Hollywood JCI to Celebrate 70th Anniversary

Hollywood Japanese Language School is part of Hollywood Japanese Cultural Institute.

On Sunday, Oct. 22, the Hollywood Japanese Cultural Institute will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a bento luncheon and program.

The HJCI was established as the Hollywood Japanese Community Center (HJCC) in 1947; but the center’s original building was built by the parents of the former Hollywood Japanese School in 1937, before World War II.

While Japanese Americans were incarcerated in camps during the war, the building was used by the Los Angeles County Board of Education as a nursery school.

After the war, as the Japanese Americans returned to the Hollywood area, the late Judge John Aiso pursued legal means to reclaim the building and property with a court order in March 1952. Aiso was a board member of the community center.

The anniversary provides an opportunity to pay homage to the Issei and Nisei founders and supporters, who made great sacrifices to create community centers, such as the HJCI, to provide for the social and cultural needs of the Japanese American community.

For more information and to RSVP, contact Asao Masumiya at hollywoodjci@gmail.com or (310) 413-6220.