The Japan Towns of Placer County: Free Lecture

Lecture from historian, David Unruhe, on his book The Japan Towns of Placer County with Rebecca Greg.

“Located in the foothills east of Sacramento, the towns of Loomis, Penryn, Newcastle, and Auburn were once surrounded by peach, plum, and pear orchards. Japanese farmers worked on a majority of the fruit ranches in this part of Placer County and supported a local economy of Japanese businesses.

“By the early 1900s, Penryn’s Japantown was established along Penryn Road and served as both a commercial and cultural center for many of the area’s Nikkei. Although smaller hubs, the neighboring towns of Loomis, Newcastle, and Auburn had several community institutions and Japanese businesses that catered to local residents and were mainstays of their respective communities.” – David Unruhe, http://californiajapantowns.org/placer.html

David will dive into the rich local history of the Japanese and Japanese-American communities, highlighting the many contributions to the cultural, financial, and, agricultural developments within Placer County.