By Mia Cho
Opinion Editor
Many students are unaware that Mira Costa was built on land that was formerly owned by Japanese-Americans who were taken into internment camps during World War II. The Costa administration should inform its students of Costa’s connection to this shameful aspect of the United States and the Manhattan Beach community’s history in order to best educate its students.
The land Costa sits on today was once owned by Star Nursery, which belonged to Japanese-Americans Kuni and Miyosaku Uyematsu. Star Nursery consisted of 120 acres of property in Manhattan Beach, Montebello, and Sierra Madre. The Uyematsus were taken into internment in Manzanar in the summer of 1942 and were released in 1945. During this time, Star Nursery was being maintained by other employees.
During their time in Manzanar, Kuni and Miyosaku Uyematsu were forced to slowly sell off pieces of their land in order to maintain their nursery business. The property that makes up Costa was divided into five parcels. Redondo Union School District purchased three of the largest parcels while the Uyematsus were in Manzanar, then purchased the remaining two parcels in 1951.
The internment of Japanese-Americans is a significant aspect of American history. Considering Costa has been built on property that was owned by victims of Japanese internment, Costa should honor the legacy the Uyematsus left by actively informing students of this history.
While Kuni and Miyosaku Uyematsu were held in Manzanar, Star Nursery properties were maintained by white employees, according to the granddaughter of Kuni and Miyosaku Uyematsu, Mary Kao. These employees used Uyematsu’s business funds and forced him to sell his life insurance and other properties in Manhattan Beach.
Despite the fact that the Costa website states the campus was built on land purchased from Japanese-Americans, this does not reflect the circumstances of the sale. Considering the Uyematsus were held in Manzanar for three years, according to Kao, they were practically forced to sell properties off in order to maintain Star Nursery.
This aspect of Costa’s history is still relatively unaddressed on campus, although Chuck Currier, former teacher at Costa, has performed extensive research on the history of Costa for the Mira Costa History Project. According to Principal Dr. Ben Dale, for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 Hall of Fame Assembly, the planning committee had planned to unveil Mr. Currier’s History Project and invite the Uyematsu family to honor their family. However, these plans did not come to fruition. Based on data collected from a survey of 200 Costa students, only 23% are aware that the property Costa sits on today once belonged to Japanese-Americans who were subjugated to Japanese internment.
For many young people today, it is difficult to fully grasp the circumstances and outcomes of World War II because it seems so distant from today’s generation. However, the property Costa sits on is rich in history and can help bridge the gap between students today and the shameful chapter of the nation and community’s history.
Thank you, Mia. I graduated in 1989 and had NO clue about this until a friend sent me your well researched and thoughtful editorial. I will be looking closer at Manhattab Beach’s history, not to denigrate the town but to provide more realistic framework to it.
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I believe that knowing the truth is always the best thing, even if it’s difficult to hear. Hoping you can clarify, when you said “Redondo Union School District purchased three of the largest parcels while the Uyematsus were in Manzanar, then purchased the remaining two parcels in 1951”, did you mean Manhattan Beach Unified School District?
Thank you Mia for writing about my great-grandparents’ loss and its connection to Mira Costa High School. I used to run through the campus for cross-country meets and never knew an ancestor once owned it. Of course before that, and for longer than anyone, it was inhabited and cared for by the Kizh Nation (according to https://native-land.ca/ and https://gabrielenoindians.org/). I hope you will continue to learn, and encourage fellow students to learn, local history as it reflects the greater historical trends of this country. In particular, it is interesting that MBUSD is willing to acknowledge the history of the Uyematsu family but that the city of Manhattan Beach struggles to account and make amends for the seizure of prime beachfront property now known as Bruce’s Beach, from Willa and Charles Bruce.
Thank you Mia for writing this piece. I went to Culver City HS and would run through the Mira Costa HS campus for cross-country meets, never knowing my ancestors once owned the land. Of course, before them and for much longer than anyone else, the Kizh Nation inhabited and stewarded this land. I hope you will continue learning, and encourage fellow students to learn, local history as it relates to this country’s larger historical trends of institutionalized discrimination and exclusion.
Hey! Great stuff, please keep us posted when you post something like that!