In honor of both Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Preservation Month, Hollywood Heritage is highlighting sites connected to the rich and diverse Asian Pacific American communities that have shaped Hollywood. 

The initial wave of Japanese immigration to southern California began in 1885 when Japanese labor was used on Hawaiian plantations, and U. S. railroad companies needed new labor sources after the U.S. passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. This early group of immigrants were mostly young men who worked on the railroad and as domestic laborers. By the turn of the twentieth century, many had turned to agriculture, cultivating produce, vegetables, and flowers for wholesale markets. (1) 

By 1908, a small Japanese community located in the City of Hollywood. Hollywood had yet to join the City of Los Angeles, functioning as a separate entity. Up to 50 people, mostly men, were scattered across the area, residing and working primarily in central Hollywood on Selma and Prospect. The 1908 City directory lists their occupations as day workers, gardeners, and domestic workers at residences and hotels. At the time there were four “Japanese Employment Companies” including “Cherry Day Work” on Selma at Cahuenga and “Hollywood Japanese Employment Company” on Townsend south of Sunset. These institutions connected first generation Japanese immigrants, known as Issei, to jobs and likely functioned as boarding houses. (2)

In 1910, the City of Hollywood incorporated into Los Angeles. In this year Los Angeles’ Japanese population surpassed that of all other cities in California. (3) It marked the start of a new period of Japanese settlements, where growing numbers of Japanese women came to live and communities began to establish roots in the city. These families ushered in the beginning of a new generation of Nisei, American-born children. In 1910 several Japanese people purchased about ten lots in a new tract on the 1300 and 1400 block of Tamarind Avenue. Between 1911 and 1914, they built small, wooden frame homes generously set back from the street. (4) Several more Japanese families settled nearby on Gordon. (5)

Early residents on Tamarind included Frank Tokichi Aiso, Sanzo Yamamoto, Hirashi Suzuki, and M. Iiyama, who lived next door to each other, all working as gardeners. (6) Frank Tokichi and his wife Taki were born in different towns in Shizukoa, Japan before emigrating to the U.S. in 1900. (7) Around 1915 they moved from Burbank to 1406 Tamarind where they raised their four children. (8) While Mr. Aiso was employed as a gardener for most of his life, he also served in the military during World War I. (9) Their son John Fujio Aiso would serve as a Lieutenant Colonel during World War II before becoming a Judge on the District Court of Appeals, the first Nisei to hold the position. (10)

At the time, the flatlands of Hollywood was a sparsely populated agricultural area. As the film industry and new transportation developed into the 1910s, the landscape urbanized and new residents made the area denser and more urban. Japanese residents on Tamarind responded to the changing environment by replacing their original homes with larger ones, or constructing additional units on the property closer to the street. At 1400 Tamarind, Mr. Yamamoto built a nursery on his property in 1919 and next door the Aiso family constructed a new house in front of the original home in 1929. (11)

To support the growing residential community, a Japanese corridor emerged along the 1500 block of Cahuenga. Several Japanese immigrants opened florist shops and nurseries. In addition to the nursery on his property, Yamamoto opened a florist shop at 1343 Bronson, while H. Nomura had a nursery at Vine and Sunset and a florist shop at Vine and Santa Monica. A Japanese restaurant, grocery store, and “Stop and Shop” on Santa Monica Boulevard and St. Andrews Place (photo, not extant) were scattered throughout the neighborhood. (12) The Japanese communities previously untold contributions were instrumental to the development of Hollywood. As they set down roots, their labor maintained wealthy estates on Prospect Avenue (now Hollywood Boulevard) and Franklin. They were also instrumental in guest services at the Hollywood Hotel.

The Aiso family also came home to Tamarind Ave. (22) In 1956, Frank and Aiso and their sons Daniel and James were living in the back house, while John Fujio lived in the front. In 1970, John Fujio was documented as residing next door at 1412 Tamarind. (23) Judge John Fujio Aiso lived on Tamarind throughout his tenure on Los Angeles Municipal Court, Superior Court, and the 2nd District Court of Appeals. (24) Frank Takichi died in 1960. Taki lived until 1986, when she passed away at 100 years of age. (25).

