![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250530-Nanka-Co-Dry-Goods-store-ew-1034a-919ef6.jpg\")
One of two remaining buildings on Tuna Street with ties to the former Japanese fishing village housed the dry goods store Nanka Shoten, which was established in 1918. Courtesy Paul Boyea<\/p>\nFrom the turn of the 20th century to the early 1940s, a human-made island in San Pedro Bay held a flourishing Japanese American fishing village that helped develop Southern California\u2019s mighty seafood industry.<\/p>\n
On Terminal Island, more than 3,000 first- and second-generation immigrant fishermen from Japan, the issei and nisei, pioneered innovative techniques, like 6-foot bamboo poles and live bait, to catch albacore tuna and sardines. Their wives cleaned and packaged their bounties in the canneries.<\/p>\n
Then, during World War II, the entire community was uprooted and the village razed. The only remnants of the enclave are a pair of vacant buildings on Tuna Street, now dwarfed by colorful stacks of shipping containers and large green cranes that cover the island. <\/p>\n
One of two remaining buildings on Tuna Street with ties to the former Japanese fishing village housed the dry goods store Nanka Shoten, which was established in 1918. Courtesy Paul Boyea<\/p>\n
The buildings are now under threat of demolition to make room for more containers, leading surviving Terminal Islanders and their descendants \u2014 now well past retirement age \u2014 to come together to try to save the last tangible connection to a largely forgotten legacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese buildings are an integral part of American history that should never be forgotten,\u201d said Paul Boyea, a board member of the Terminal Islanders Association, a group of about 200 former residents and their kin.<\/p>\n
In the past few months, advocates have made significant progress in saving the structures. In February, Councilmember Tim McOsker introduced a motion to designate the buildings as historic-cultural monuments, a status that would provide additional safeguards against demolition. In June, L.A.\u2019s Cultural Heritage Commission will review the motion and decide whether to advance it for a vote before the City Council.<\/p>\n
This month, the National Trust for Historic Preservation put the buildings on its annual list of the 11 most endangered historic sites in America.<\/p>\n
![\"Japanese](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250530-Japanese-fishermen-san-pedro-bay-ew-1032a-971810.jpg\")
Japanese fishermen built small rowboats and pioneered innovative fishing techniques to catch tuna in San Pedro Bay. They played an instrumental part in developing Southern California\u2019s tuna fishing industry. Courtesy Terry Hara<\/p>\n
Former Terminal Islanders recall scenes of families praying at a Shinto shrine and Buddhist temple, shopping at grocery stores, and watching movies and attending dances at Fisherman\u2019s Hall. Children practiced judo and played baseball.<\/p>\n
Boyea, 69, was born after the war and never lived on Terminal Island. But he said he\u2019s always felt a strong connection to the place where his mother was born, in 1919. His grandfather was a fishing fleet captain and president of the Japanese fishermen\u2019s association.<\/p>\n
The two buildings on Tuna Street, the commercial corridor of the Japanese village, housed the grocery A. Nakamura Co. and the dry goods store Nanka Shoten, both established more than a century ago. <\/p>\n
![\"A.](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250530-A-Nakamura-Co-grocery-store-ew-1035a-c9e9e4.jpg\")
A. Nakamura Co grocery store, 1921.Courtesy Paul Boyea<\/p>\n
Efforts to preserve the buildings began two decades ago but gained momentum last May, when the Port of L.A., which owns a majority of the island, recommended demolishing them to create more storage space. <\/p>\n
Phillip Sanfield, the port\u2019s communications director, said that the department is working with Terminal Island advocates to hash out plans for the buildings and that no decision has yet been made.<\/p>\n
Terry Hara, president of the Terminal Islanders Association, described Tuna Street as the \u201cBroadway\u201d of the Japanese fishing community. Hara\u2019s grandfather worked as a superintendent at a cannery, while his father and two uncles all became commercial fishermen.<\/p>\n
Terminal Island residents observed Japanese traditions, he said, holding mochi pounding celebrations on New Year\u2019s and dancing in kimonos at Girls\u2019 Day festivals.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250530-Terry-Hara-grandfather-family-ew-1034a-99f61d.jpg\")
A family portrait of Terry Hara’s grandfather, Otoji Hara, and grandmother, Kimiye Hara, with their sons Toshio, Iwao and Keichi, on Terminal Island in 1924. Hara’s grandfather was a superintendent at one of the canaries on Terminal Island.Courtesy Terry Hara<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one big happy family,\u201d said Hara, 67. \u201cNobody locked their doors and families provided for one another when the need arose.\u201d <\/p>\n
Geraldine Knatz, a maritime expert and co-author of \u201cTerminal Island: Lost Communities on America\u2019s Edge,\u201d said Japanese residents made up roughly two-thirds of Terminal Island\u2019s population in the 1930s.<\/p>\n
The island, known in the early 20th century as \u201cL.A.\u2019s Playground,\u201d was also home to sizable numbers of artists, writers and lumber workers. \u201cIt was a big, diverse community,\u201d Knatz said.<\/p>\n
![\"FBI](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250530-Japanese-American-men-Terminal-Island-ew-1036a-118740.jpg\")
FBI detained hundreds of Japanese American men on Terminal Island after Japan bombed Pearl Island in 1942. Many were separated from their families were months. Courtesy Terry Hara <\/p>\n![\"Homes](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250530-Terminal-Island-Japanese-fishing-village-ew-1031a-571261.jpg\")
Homes in Terminal Island\u2019s Japanese fishing village. More than 3,000 Japanese residents were living on the island by the early 1940s.Courtesy Terry Hara<\/p>\n