Health & Fitness
History Blog: Alvarado Japanese School
A Japanese school was founded in Alvarado in the early 1920's.
An article from the March 7, 1926 edition of the Oakland Tribune is a reminder of a unique school in Alvarado:
Five of six Japanese children attending school in Newark have put in for transfers to the Japanese School in Alvarado. Present laws allow the transfer of children from one district to another for special schooling. In this case the transfer would require the approval of the Alvarado district. Newark does not have a Japanese language school.
Alvarado had a significant Japanese population. There were two Japanese specialty stores, including the Matsumoto store that opened in 1917. The Alvarado Japanese Association was based out of a building next to the Matsumoto market.
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At the corner of Watkins and Smith Streets, on land that is now Old Alvarado Park, was a second Japanese store, that used a back room as a Japanese language school. The school started in the early 1920s and most local Japanese families sent their children there. The school taught the students how to read and write the language of their parents.
The school moved east down the street to the Japanese Association Building. The school was open on Saturdays and weekdays after school. The first teacher was a minister from the local Buddhist church. Other teachers documented are Motoroshire Motozake and Masao Koga.
