Welcoming the Consul General of Japan, present and past

ABOVE: California Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg greeting the new Consul General of Japan Akira Muto at the assumption of post reception. Representatives for Historic Wintersburg were invited guests, along with representatives for the Huntington Beach Sister City Association. Huntington Beach has been a Sister City with Anjo, Japan, since 1992. (Photograph, October 3, 2019, M. Urashima) © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

    Southern California welcomed a new Consul General of Japan at a recent reception held in Los Angeles. Consul General Akira Muto has served in Washington D.C., and Boston, and was a visiting scholar at Stanford University's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. The Los Angeles consulate post includes Southern California and Arizona.

LEFT: Consul General Akira Muto speaks at the Assumption of Post reception. The ever gracious consulate staff at right. (Photograph, October 3, 2019, M. Urashima)  © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

   In his remarks upon the assumption of his new post, Consul General Muto stated, "I am greatly honored to be able to serve as consul general in a region with such deep ties to Japan, and look forward to wonderful new encounters that may differ from those during my time as Consul General of Japan in Boston." 

   Consul General Muto takes his position as the Emperor of Japan Naruhito ascends to the Throne in the new era of Reiwa. Japan also is readying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games in July. Surfing will make its debut in the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. The shortboard competition will take place at Tsurigasaki Beach, in Chiba. 

   "Once engaged in war, our nations have overcome those past troubled times to become close allies connected in deep friendship. Japan's solid relationship with Southern California and Arizona exemplifies our strong Japan-U.S. ties, " remarked Consul General Muto. "My utmost duty as Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles will be to further cultivate goodwill between Japan and the U.S."

   Wintersburg Village and Huntington Beach have a long history with Japan, with Japanese pioneers contributing significantly to regional agriculture and development. The growing communities welcomed an important consulate visit in 1912, holding a luncheon at the Huntington Inn for Consul General Matsuzo Nagai, who was stationed in San Francisco. The Consul General arrived at 8:30 a.m. for a meeting at Huntington Beach city hall with Mayor W.D. Seely and then spoke to an assembly of students at Huntington Beach High School, before the luncheon.

RIGHT: A 1917 advertisement from the Santa Ana Register for the Dragon Cafe in Santa Ana, which hosted a banquet for the Consul General of Japan Matsuzo Nagai in May 1912 (with leading Japanese and American citizens of Orange County). The Dragon Cafe hosted many important Orange County events in the 1910s. They advertised heavily for Valentine's Day, offering to deliver heart-shaped cakes, ice cream and chocolate in heart-shaped satin candy boxes. (Advertisement, Santa Ana Register, November 2, 1917)

   The Santa Ana Register reported, "In addition to leading Japanese of this section there will be present 25 American guests. Those from this City will be Mayor W. D. Seely, Principal A.E. Paine of the High School, President T.B. Talbert of the Board of Trade, Louis Paul Hart of the Huntington Beach News, and Rev. E.J. Harlow." Consul General Nagai then spoke at the Talbert Hall in what is now Fountain Valley and then enjoyed a banquet at the famous Dragon Cafe in Santa Ana.  

LEFT: Consul General Matsuzo Nagai, circa 1917, five years after his visit to Orange County. Consul General Nagai would have been enthusiastic about the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He served on the governmental committee in Japan charged with preparing for the Tokyo games in 1940 (which were cancelled) and also as a member of the International Olympic Committee until 1950. (Photograph, WikiCommons)

   An activist for the Olympic Games, Consul General Nagai would not have been introduced to surfing during his 1912 visit to "Surf City", as the sport was just beginning to take hold along the southern California coast. Irish Hawaiian George Freeth is considered the first to surf the Huntington Beach pier at its re-dedication in 1914. Delbert "Bud" Higgins, one of the first local surfers, noted that "the first use of boards was about 1912 when they used a piece of 1 by 12 board about 4 feet long and pushed off from 5 foot water. There were no surfboards on the coast except the one belonging to George Freeth of Redondo Beach and it was a very makeshift one made of several boards with cross pieces nailed to hold it together."

   Consul General Nagai undoubtedly would have been delighted that 107 years after his visit to Orange County, surfers from Japan are training near the Huntington Beach pier as they prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Huntington Beach's Kanoa Igarashi--a two time champion of the U.S. Open of Surfing competition near the Huntington Beach pier--has qualified for the 2020 surfing competition and will join them in Japan.

More about Huntington Beach's long history with Japan: Read about the 1935 reception for Japanese Consul General Tomokazu Hori, Cherry blossoms and poppies: A 1935 banquet with the Japanese Consul in Huntington Beach.

ABOVE: Consul General Matsuzo Nagai, to the left of Mayor W.D. Seely, standing center front, on the steps of the Huntington Inn in Huntington Beach in May 1912 with representatives of the Smeltzer Japanese Association and City leaders. Consul General Nagai's post was in San Francisco. The Smeltzer Japanese Association provided the first fireworks in 1905 for Huntington Beach July 4th celebrations and also supported fundraising for the rebuilding of the Huntington Beach pier in 1912. Charles Furuta, owner of the Furuta farm at Historic Wintersburg, is standing in the front row, second from left. Reverend Barnabus Hisayoshi Teresawa, a founder of the Wintersburg Japanese Mission, to the right of Mayor W.D. Seely. Huntington Beach's first mayor, Ed Manning, is second row, far right in light-color suit.  Another Huntington Beach mayor, Orange County supervisor, and pioneer realtor, Thomas Talbert, is in the second row (on step), fourth from left with hat in hand.  (Photograph courtesy of Wintersburg Church, May 31, 1912) © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

© All rights reserved.  No part of the Historic Wintersburg blog may be reproduced or duplicated without prior written permission from the author and publisher, M. Adams Urashima.