Many Japanese Americans never returned to the historic Hollywood tract around Tamarind Ave. Other homes, including 1400 Gordon, have been demolished in recent years. The Aiso and Yamamoto family homes at 1400-1402 and 1406-1408 Tamarind still stand today, some of the only reminders of the community that once flourished in Hollywood. As the neighborhood continues to grow and develop, it is crucial to recognize the Japanese American contributions to the development of Hollywood’s industry and built environment. Tracing the evolution of this single block of Tamarind Avenue gives us a glimpse into the triumphs, oppression, and complexity of the Japanese American history and experience over the last century. 

In the past three years, several properties with ties to this history have been demolished or are slated for demolition.  Hollywood Heritage has opposed these demolitions on the grounds that our last physical links to this history is severely eroded by such actions.  The pressure for denser housing in this area has meant that our concerns have so far gone unheeded.  Hollywood Heritage will continue to archive the photographs and information gathered during the demolition review process, but mourns the physical loss of this historic enclave.

Footnotes:

1. SurveyLA Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement, “Context: Japanese Americans in Los Angeles, 1869-1970,” prepared for the Office of Historic Resources (Department of City Planning, City of Los Angeles, August 2018), accessed May 20, 2020, https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/18037253-197d-483a-8b13-c85fcd553fe8/ArtsandCraftsMovement_1895-1930.pdf, 13. 

2. City of Hollywood City Directory 1908; SurveyLA, “Context: Japanese Americans in Los Angeles,” 11, 17.

3. SurveyLA, “Context: Japanese Americans in Los Angeles,” 20.

4. Ibid., 33. 

5. “1136, 1342 & 1400 Gordon Street, Los Angeles, Historic Resource Evaluation Report,” prepared by GPA Consulting (July 2015, Hollywood Heritage Archives), 20, 22.  

6. SurveyLA, “Context: Japanese Americans in Los Angeles,” 33.

7. Find a Grave, “Frank Tokichi Aiso,” accessed May 22, 2020, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52187982/frank-tokichi-aiso: Find a Grave, “Taki Aiso,” accessed May 22, 2020, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52188475/taki-aiso.

8. United States Federal Census 1930, “Frank T. Aiso,” accessed May 22, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/interactive/6224/4532464_01115/123609878; U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1937, “John Fujio Aiso,” accessed May 22, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/interactive/2238/43995_01_00002-01248/17182378.

9. U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, “Tokichi Aiso,” accessed May 22, 2020.

10. Patt Morrison and Santiago O’Donnell, “John Aiso, Prominent Nisei and Jurist, Dies After Mugger’s Attack,” Los Angeles Times, December 31, 1987, accessed May 20, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-31-me-7802-story.html. 

11. “Preliminary Assessment of 1332, 1336, 1340, and 1400 Tamarind Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90028,” PCR Services Corporation, Margarita Jerabek, to Craig Bullock, CRA/LA (April 28, 2015. Hollywood Heritage Archives),  13, 15; Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, Building Relocation, 1929LA29552, November 15, 1929. 

12. SurveyLA, “Context: Japanese Americans in Los Angeles,” 33; U.S. City Directories 1916, “Henry H. Nomura,” accessed May 22, 2020.

13. SurveyLA, “Context: Japanese Americans in Los Angeles,” 34, Appendix A, 1. 

14. “Preliminary Assessment of 1332, 1336, 1340, and 1400 Tamarind Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90028,” 21-22.

15. Ibid.; United States Federal Census 1930, “Frank T. Aiso.”

16. SurveyLA, “Context: Japanese Americans in Los Angeles,” 89.

17. Elinor Gene, “Food for Thought,” Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1950, accessed May 23, 2020; “Death Notices/ Funeral Announcement: Ain, Gregory Plerce Borhters’ Valhalls, Aiso, John Fujio,” Los Angeles Times, January 12, 1988, accessed May 23, 2020; U.S., Final Accountability Rosters of Evacuees at Relocation Centers, 1942-1946, “James Kazuo Aiso,” accessed May 22, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/interactive/2982/40915_294010-00018/27568. 

18. Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, Building Alteration/ Repair Permit 1943LA00598, January 28, 1943.

