Jack Hirose Tea House Dedicated
The tea house in Golden Gate Park on Oct. 20, 2011, was dedicated in honor of the late Jack Hirose, a philanthropist who donated $500,000 through the San Francisco Japantown Foundation to fund improvements to the tea garden structures, including the tea house.
The tea house in Golden Gate Park on Oct. 20, 2011, was dedicated in honor of the late Jack Hirose, a philanthropist who donated $500,000 through the San Francisco Japantown Foundation to fund improvements to the tea garden structures, including the tea house.
Today’s dedication ceremony included a ribbon cutting at the front gate of the tea garden, a traditional raising of a thousand paper cranes, release of koi into the garden's pond and a traditional breaking of a sake barrel. Previous to the event, a plaque honoring Hirose was placed on the wall of the tea house.
Emceed by Benh Nakajo, the program included remarks by Consul General of Japan Hiroshi Inomata, San Francisco Recreation and Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg, San Francisco Japantown Foundation President Donald Tamaki and Don Hirose, Jack's son. Inomata joined San Francisco Supervisors Eric Mar and Ross Mirkarimi in the sake barrel breaking.
Members of Hirose’s family were present with friends and community members, as well as representatives from the San Francisco Japantown Foundation, the San Francisco Parks Alliance, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission, the San Francisco Recreation and Park department.
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission on Aug. 18 approved naming the tea house after Hirose, who was the concessionaire of the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in the 1960s, running the tea house and gift shop until 1992.
Hirose, a founding member of the Japantown Foundation board, died on Dec. 25, 2009. He was 86.
The effort to name the tea house after Hirose was led by the Foundation and supported by tea garden concessionaire Carol Murata and the staff of the city recreation and park department, notably department general manager Phil Ginsburg and department property manager Tom Hart.
Before taking over the concession, Hirose had already become one of the city’s first Asian American CPAs after having served in in World War II as part of the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Service. During the war, Hirose and his family were forcibly relocated to the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, Calif., before being moved to the Topaz concentration camp in Utah.
The San Francisco Japantown Foundation’s mission is to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. The Foundation provides grants to not-for-profit organizations, groups and individuals conducting projects aligned with or further the Foundation’s mission.
Jack Hirose Tea House Name Approved
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission today approved naming the tea house in the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park after the late Jack Hirose, a philanthropist who donated $500,000 through the San Francisco Japantown Foundation to fund improvements to the tea garden structures, including the tea house.
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission today approved naming the tea house in the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park after the late Jack Hirose, a philanthropist who donated $500,000 through the San Francisco Japantown Foundation to fund improvements to the tea garden structures, including the tea house.
The effort to name the tea house after Hirose was led by the Foundation and supported by tea garden concessionaire Carol Murata and the staff of the city recreation and park department, notably department general manager Phil Ginsburg and department property manager Tom Hart.
After remarks by Hart, Japantown Foundation president Don Tamaki and board member Sandy Mori testified at the meeting and Murata showed the commissioners photos of the renovations. Mori and board members Bob Hamaguchi and Diane Matsuda were instrumental in making sure the community’s support for the naming of the tea house was communicated to the commission.
Commission President Mark Buell, Vice President Tom Harrison, and Commissioners Paige Arata, David Lee and Larry Martin voted unanimously in support of the new name.
Hirose was the concessionaire of the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in the 1960s, running the tea house and gift shop until 1992. Before taking over the concession, Hirose had already become one of the city’s first Asian American CPAs after having served in in World War II as part of the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Service. During the war, Hirose and his family were forcibly relocated to the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, Calif., before being moved to the Topaz concentration camp in Utah. Read more about Jack's life on nichibei.org.
In addition to approving the naming of the tea house after Hirose, the commission also approved the placement of a plaque to recognize Hirose and authorized the department general manager to approve the wording on the plaque.
A dedication ceremony for the new tea house name is planned for October 2011.
The San Francisco Japantown Foundation’s mission is to support cultural, community and educational activities for San Francisco Japantown. We are dedicated to preserving and honoring Japantown’s history, to welcoming and serving its residents, visitors, businesses, congregations and community organizations, and to supporting the growth and development of the community’s Japanese cultural theme. The Foundation provides grants to not-for-profit organizations, groups and individuals conducting projects aligned with or further the Foundation’s mission. For more information, visit http://sfjapantownfoundation.org.
Public Meeting on Naming Tea House After Jack Hirose
The San Francisco Japantown Foundation is holding a meeting to seek public support for naming the tea house at the Japanese Tea Garden after Jack Hirose, and placing of a plaque in the tea house to commemorate his long-time service as the concessionaire of the tea garden and his kind and generous support of many Japanese community organizations. The meeting will be held at 1:00pm to 2:30pm on Saturday July 23 in the Union Bank Community Room in the East Mall (Miyako). In addition, comments may be sent by email to japantowntaskforce@gmail.com.
The San Francisco Japantown Foundation is holding a meeting to seek public support for naming the tea house at the Japanese Tea Garden after Jack Hirose, and placing of a plaque in the tea house to commemorate his long-time service as the concessionaire of the tea garden and his kind and generous support of many Japanese community organizations. The meeting will be held at 1:00pm to 2:30pm on Saturday July 23 in the Union Bank Community Room in the East Mall (Miyako). In addition, comments may be sent by email to japantowntaskforce@gmail.com.