Book discussion: The history behind the fence

The 1912 bungalow of Charles and Yukiko Furuta, behind the green fence at Historic Wintersburg, a rare pre-California Alien Land Law of 1913 property.  There are six historical structures on the property, spanning the founding of the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission in 1904 to the post-World War II return of Japanese Americans to Huntington Beach.

   Join author Mary Adams Urashima at the Huntington Beach Central Library, 2 p.m., Saturday, April 19, Rooms C & D, for a visual presentation and discussion of the pioneer history detailed in Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach.

   The book discussion will include seldom seen photographs of California's Japanese pioneers and trace the history that helped shape Huntington Beach and Orange County.

Left: The Furuta bungalow in 2011, still stands at Historic Wintersburg, home to the Furuta Gold Fish Farm and the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission. © All rights reserved.

   Copies of the book will be available for sale after the discussion, which will include time for audience questions.  Books also are available at the Huntington Beach Barnes & Noble and online through the publisher, History Press, at https://historypress.net/catalogue/bookstore/books/Historic-Wintersburg-in-Huntington-Beach/9781626193116

   Find out why Historic Wintersburg is nominated for America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places and why the effort to save it has been chronicled in PreservationNation, Huffington Post, Rafu Shimpo, KCET public television's LA Letters, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times (recent media coverage at http://historicwintersburg.blogspot.com/2014/03/historic-wintersburg-in-news.html).

A gathering on the steps of the Huntington Inn, circa 1912, believed to be about fundraising to rebuild the pier.  Charles Mitsuji Furuta is in front row, second from left. Huntington Beach's first mayor, Ed Manning, is second row, far right in light-color suit.  Another Huntington Beach mayor, Orange County supervisor, and pioneer realtor, Thomas Talbert, is in the second row (on step), fourth from left with hat in hand.  (Photo: Courtesy of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church.) © All rights reserved.

   From the first July 4th celebrations in Huntington Beach, the Japanese community's presence was evident.  The "Japanese Association of Wintersburg" donated and presented the fireworks show in 1905 at a "baseball field" (likely Triangle Park off Main Street).  

   By 1907, the Talbert-Leatherman building became Huntington Beach's first Japanese market, the "Rock Bottom" market, run by Yasumatsu Miyawaki (today, this building is the Longboard Restaurant and Pub at 217 Main Street).  Miyawaki was a signator on the founding document for the Wintersburg Japanese Mission in 1904.

The Aoki kendo and judo hall at the Masami Sasaki chili pepper warehouses on Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach, circa 1930, where today's Newland Center is located.  The award winning judo teams from Huntington Beach were part of a judo demonstration at the Xth Olympiad in Los Angeles in 1932. (Photo snip, courtesy of California State University Fullerton Center for Oral and Public History, PJA 260) © All rights reserved.

   The Huntington Beach pier celebration in 1914 included the Japanese community of Wintersburg Village and the surrounding area.  Special events of the day on June 20, 1914, included Japanese fencing and sword dancing, following the surfing demonstration by George Freeth.  This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the re-dedication of the pier and the 110th-year anniversary of the founding of the Wintersburg Japanese Mission.  

Koha Takeishi in flight over Wintersburg Village farmland in 1913, in the plane bought for him by local farmers.  A graduate of the Curtiss Flying School, the university student worked the celery fields in Wintersburg during summer breaks.  His story is detailed in the book, Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach. (Photo courtesy of the Furuta family) © All rights reserved.

   The early 1900s included pioneer aviation feats, agricultural innovations, archaeological finds in the peatlands, the growth of the Wintersburg Japanese Mission, and the development of Wintersburg Village's three goldfish farms, a unique enterprise in Orange County.  

   Local families considered part of Huntington Beach history---such as the Gothards, Nichols, Winters, Coles, Moores--lived in Wintersburg Village.  The Newland family (of the Newland House Museum at Adams Avenue and Beach Boulevard) contributed to the development of the 1906 Wintersburg M.E. Church, today known as the Warner Avenue Baptist Church, and were part of a church organization that donated to the Wintersburg Japanese Mission.  

   Early Huntington Beach businesses, such as the Savings Bank of Huntington Beach at Main Street and Walnut Avenue, and the Halsell Drug Company, (Eddie Darling's pharmacy) on Main Street, donated to the building fund for the Wintersburg Japanese Mission.

Left: A 1911 letter to Reverend Joseph K. Inazawa with a five-dollar donation from Huntington Beach pharmacist Eddie "E.H." Darling to help retire the construction debt for the 1910 Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission.  (Photo: Courtesy of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church.) © All rights reserved.

   Almost sixty years ago in 1957, Wintersburg Village was annexed into Huntington Beach, solidifying the community relationship that began in the late 1800s.

   Lost from local city records in the years since World War II, the history of Japanese Americans in Huntington Beach and Orange County is a lesson in the pioneer spirit and perseverance necessary for the settlement of America.  Learn more about Historic Wintersburg by joining the discussion at the Library!

BOOK SIGNING: 2 P.M., SATURDAY, APRIL 19, HUNTINGTON BEACH CENTRAL LIBRARY, located at 7111 Talbert Avenue at Huntington Beach Central Park.  There is ample free public parking.

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© All rights reserved.  No part of the Historic Wintersburg blog may be reproduced or duplicated without prior written permission from the author and publisher, M. Adams Urashima.