Buddhist Church of Sacramento

Buddhist Church of Sacramento

Japantown, Sacramento, 1935, Buddhist Church of Sacramento, O Street

The Buddhist Church of Sacramento was founded on December 17th, 1899 at 1221 Third Street. In 1925 the church moved to a new location at 410 O Street after space became an issue. In 1937 a gymnasium was added that would be rented out for use by the community to show films and live performances. The Church through its long history has helped to put on many events for Sacramento's Japantown such the Obon Festival, the Cultural and Food Bazaar, and the Hanamatsuri. Righter after the bombing of Pear Harbor the FBI moved to arrest many prominent Japanese leaders of the community while they were at the Buddhist Church. During the internment period the church was used to store the belongings of members of the church. When the Capital Mall Redevelopment Plan was announced the Buddhist Church like many other locations in Japantown was slated for demolition. In 1959 the Church moved to its current location at 2401 Riverside Boulevard.

This photograph was taken September 5th, 1935 and many of the people of the image are unidentified but those who are are in the second row from left to right: Yohei Kato, Soichi Nakatani, unidentified, Reverend Naito, Kataoka, unidentified.

The Japanese American Archival Collection. MSS-94/01. California State University, Sacramento. Library. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.

1935

The Japanese American Archival Collection. MSS-94/01. California State University, Sacramento. Library. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.