Japanese-American Museum Money Bill OKd

The state Senate Thursday passed a bill to appropriate $750,000 for a Japanese-American history museum in Little Tokyo. A 27-1 vote sent the measure to the Assembly.

The museum would document the Japanese experience in the United States.

Supporters said Americans should be reminded about World War II internment camps.

“There needs to be a constant reminder of the sometimes illogical actions of government,” said Sen. Art Torres (D-South Pasadena) referring to the internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans in camps during the war.

The bill, authored by Torres, would give the money to Los Angeles if the city comes up with at least $1 million in matching funds.

The Los Angeles City Council has already approved a resolution saying it intends to provide redevelopment funds, said Gloria Uchida, an official of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

The Legislature included the $750,000 for the museum in this year’s state budget, but Gov. George Deukmejian eliminated it, saying, “projects of this type are complex and deserve adequate study and review of the state’s proper level of participation.”

Bruce Kaji, president of Merit Savings Bank and head of a group organizing the museum, said his group has already arranged a five-year lease on a 10,000-square-foot warehouse on East 3rd Street.

But the group hopes eventually to house the museum in the old Nishi Hongwanji, a Buddhist temple located on East 1st Street.

A pre-World War II religious and social center, it now stands empty and is owned by the city, which bought the property intending to tear it down.

“We feel that if Nishi Hongwanji can be acquired as a permanent home, that would be our long-term goal,” Kaji said. “But we feel a tremendous responsibility to get the museum open as soon as possible, because the pioneer Issei (first generation immigrants) are fast disappearing.”

Nishi Hongwanji “was one of the stronger cultural institutions within our Japanese-American community prior to World War II,” Kaji said. “It also was a point of assembly at the time of the Japanese-American evacuation. That was one of the assembly points where the Japanese-American community was bused out and trained out.”