Manzanar – A Humble Connection to the LA Archdiocese

I learned about the Manzanar Pilgrimage at Religious Education Congress in 2016. On the upper floor of the main hall were tables with displays by numerous Catholic cultures, including Filipinos, Samoans, Vietnamese, etc. I came across a collection for Japanese Catholics. This caught my eye. A nice little Baa-chan (grandmother figure) was there representing the Japanese community of St. Francis Xavier Chapel in Little Tokyo. She handed me an origami crane while welcoming me to her table. Among the hand outs were flyers explaining the history of Catholicism in Japan, prayer cards, and a postcard advertising the Manzanar Pilgrimage. Wow, I thought, I need to go to this!
Growing up, I honestly didn’t know much about the internment camps I guess, because it didn’t affect me personally. My mother would explain that she and her family were busy hiding in air raid shelters in Japan, so she had no history of the internment camps here in the US. As kids, if my sister and I complained about something, Mom would be quick to remind us how good we had it; she was in those air raid shelters for days with nothing to eat but rice. Sorry Mom, I get it, I get it. 
In later years, I learned its effect on many of my friends and their families. My Japanese American friends had family interned at one of the ten internment camps throughout the United States.
Thanks to Baa-chan at Congress, our first visit to the Manzanar Pilgrimage was on April 30, 2016. It’s held the last Saturday in April of each year, with the first in 1969. We’ve attended each year with the exception of three due to Covid. Manzanar is located between Lone Pine and Independence, off Highway 395 in Owens Valley.
That first year we were there, we took a tour. First, the park ranger explained what certain areas were, where barracks were located, and what remained of the apple orchard and gardens. Then she came upon a “tree stump” and explained how a master stones man actually made these. The tree stump was familiar to me. She said some are located at Catholic cemeteries in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, and the same master stones man built a replica of the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in one of the cemeteries. Excitedly, I raised my hand exclaiming “ooh ooh, I know! I work there! It’s Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City!” Well, everyone (including my husband and three kids) shot me a look, but I didn’t mind. This was all so intriguing to me. Ryozo Kado was that master stones man. That day and subsequently, I learned that he worked at the Archdiocese before World War II and that his family was removed from their home and sent to Manzanar in 1942. He created many works while interned, most notably the Ireito, the cemetery monument, which is the “familiar symbol” of the Manzanar Relocation Camp . Ireito literally means “Console-Spirits-Tower”. It is dedicated to those who perished in Manzanar. At this year’s pilgrimage (April 29, 2023) I learned the monument has endured for 80 years of scorching heat, blasting winds, freezing cold, torrential rains, and even bullets inflicted by racists and haters. This photo is me in front of the Ireito surrounded by flowers and origami cranes at this year’s pilgrimage.
When the war ended, these innocent Japanese people were allowed to return home, and Ryozo Kado eventually returned to the Archdiocese.
I cannot pretend to envision the atrocities Mr. Kado, his family and 10,000 others at Manzanar endured in nearly 4 years’ time. To understand “the why” it happened is something altogether distressing. I can, however, imagine Mr. Kado’s ability to hopefully forgive what had happened. He was Catholic after all, with forgiveness one of the virtues of our faith.
Today, if you visit any of our 11 cemeteries, you can see those “tree stumps” first hand. They are hollow and camouflage the trash containers throughout the cemetery grounds. I have even spied some at Santa Isabel and Sacred Heart parishes in Los Angeles.
Among other works, Mr. Kado also built the “Lourdes of the West” Grotto at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Altadena. Our own Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto beautifies Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. He passed in 1982 and is fittingly laid to rest at Holy Cross, with his wife Hama, in a grave directly facing his Grotto masterpiece.
My family returns to the pilgrimage each year to reinforce the lessons learned, remember those who endured the atrocities of that time, and honor the survivors who are still among us. Along with the other pilgrims in attendance, we hope and pray that history does not repeat itself, and that we all learn to coexist in peace with respect and understanding for one another. Amen!
(Photo: Alice Takamiyashiro / Manzanar National Historic Site / April 2023)