For Japanese Americans settled in San Francisco, the fallout from World War II was a cultural upheaval. Many had been ripped from their lives and sent off to incarceration camps during the war over fears over their loyalties. On top of that, in the 1950s, large swaths of Japantown were devastated by redevelopment that shrunk it to its current six blocks. What sprung up from that cultural scrubbing was a daycare in Japantown called Nihonmachi Little Friends — founded by a group of Japanese Americans intent on preserving their culture by handing it down. The first iteration of the school met in a Buddhist church in 1976 with 15 kids. “The importance of the program was really its focus on community and family involvement,” said Cathy Inamasu, who served as director of the school for more than 20 years. The school, which later moved to its current home in a former YWCA building at 1830 Sutter St., is marking its 50th anniversary. Its students, who number in the 60s, scamper between the old building and a modern one built in 2017 on an empty lot next door. The school has survived, just like the cultural touchstones it sought to preserve. “We saw what happened with the camps and the internment, so I think that’s a big lesson to us — we don’t want to ever forget that,” said Inamasu, sitting in an empty classroom. “We want our children and future generations to really feel a sense of feeling Japanese American or Asian American.” Children attending the daycare are exposed to Japanese language through native speakers. They learn the beginnings of Japanese written characters, food, music and bang on traditional Taiko drums. While Japanese culture is the underlying theme, students of every ethnicity fill the classrooms. “What’s helpful is now we’re able to kind of reclaim our story,” said current school executive director Dawn Mokuau. “To be able to create a community where identify is centered and these children can feel really excited about who they are and their family and their traditions.” The history of the school’s building is as colorful as the art that hangs on its walls. It was built by a group of first generation Japanese women in 1932 and designed by famed architect Julia Morgan. But California laws at the time, aimed at barring foreign ownership of local buildings, prevented the women from holding title. Instead, they turned it over to the YWCA for safekeeping. After bouncing between numerous locations, the Nihonmachi Little Friends leased space in the building in 1985 and opened a preschool site. But when the YWCA later sought to sell the building, NLF launched a legal fight, claiming the original Japanese founders had earmarked the building to go to a Japantown interest. The YWCA acquiesced and the school bought the building. “Kids, when they go to the school and when they live in San Francisco, feel they’re part of a larger community and they’re proud of their heritage and their background,” said Jacob Wang, a former director and teacher at the school. The fallout of the World War II incarceration was a desire by Japanese Americans to assimilate into U.S. culture. Traditions, language and customs began to fall by the wayside. But as the Civil Rights movement took hold, families began to regret the loss of their culture. Parents like Glenn and Joane Sugiyama sent their son to Nihonmachi Little Friends to preserve what was getting lost. “You need to know or understand the heritage of your forefathers, your relatives or your family,” said Glenn Sugiyama. “So this really helps, learning the language and the heritage, and the food of course.” The couple’s son, Robbie Sugiyama, attended the school and now sends his own son, Lucas, there. “Having my son is just as important to me,” Robbie Sugiyama said. “I want to make sure he understands his roots and kind of our culture and our heritage and where we came from and also making sure he has that upbringing and is also part of the Japantown community.” Because few of the families attending the school live in Japantown, Wang said the school not only benefits from its location in the neighborhood, it also contributes to it. “Nihonmachi, because of its population, brings over 100 families back into the community on a regular basis,” Wang said. The school is marking its 50th anniversary with celebrations and with the confidence it’s sending children out in the world with a sense of their own identity. “Fifty years of NLF really speaks to its quality and its appreciation by the community,” said Joane Sugiyama. “And I think that’s why it endured.” ...read more read less