NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By J.K. Yamamoto

BERKELEY—Services were held Jan. 24 for Eiko Sugihara, 86, of Richmond, who was well-known in the East Bay Nikkei community.

So many friends and relatives showed up at Berkeley Buddhist Temple, where Sugihara was an active member, that latecomers were seated in the Social Hall to watch the services on a video monitor.

Sugihara’s death on Dec. 4 became public knowledge a month later when the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department announced that it was investigating the case as “suspicious.”

She went to the JC Penney at the Hilltop Mall in Richmond to have her hair done. Less than two hours later, her car was found engulfed in flames 30 miles away in Lafayette. Her remains were discovered when the fire was put out, but authorities were unable to determine the cause of death.

While some who knew her suspect foul play, others suggest that it was some kind of accident.

A native of Redwood City, Eiko Honda was interned at the Tanforan and Topaz camps during World War II. She married John Sugihara in 1954 and helped run the family business, a wholesale cut-rose nursery in Richmond. The couple raised two sons, Wayne and Mark.

Flora Ninomiya of Ninomiya Nursery Company in Richmond spoke fondly of Mrs. Sugihara while attending Contra Costa JACL’s recent installation luncheon. “Ever since she came to Richmond, we’ve been friends and we’ve done a lot of things together, community things like JACL,” she recalled. “We’ve done Farm Bureau things because of being in the nursery business. Our families have been friends since my grandfather’s time and her father-in-law’s time … Our families have been in Richmond since 1917, so that’s quite a while.

“Eiko was such a community leader. Everything that she did she did well, exceptionally well. It’s a big loss to the community.”

Ninomiya, who last saw Sugihara the day before Thanksgiving, commented, “In the news they made it sound so sinister, and that’s not the kind of thing that would happen to Eiko. She was very well able to take care of herself … I truly believe that nothing sinister happened, nothing criminal happened. I believe that she just simply got lost and there was an accident. I don’t think that any other person was involved.”

“Untimely Demise”

At the memorial service, chairman Kiyoshi Katsumoto said he was saddened by Sugihara’s “untimely demise right before Christmas.” Noting that he would see her at Sunday services, during crafts on Tuesdays, and when Padma, the temple newsletter, was put together, he added, “It’s hard to believe that I won’t see her anymore.”

Incense offerings were made by Betty Nakahara on behalf of Sugihara’s friends; Yosh Tokiwa for Contra Costa JACL; Edythe Vassall for Padma; Betsy Ishida for Berkeley Buddhist Women’s Association; and Scott Takeda for Berkeley Buddhist Temple.

Mark Sugihara gave a brief biography of his mother and offered his personal reflections. He described her as “a great friend” and “a great inspiration” to many.

Her involvement in JACL’s campaign for redress for Japanese Americans who were interned was “really important for her,” he said. As a result of the campaign, former internees received reparations and an apology, and the general public learned about the internment. “We have that as part of her legacy,” her son said.

He noted that she went through some hard times, including the passing of his father in 1990. His cousin Glenn took over Sugihara Nursery and Mrs. Sugihara continued to work there until it closed its doors in 2001.

To illustrate his mother’s character, Mark Sugihara talked about her dog. “Her last dog has passed away just about six months before and she really wasn’t thinking of getting another animal at all … (But) this (stray) dog was wandering around the neighborhood … She really worried about that dog and eventually, Mom adopted her … Now I have Trixie to take care of … a reminder of the way my mom was.”

While Rev. David Matsumoto of Berkeley Buddhist Temple was one of the officants, it was Rev. Kenneth Yamada of Berkeley Higashi Honganji Temple who gave the Dharma message.

“Eiko used to sometimes come to our temple accompanied by sometimes one of her sons … sometimes both,” Yamada explained. “She would come to our bazaar, eat the food, buy mochi or come to memorial services. I only recently found that her mother-in-law was a member of our temple and she continued to support our temple in various ways.

“On more than one occasion she said to me, ‘I’m a member of that other temple, but I like to come here once in a while.’

“But I’ve known Eiko … because I knew Mark from a long time ago when we played together on a baseball team called the Richmond Cubs ... So it’s very special to me to be able to be here today. I remember Eiko back in those days … coming to the baseball games and she would drive and root for our team … I remember that I thought of her as a strong woman, strong personality, strong physically, headstrong.

“When I think about her now, I think that she really represented a generation of Japanese American Nisei women who were strong at a time when just the opposite was expected of them. She was independent of thought and in action.

Yo Doi was one of many nursery family members who came to pay their respects. “She was a good neighbor and a good friend,” she said of Sugihara. “We used to go out and have lunch together. We’re really going to miss her. I always passed her house. We lived catty-corner from her … I went to Japan with her one time.” She added, “The way she went is really sad.”

Fumi Oishi, Doi’s sister and member of another nursery family, recalled, “I met her in camp. She was the editor of Topaz Times and I was just a secretary typist. (In recent years) we were in a singles club in Richmond. After I lost my husband, I joined that club and we did a lot of things together.”

Regarding the incident, she said, “I don’t really know what happened. I just heard about it from the paper.”

Investigation Update

Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Jimmy Lee said that Sugihara’s car was found on the 900 block of Hunsaker Canyon Road. “Because of her being in that remote location, it was determined to be suspicious in nature.”

According to Lee, the car, a white 1990 Lexus LS 400, was found partially hanging over the edge of an embankment and had not crashed into anything. At the same time, he said, “It does not appear that Eiko Sugihara was the victim of a robbery.”

The location is “a residential area with homes on large lots,” Lee said. “A resident was the one who called it in to the Sheriff’s Office.”

There is security video showing Sugihara leaving the mall, but “I’m not sure if it went to the point where she was getting into her car,” he said, adding that there have been no reported sightings of the car between Richmond and Lafayette.

The cause of the fire is “being looked at by an expert,” Lee said. Although there have been several cases of parked cars being torched in the East Bay, he called this one “completely different.” All of the other cars were unoccupied.

Lee said no reward has been offered or discussed in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call (925) 313-2632.