NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By John Sammon—Lotus Preschool, which celebrated 25 years in operation with a party at the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum, is such an excellent school that parents often put their children on a waiting list to enroll before the children are even born.

“I would like to give thanks to Lynne,” said Harriet Kawamata, a member of the Lotus Preschool Board of Directors, congratulating school founder Lynne Yamaichi. “For your brilliant idea, 26 years ago, and for all your hard work and dedication and for the amazing preschool you created. We are all so grateful Lynne.”

The preschool was lauded for its nurturing environment, and for keeping alive traditions of Japanese culture including food, customs, dance, dress, and song, as well as its link to the Buddhist Church Betsuin in San Jose’s Japantown. The school, located at 639 N. 5th St., is right across the street from the church, a center of activity and an anchor in the community for decades.

San Jose along with Los Angeles and San Francisco has one of the only three existing Japantowns left in California that survived disruptions caused by the forced relocation and internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans to camps throughout the Western U.S. during World War II.

Before an audience of approximately 600 at the museum on July 30, former students, teachers, volunteers, parents, grandparents and well-wishers recalled their experiences and fond memories of the school.

Judy Ohki of San Jose visited with her daughter Kimi Takeda, 18, who attended the school when she was barely more than a toddler.

“I remember going to the school a little bit,” Takeda said.

Ohki said she enrolled Kimi in the school because it was a safe, nurturing environment.

“I lived in Milpitas back then,” she recalled. “There was a long waiting list to get in, but I put Kimi’s name in when she was born. We wanted her to learn the Japanese culture and it was fun because the children would walk across the street to the Buddhist Church.”

Takeda, who attends San Francisco State College, said she is majoring in sports medicine, called “kinesiology.”

“I’d like to work with the players on the Golden State Warriors (basketball) team,” she said.

The celebration had fun activities for kids including a photo booth, face painting, hair extensions (coloring hair purple), a balloon lady, videos showing the school’s history titled “25 Years of Lotus Preschool,” singing, dancing and children performing.

A highlight was the presentation of the graduating Class of 2011, a line of small children, 19 of them, dressed in red graduation gowns with matching mortarboard caps. The children recited poetry like “Golden Chain,” pledging to be pure in thought and to treat every living thing with kindness, sang Japanese traditional songs, and included the humorous “I’m a little graduate dressed in red, with a cap on my head,” followed up by the tune, “sometimes I’m happy happy happy, or grumpy grumpy grumpy at work, or sleepy sleepy sleepy at church.”

In additional, 15 younger children also taking part wore traditional Lotus Hapi coats, blue robes emblazoned with the school name.

Yamaichi said she came up with the idea for the privately-funded school because the Japantown area had no preschool.

“I approached the Buddhist Church to see if we could work together,” she said.

Born and raised in Japantown, Yamaichi had achieved a degree in human development at UC Davis, but said her dream had always been to work with small children.

“I also worked at the Santo Market,” she said. “It’s a family-run business that’s still in our family. In July of 1986 we enrolled our first student.”

The very first class that year had eight children.

People fondly noted the close connection with the Buddhist Church allowing children to visit and learn from teachers at the facility, mentors and church reverends, called “sensei.”

Janice Doi, president of the Buddhist Church, said the pre-school had made a great contribution to the quality of life in Japantown.

“We appreciate the contribution and we’ve been delighted to see the children cross the street to meet the sensei at the temple,” she noted. “The excellent reputation of Lotus attracts young families back to the temple, and I’m grateful that Lotus existed for my kids.”

Doi presented Yamaichi with a plaque commemorating 1986 as the first year and commended the facility for enriching the community “spiritually, physically and mentally.”

Master of ceremonies at the event, Reid Kaneshiro, 27, and Stephanie Yoshihara, 28, both former first-year students, recalled their early experiences at the preschool they said had made them better people.

“The kids are enriched with culture and form a solid base for memories,” Kaneshiro said. “They are taught good morals. If you were caught for example throwing rocks, you wrote a note of apology. Lynne Yamaichi has been a member of everybody’s family.”

Brian Handa, a teacher at the school, said he started as a volunteer in 1991 and never left.

“I went to part-time teaching and then full-time in 1998,” he said. “At the time I had been planning to get a teaching credential and work at a public school, but my decision to stay was due to Lynne (Yamaichi). She was a great mentor. I didn’t want to leave.

I want to thank the parents who have let me be a part of their families,” he added. “I love my job. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

In closing, Yamaichi thanked members of the community for their support over the years.

“I’m thankful for your friendships, 25 years has flown by so fast,” she said. “To see how our kids have grown is amazing.”

The pre-school has a cookbook for sale titled “Lotus Preschool 25th Anniversary Cookbook,” with a heading “itadakimasu,” which translates in English, “I’m thankful for my food,” a traditional invocation spoken before meals.

The book includes over 400 favorite recipes collected from families and is available for $30 plus $5 shipping, payable to the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin Lotus Preschool at 639 N. 5th St., San Jose, 95112.

For more information call (408) 293-1612.