Volunteers Needed: Honoring our Past, Remembering those who have passed on..

Our friends at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) is organizing a youth and family community Clean-Up Day at the Japanese Cemetery in Colma on Sunday, May 22nd.

When: Saturday, May 22nd
Time: 10:00am – Noon
Where: 1300 Hillside Blvd., Colma, CA 94014

Directions: http://www.jbens.org/index_e.html

The JCCCNC will supply, garbage bags, tools, cleaning supplies, watering buckets, drinking water, rags, bento and flowers (please bring your owns gloves)

The day will start with a brief history of the cemetery. This year represents the 150^th Anniversary of the arrival of the Kanrin-Maru in San Francisco, the first ship to come to America. This event lead to the start of our Japanese American history and communities in the United States.

The Japanese Cemetery is located in the quiet town of Colma on the San Francisco Peninsula. It takes about 20 minutes from San Francisco by car. The 3-acre cemetery is the final resting place for more than 5,000 people, and the tower commemorating three crewmen from the famous ship Kanrin-Maru is there as well. In 1901, the Japanese Benevolent Society of California was established with a grant from the Meiji Emperor of Japan to provide "for the relief of sick, disabled or destitute persons of the Japanese race" in California and to provide "a suitable burial ground for deceased Japanese."

The Society performed its historic mandate over the years, assisting those in need and acquiring land in Colma, California, for a Japanese cemetery. It also served as a unifying force in the Japanese American community by bringing together the Buddhist, Shinto and Christian religious organizations, and by participating in local historical, cultural, and memorial events that honor the Japanese heritage in the United States.

To volunteer, please RSVP, by contacting the JCCCNC at (415) 567-5505.