Historic Wintersburg is honored to have provided a tour today to the Consul General of Japan, Jun Niimi. Consul General Niimi is an official representative of the Japanese government in the United States, for Southern California and Arizona.
Also joining the tour were Doug Erber, President of Japan America Society, and Dr. Jack Naito, President, and Akemi Miyake--one of Orange County's longtime strawberry growers--with the Orange County Japanese American Association.
Taking shelter from rain under a tree next to the Furuta family barn, (left to right) Doug Erber, Japan America Society; Sue Gordon, Rainbow Environmental Services; Mayor Connie Boardman, City of Huntington Beach; Consul General Jun Niimi; Consulate Advisor Jennifer Uysak; Consul Toshio Odagiri. Chatting in the background, Dr. Jack Naito and Akemi Miyake with the Orange County Japanese American Association. (Photo, February 8, 2013).
Consul General Jun Niimi with the President of the Orange County Japanese American Association, Dr. Jack Naito, next to the Furuta family barn at Historic Wintersburg. (Photo, February 8, 2013)
We were delighted to find out that the Consul General's family has ancestral roots in the region near Anjo, Japan, the Sister City of Huntington Beach.
Today's tour happily falls on the one-year anniversary--to the day--of the birth of the Historic Wintersburg blog and our effort to tell the stories of this remarkable five acres and the former Wintersburg Village. We are grateful to those who are taking an interest and helping us in our efforts to preserve the history of the Japanese pioneers who helped create Orange County and California.
View of the Furuta family home, built in 1912, from inside the barn. Consul General Jun Niimi remarked the barn's construction reminded him of a Japanese-style barn, which notes the unique architectural style of this Orange County heritage barn. (Photo, 2012)
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The Historic Wintersburg blog focuses on an overlooked history in Huntington Beach, Orange County, California, in the interest of saving a historic property from demolition. The author and publisher reserves the right not to publish comments. Please no promotional or political commentary. Zero tolerance for hate rhetoric. Comments with embedded commercial / advertising links or promoting other projects, books, or publications may not be published. If you have an interesting anecdote, question or comment about one of our features, it will be published.