By Mukai Farm & Garden
NAP Contributor
Right: Design concept of sculpture for Ober Park.
Over 120 people gathered at Ober Park on Vashon, Washington in May to commemorate the day on which Vashon’s Japanese community was expelled from their homes in 1942. They travelled to Pinedale incarceration camp then to the infamous Tule Lake incarceration camp in Northern California. The keynote speaker, Karen Sunquist came with her mother Metcko Nakamura and several other Sakai families from California and Nevada. She presented to Friends of Mukai two precious gifts: her uncle Harry Sakai’s letterman “V” jacket which he wore on his last day on Vashon, and an identification badge worn by her Aunt Tillie at Tule Lake. Tillie died this past January at the age of 100. Their sister Metcko is the only one of her generation still living. She will soon turn 96.
Prior to Karen Sundquist’s presentation, the event was blessed by Zen practitioner Shuko Sissel Johannessen of the Puget Sound Zen Center on Vashon. The world-famous Celtic guitarist Tony McManus performed a very appropriate composition called, The Emigrant’s Farewell. The community also had a chance to view the design concept for a sculpture to be installed at Ober Park later this year. It will honor the memory of the 111 Nikkei (Japanese American) residents who were expelled from Vashon 83 years ago. The statue has been generously funded by the T-Mobile Hometown Grant program.
