It is getting closer and closer to the big A to Z and I feel like I have to get started with blogging on a regular basis in order to get the momentum going.

Hearing a lot lately from the big orange guy about putting people in camps, I happened to walk past the Tanforan Memorial to the Japanese who were held there during World War II.

Tanforan was initially a racetrack from 1899 to 1964. In 1971 a shopping mall was built on the site. But during the war from April to October 1942 it was the detention center for almost 8000 people of Japanese descent. They called it the Assembly Center but I’m pretty sure that’s just the government trying to put a pretty name on it. Internment camp is what it was.

Nestled in the triangle between the shopping mall, the police station and the BART station is the Tanforan Memorial. I’ve passed by it a few times when we take BART to the city but hadn’t ever really stopped to look at it before. Today I had the chance to do that.

On the ground in the middle of the area are plaques from some of the different families who were held there. A few of the plaques are from sponsors of the memorial.

In the corner is a wooden stall, similar to the horse stalls that the families were forced to live in.

Around the perimeter are huge plaques with the names of the 7984 people who were detained during those months.

I remember the racetrack vaguely. We moved to San Bruno in 1957 when I was almost 2. It burned down in 1964. I remember them building the mall and did most of my shopping there until recently. Since COVID it has turned into a ghost town with lots of stores never reopening. It is now on the chopping block and will be converted into a “mega campus for biotech and technological firms” whatever that means. I’ll be sorry to lose my Barnes and Noble and Target, which are the two main stores left. I’m glad I don’t remember the “Assembly Center” but I am happy they built the memorial to honor those Japanese Americans who had to stay there. We must not forget those injustices.