Japanese mission school fire

Sacramento's Nihon Shōgakkō was established in 1903 for children of immigrant families whose parents worked in agriculture in the area. It was one of the earliest such Japanese language schools established in the United States, and the first class had 56 students. The Sacramento Buddhist Church, organized in 1899 by the BMNA, is believed to be the second-oldest Buddhist institution in the United States. The buildings were located in the heart of Sacramento's Ofu, or Sakura City, which by the 1920s was the fourth-largest Japantown in the United States. A 1911 report on Asian communities on the west coast stated: "The Japanese supplementary school...is conducted by the Buddhist Mission. It is supported by the mission board and the Buddhist churches in Japan. However, it is not intended to give religious instruction. These children are taught Japanese history and geography and to read and write the language of their parents. Some of the children at the supplementary school are boarders, while others come from their homes in Sacramento. All of the children go to the public school during the regular hours and then the supplementary school from 3 to 5 p. m. Those who do not board pay 50 cents per month tuition, while the 27 who do board at the school pay this tuition fee and $7.50 per month for their maintenance." English-language newspapers covering the incident in 1923 usually called it the Japanese mission school fire or the Buddhist mission fire. Nihon Shōgakkō (), meaning Japanese grammar school, is the name reported on the school's website. The school, which had 450 enrolled students at the time of Japanese-American internment, later changed its name to Sacramento Gakuen and still exists as of 2022 as Sakura Gakuen Japanese Language School. == School fire ==

The Nihon Shōgakkō fire broke out shortly after midnight A Buddhist priest According to a contemporary news report, "Kanada made four trips down an outside stairway, each time carrying a child. Yano guided the other children through the smoke-filled hallways." One report said the ten victims had little chance of escape in part because they were unusually weary from a "long trip and picnic" earlier in the day. The victims, who were said to have died from asphyxiation, The dormitory was never rebuilt, but the fire-damaged Buddhist church building was replaced in 1925. == Investigation ==

Authorities initially believed the fire was a result of accidental combustion, despite the community's insistence from the beginning that the fire was of criminal origin. N. B. Coats, a black man, and John Golden, a Mexican foundry worker, were initially charged, circa late April 1923, with starting the school fire. Coats had "broken down under severe grilling" and confessed that he had acted as a lookout while Golden, also known as "Mexican Pete" (last name sometimes listed as Gilden), lit the blaze. Golden was said to have been motivated by "hatred of the Japanese as a result of a quarrel with a Nipponese." elsewhere described as "wandering Mexican", was arrested by police officers in Fullerton, Orange County, California, on July 17, 1923, following "a series of six fires there in one day." He initially confessed to an undercover detective placed in his cell pretending to be a fellow prisoner jailed on burglary charges. Padilla later stated that he was "brutally beaten" while in custody of Fullerton police "in order to force him to affix his signature to a statement purporting to read that if he were taken to Fresno and Sacramento he would divulge information concerning alleged incendiary fires in the two cities." Orange County sheriffs and Fullerton city marshals strongly denied the allegations. One report stated, "He was quoted as admitting satisfaction in burning the homes and buildings of Japanese, to which race he was said to have confessed an antipathy." Stockton, and Fresno. Padilla used "oil-soaked waste materials from box car journals" charges for the school fire on September 1, 1923, in Sacramento. The prosecutor sought capital punishment in his opening statement when the trial began on October 31. After four hours of deliberation, the superior court jury returned a verdict of guilty on November 7, 1923, and recommended life imprisonment. Judge C. O. Busick sentenced him to life. E. Oesterreicher, the undercover detective who initially gained Padilla's confidence and confession denied that Padilla had any connection to the IWW, stating that he had specifically interrogated Padilla about his organizational associations and Padilla denied affiliation with the IWW "and had no friends in it who would help, financially." Padilla was a resident of Folsom State Prison at the time of the 1930 U.S. federal census, working as a driller in the quarry. His Folsom prisoner number was 13127. His San Quentin prisoner number was 38599. At the time of his death, Padilla was one of the longest-serving inmates in the state. Other fires Padilla's confessions included at least 25 fires in California. This record qualifies Padilla for the designation serial arsonist. This record also demonstrates instances of spree arson. • January 16, 1921 – Three Japanese homes and a Japanese mission, Fresno • June 29, 1923 – Golden State Cannery in Colton, California this fire was later described as "huge" • July 1, 1923 – San Bernardino Lumber Yard (possibly same as previous) or 1898 According to newspaper reports, he had a past burglary charge. Padilla died in San Bernardino County, California. == See also ==