members of the Gardena and the South Bay, regardless of race, adding, “we have a lot of Hawaiian culture here, because a lot of our seniors came from Hawaii, so can see that influence at the center.”
“Chica” Nagata, a Ukalalle Teacher at the institute says, “the only way I can connect Japanese and Hawaiian cultures is starting with Japanese immigrants were brought to Hawaii to work in the sugar plantations and that’s where the mixture of Japanese culture mixed with Hawaiian community and all the other immigrants that came from around the world mixed in.”
“They’re learning by sharing their cultural issues and interests. I think the center brings an understanding for everyone,” Kochiyama said. “I mean, I think that just having a cultural center here, to talk about the culture and bring cultural awareness is great. I guess it’s really about if people can learn more about each other’s cultures, but also the present day interests that brings them in.”
