The building on 2nd Street and Garey Street, located less than a mile from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, had been marred by blotches of orange paint covering recurring graffiti. Rusted iron bars over windows and metal rolling doors harkened back to when it was originally built about a century ago as a fish-packing factory.
But with reverence and imagination, that aging red-brick storage building on the campus of the St. Francis Xavier Church-Maryknoll Japanese Catholic Center has been transformed by a multi-panel mural to illuminate a century of history on a corner of Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles.
Over the Labor Day weekend, the church unveiled the “Spirit of Our Roots” mural with an Aug. 31 event that included Auxiliary Bishop Matthew Elshoff celebrating an English-Japanese bilingual Mass at St. Francis Xavier, joined by pastor Father Doan Hoang and Father Peter Saucedo. Afterward, a procession of about 100 people singing “Amazing Grace” participated in a blessing for the artwork.
A focal point, covering one of those rolling doors, is a stunning portrayal of Our Lady of Akita, an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Japan that wept human tears some 50 years ago, witnessed by Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa.
“In a world that is obsessed with power, prestige, and performance, Our Lady of Akita reminds us that heaven is watching the quiet acts of love,” Elshoff said in his homily. “Her tears are a reminder that heaven sees, that heaven weeps, and that heaven still calls.”
In the context of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Japan, ICE arrests in Little Tokyo, and immigration camps mirroring Japanese incarceration in the 1940s, Elshoff reflected in his homily about how much Japanese culture has enriched the Archdiocese of Los Angeles with its focus on respect, harmony, empathy, and humility.
He acknowledged how the community “understands discrimination as a terrible act of sin, and you have a concern to work for justice, for those who now live in fear and are afraid to go to Mass on Sundays.” He noted that in a neighborhood somewhat gentrified by high-end apartments and hotels, the church “brings peace to those who come from many places, and they come in need.”
Erin Yoshi, the parish-commissioned artist supported with grants from the Little Tokyo Business Association and Neighborhood Council and the Arts District Business Improvement District, said she put herself in the role of a “visual translator,” using her own personal experiences growing up in the area to work with the community’s vision.
“What was so special was how thankful people were for the project, even from just putting on the basic blue paint to start it,” said Yoshi, a graduate of Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in La Cañada Flintridge. “I think it is a testament to how much people need joy and hope right now in this community setting. Whether they admitted it or not, the community was feeling depleted. They’ve been pouring from a slightly empty cup. What little we could do to bring joy to each other is incredibly necessary these days.”
Given a space more than 200 feet around and some 15 feet tall, Yoshi partnered with Carlos Sosa and Gloria Muriel — as well as her 6-year-old daughter, who hand-painted some of the flower petals — to complete the mural. Origami cranes, or “orizuru,” along with cherry blossoms and bamboo, are interspersed with Gospel passages and Japanese writing.
Hoang, pastor of the 113-year-old St. Francis Xavier Church since 2015, said the community has “a very joyful feeling” to see the project completed. His favorite aspect is the depiction of a Japanese woman looking toward Mt. Fuji to see St. Francis Xavier, who in the 17th century came by ship to be a missionary in Japan.
Yoshi pointed out that, as part of that mural, the back of the Japanese woman’s kimono includes a depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe, conveying the area’s diversity.
Paul Ishii, 76, a 1963 graduate of the Maryknoll elementary school, was impressed by the representation of the karate programs started on the campus by his friend John Teramoto.
Embedded in the karate images are scenes from Japanese families leaving internment camps in the 1940s, including Manzanar, as they restarted their lives following World War II. That is also part of Ishii’s family history.
“Maybe we don’t remember much about that anymore until a mural like this stimulates our memory and brings it all back,” said Ishii, who comes to St. Francis Xavier with his wife from their home in La Crescenta. “This whole area is instrumental in connecting me to my ancestors.”
Alan Kumamoto, 85, was born in Little Tokyo, baptized at St. Francis Xavier, and was a student at the Maryknoll-staffed elementary school that existed there until the 1990s. His grandfather originally helped recruit Maryknoll missionary priests to deliver sacraments in Japanese to the church.
“The texture of this mural is a good blend of past and present,” said Kumamoto, who was with his parents and grandparents in a desolate Wyoming concentration camp from age 2 to 6. “Scenes from the camps are obviously embedded in the present, a reminder of what can happen and what’s happening now.”
Kumamoto recalled how the Japanese word “shouganai” (“it can’t be helped”) resonated with his family to deal with difficult circumstances out of their control.
“With my Catholic faith, there is a spiritual power,” he said. “I also see that on the inner wall of the mural with the large koi. That shows calmness and strength.”
Sister Cecilia Nakajima of the Poor Clare Sisters of Japan joined the Maryknoll Japanese Catholic Center decades ago to facilitate the ministry for the sick. The 93-year-old came from her home in Gardena to see the mural. She wonders if this can be a spiritual place for the community to reflect.
“I feel this mural gives protection over the Maryknoll community,” Nakajima said.
