NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By Judy Niizawa—Judy Niizawa traveled to Coyote, Calif. in June for her Encinal grammar school reunion located off of the Monterey Highway but didn’t expect to learn about her community or family history and did. This was a one school district and had grades one through eight because during the 1900s this was not unusual. This is her account of the reunion and how it came about:

It has been said that in the early 1920s to 1930s, pioneer Japanese families lived on the Monterey Highway and up on Bailey Avenue. I knew one family whose kids were all born on the Brown property there before they moved to Salinas Valley. Several others lived near the creek and were supporters of education and participated in the parent teacher groups, and helped establish Encinal, which was built in the traditional Spanish style with tile roof. But when the Field Act came along sometime in the 1960s many of the local schools in that architectural style were decimated, presumably for safety reasons due to earthquakes.

Years have gone by since then, but it was a couple of guys who were in the class of 1958 and they were having lunch one day talking about their upcoming high school reunion next year. The idea about having a reunion of Encinal School classmates was discussed. The two, Mas Kawai and Roger Costa agreed that a reunion for Encinal ought to be put together.

It was going to be just a few from the class of 1958, but Roger had a baby sister named Janet who was 5 years younger and said, “Why not our class, too?” So, there was the idea for having an event that included any students who attended Encinal in the 1950s through the 1960s. With his tech skills, Kawai designed a flyer, which Janet modified for distribution, and the wheels began to turn.

Kawai likes, or loves, the cuisine over at 4th Street Bowl, but the first meeting to include me was held at the Happi House, San Jose’s first fast food Japanese restaurant. I did not know Kawai, but Jean Yamaguchi, who was a returning student to Encinal back In 1956, attended the meeting, and I did know her.

I recently found out that our generation of kids born between 1930 and 1945 are called the Silent Generation. You know, not the Baby Boomers, or Gen X, that sort of thing. Some of us are technologically challenged, but others have kept up to date. So, getting everybody who was interested in attending to use Yahoo, which was all set up by former HP Executive, Costa, was indeed a challenge. Had we not finally accepted straight old hard copy forms, we may not have ended up with the amazing event that did occur.

The reunion was held on June 11, and over 130 people, including a former principal and two former teachers, turned out at the site of what used to be the Encinal School. It is currently a Charter School within the Morgan Hill Unified School District. The Charter School was gracious enough to allow the use of one of their multi-purpose rooms, which provided an easy and relaxed atmosphere for folks to gather. Guests enjoyed a nice bbq lunch,reminisced, and just generally caught up with each other in the setting where they all first met. Bottom line was that the response was very warm and positive!

While it took Costa years to shake off what he felt was being a country boy by having attended Encinal all eight years and then going on to Live Oak High School, I look back on my few years at Encinal as akin to what parents might look for in a private school. It had such a caring staff and parents, such as Jenny and Andrew Costa who headed up the PTA and School Board respectively, while I was in attendance at Encinal.

Past staff included three who were able to attend. Everybody’s favorite was Miss Yoneko “Nikki” Miyamura who had a lean right cutter arm. Mr. Robert Barella whose whole family came from all parts of the country. And, Mr. William Keig, who was the most recent principal before Encinal was unified into the Morgan Hill schools.

There are just so many untold stories. But, to give a little more background, which to me was revelatory was that Roger Costa and Janet Costa Hebert’s grandfather was the first generation to settle in Coyote. Their dad, Andrew himself attended Encinal when George Nakano, Sr. were both students. When all the Nikkei were banished from SCC, the Costa family maintained the Nakano property. And George, Jr. told me that their family didn’t return to SCV until 1948 as their father was able to farm after leaving camp early.

This is then the most remarkable part of the story that I did not know. The Nakano family then had other families live on their property and work for them until they were able to get back on their own. I was aware that the Driscoll Brothers had brought families out to farm huge acreages of strawberries In Morgan Hill and Southern Santa Clara Valley, and many of the Nikkei families worked and lived on these ranches before being able to move on their own. Our family was one.

Another surprise was to find out fellow students and friends from the YBA had at one time been Encinal students. Many attended Live Oak High School, and Gilroy High School where I went. These are the stories of the Nikkei youth that have never really been uncovered and ought to be used to illustrate the kind of resilience that was modeled by their parents and grandparents, which ultimately permeated the community and its members who by and large ended up quite well. But some ended their lives very early and are sadly gone.  I personally would like to pursue some individual family stories.