Tuna Canyon Exhibit
Descanso Gardens
Saturday, March 8, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
1418 Descanso Drive
La Canada, Flintridge, CA 91011
After 83 years, Descanso Gardens has programmed an event with the Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles, Kenko Sone; expert, Dr. Kendall Brown, Professor of Asian Art History at CSULB and Japanese Garden expert; and Arian Noorzai, Descanso’s camellia horticulturalist and a first-generation Afghan American whose career in horticulture began while he was studying at the American University of Cairo on Saturday, March 8, at 3:00.
This will be followed by descendants of detainees held at Tuna Canyon Detention Station.
Dr. Russell Endo (retired, University of Colorado, Ethnic Studies) wrote a presentation describing how Fred Waichi Yoshimura was arrested by the FBI in March, 1942, and then taken to Tuna Canyon, located five miles away from Descanso Gardens.
Descanso Gardens’ Manchester Boddy (original owner) bought up Yoshimura’s camellia stock on the cheap. Unable to attend, Shawn Iwaoka will read Endo’s presentation on his behalf.
Donna Sugimoto, the granddaughter of Shinsuke Sugimoto, will talk about her discovery of her grandfather’s life story after finding pictures and papers after his passing.
The Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition’s “Only the Oaks Remain,” exhibit will bring history to life in the beautiful Japanese Garden.
The Hanafuki camellia and “Berenice Boddy” renamed Camellia japonica of the Uyematsu Collection are examples of the wartime tragedy.
The garden has become a place of healing. There are two Hiroshima survivor trees in the Japanese Garden.
Both are descendants of a Japanese persimmon that survived the atomic bomb blast in 1945. They were given to Descanso Gardens in 2020 by the Rotary Heiwa: Hiroshima Survivor Tree group to help spread their message of peace and hope for a nuclear-free world.