19. SurveyLA, “Context: Japanese Americans in Los Angeles,” 52. 

20. “Preliminary Assessment of 1332, 1336, 1340, and 1400 Tamarind Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90028,” 14-15.

21.  “1136, 1342 & 1400 Gordon Street, Los Angeles, Historic Resource Evaluation Report,” prepared by GPA Consulting (July 2015, Hollywood Heritage Archives), 20, 22. 

22. U.S. Voter Registration 1956, “Frank T. Aiso,” accessed May 22, 2020. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/interactive/61066/losangelescounty_110-00374?pid=49964420&treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=zSW85&_phstart=successSource

23.  U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002, “John Fujio Aiso,” accessed May 22, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/7339/.

24. Morrison and O’Donnell, “John Aiso, Prominent Nisei and Jurist, Dies After Mugger’s Attack.”

25. Find a Grave, “Frank Tokichi Aiso”: Find a Grave, “Taki Aiso.”

The Japanese enclave on Tamarind was a small, relatively isolated grouping surrounded by white residents. This was rare; institutional racism in Los Angeles restricted most early Japanese settlement in commercial or industrial areas. However, Japanese Americans in Hollywood still faced discrimination on a personal level as evidenced by the xenophobic Hollywood Protective Association dating back to 1915. In 1923, several hundred white residents petitioned against the construction of a Japanese church at 1433 Tamarind. Just 500 feet down the block from her Japanese neighbors, a white woman named Mrs. B.G. Miller hung a banner across her porch that read “Japs Keep Moving—This is a White Man’s Neighborhood” (photo, not extant). (13)

Despite backlash, the Japanese community continued to grow,  building community connections and resources through the 1920s and 1930s. By 1936, the Japanese Association of Los Angeles established a committee for the Hollywood Japanese District. It was chaired by H. Nomura, the florist on Sunset and Vine. In this decade, the occupations of Japanese Americans on Tamarind street expanded from gardeners and laborers to include clerks, managers, or earning income from renting their properties. (14) By the late 1930s, there were at least six Japanese families living on Tamarind, two on Gordon, two on Selma, and three on Clark Court. (15)

The onset of World War II and Roosevelt’s Executive Order in 1942 marked a new era in Japanese American history. In Hollywood and across the city, Japanese Americans were required to register at control stations before being forcibly removed from their homes to incarceration camps across the state.(16) The Japanese American settlement on Tamarind was devastated. While John Fujio Aiso worked as a Chief Instructor of the Military Intelligence Language School, and trained Japanese American troops to fight abroad, the rest of his family was incarcerated at Manzanar. (17) The Aiso homes were seized by the Bank of America, and in 1943 one was damaged by a fire. (18)

Despite the traumatic and unjust removal of Japanese Americans from their homes, Hollywood maintains several testaments of community resiliency. The Mount Hollywood Congregational Church, still active in Los Feliz, held the possessions for the congregation of the nearby Hollywood Independent Church during their incarceration. (19) After World War II, a handful of Japanese American families were able to return to the Tamarind area.  In 1953, the Iiyamas returned to their home at 1336 Tamarind. They bought the next door property at 1340, previously owned by the Suzuki family, and built a second home on the property (1342 Tamarind). (20) While the Yamada family at 1400 Gordon and the Kaitatsu’s at 1432 Gordon were permanently displaced, their homes were bought by the Fujioka’s and Yamashita’s, respectively. (21)

Bibliography

“1136, 1342 & 1400 Gordon Street, Los Angeles, Historic Resource Evaluation Report.” Prepared by 

GPA Consulting. July 2015. Hollywood Heritage Archives.

“Preliminary Assessment of 1332, 1336, 1340, and 1400 Tamarind Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90028.”

PCR Services Corporation, Margarita Jerabek, to Craig Bullock, CRA/LA. April 28, 2015. Hollywood Heritage Archives. 

SurveyLA Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement. “Context: Japanese Americans in Los 

Angeles, 1869-1970.” Prepared for the Office of Historic Resources, Department of City 

Planning, City of Los Angeles, August 2018. Accessed May 20, 2020. https://planning.lacity.org/odocument/18037253-197d-483a-8b13-c85fcd553fe8/ArtsandCraftsMovement_1895-1930.pdf.