Harada House Foundation

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Harada House Foundation

The promoting of the story of the Harada family’s struggle for civil rights as embodied
by the National Historic Landmark Harada House is our passion.

05/31/2026

"I think we have the right to place our children in the proper surroundings, where they will not be sick.” —Jukichi Harada

Harada family portrait, circa 1906.

To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

Image courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

05/28/2026

Jukichi Harada, circa 1930s.

Jukichi Harada served as President of the Japanese Association of Riverside. This photograph was likely taken at one of their events in the 1930s.

To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

Images courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

05/24/2026

“Evacuated on May 23, 1942 Sat 7 AM Shig.”

84 years ago today, Harold Harada marked the date and time of his forced removal from Riverside. Like 120,000 other Japanese Americans, the Harada family was forcibly removed and incarcerated in US concentration camps during World War II.

To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

Images courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

Image courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

05/22/2026

Mine was the first Harada child born in the United States, making her the first US citizen in the family. Mine graduated from high school in 1923 and attended Riverside Community College. In 1926, she moved to Pacific Grove, where she worked in the kitchen at Asilomar, the YWCA camp and conference grounds.

Mine Harada and Saburo Kido were married in Riverside on May 20, 1928. The newlyweds lived in San Francisco. Saburo Kido operated his own legal practice and Mine worked in an Asian souvenir store, where she earned more than double the salary of her husband by stringing pearls and selling Asian souvenirs.

To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

Images courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

05/21/2026

Ken Indo Harada was born in 1881 in the town of Kariya-shi, in the Aichi Prefecture of Japan. She came from a family of samurai. At age 15, she met schoolteacher Jukichi Harada. Within a year, she and Jukichi were married and expecting their first child.

By the time she and her family were forcible removed and incarcerated in 1942, Ken was in poor health. Having already suffered a stroke, she spent her incarceration in camp hospitals. In 1943, Ken died in the Topaz concentration camp hospital.

To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

Image courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

05/18/2026

Sumi Harada was born on December 25, 1909. Sumi attended Riverside Junior College, now known as Riverside City College. Amidst her parents’ failing health, she officially took ownership of the family’s Washington Restaurant in February of 1939.

In August 1945, Sumi returned home to the Harada House on Lemon Street after her forced removed and incarceration. Over the next several months, Sumi assisted other formerly incarcerated Japanese Americans by making her home available to boarders, most of whom she knew from the Poston concentration camp. Sumi’s siblings also came to stay with her periodically, including brother Clark and his wife, Sonoko.

Sumi struggled to find a post-war job in Riverside, eventually working part-time as a housekeeper from the 1950s to 1970s, including at the home now known as the Museum of Riverside’s Heritage House.

For the rest of her life, Sumi used her family home as the center of the Harada family.

To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

Images courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

05/12/2026

Roy Hashimura was born in 1919 in Long Beach, California. At age nine, he was adopted by Ken and Jukichi Harada. Like his siblings, Roy worked in the family’s Washington Restaurant. He attended community college in Riverside before moving to Berkeley, initially living with his older sister Mine Harada. Roy later found a job in an Oakland optometrist’s office.

Like the rest of his family, Roy was forcibly removed under Executive Order 9066. He and his siblings were incarcerated in the US concentration camp at Poston and later transferred to Topaz. During WWII, Roy served in the US Army. He continued to serve in Germany after the war, where his assignments included overseeing security of German SS prisoners and providing security during war crimes trials.

Upon his initial return from Germany, Roy, his wife Annie, and their daughter Alitza stayed with Sumi at the family home on Lemon Street. They later stayed in a Los Angeles home owned by Mine Harada and her husband. Roy and his family eventually settled in Norwalk.

Roy celebrated his 107th birthday in March of 2026. The Harada House Foundation honors his memory and wishes his family and loved ones our greatest condolences.

Image courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

05/11/2026

In a 2000 oral history interview with Mark Rawitsch, Harold Harada described his mother Ken as "the gentlest, kindest person that I’ve ever met except for my wife."

To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

Image courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

05/03/2026

In 1905, the Harada family was reunited. Jukichi had left Japan in 1903. Ken and their son, Masa Atsu, journeyed to California in 1904. While Masa Atsu was permitted entry into the US, Ken was turned away at Angel Island Immigration Station and required to return to Japan. In 1905, she successfully entered the United States via Canada. Shortly after her arrival, the family moved from Redlands to Riverside.

To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

Image courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

04/29/2026

Excerpt of a letter from Clark Harada to the local draft board, August 14, 1944.

Clark Harada wrote many letters to the draft board during his incarceration at the Topaz, Utah concentration camp. Clark was a vocal opponent of his and his family’s incarceration in American concentration camps during WWII. He also opposed the subsequent drafting of Japanese American men into the US military, arguing that the US government could not strip Japanese Americans of their rights while expecting them to serve in the US military.

To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

Image courtesy of the Museum of Riverside, Riverside, California.

Address

P. O. Box 2272
Riverside, CA
92316

Website

https://linktr.ee/haradahousefoundation

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