East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center

The San Gabriel Valley Chapter JACL offers scholarships to high school seniors. The Shigeyuki Kusuda Memorial Scholarship and Dr. Kenneth Miyata Scholarship are awarded to students who are continuing upper division or are graduate students. Our center is always looking for volunteers, anyone who wishes to offer community service is always welcome. 

Senior Citizen Activities: The senior citizens' group is known as the Leisure Club. They meet on Wednesday mornings from 9am to 1pm. They play bingo, bridge, do crafts, and socialize. They invite speakers to come and inform/educate their members about healthy living, retirement, nursing homes, etc. There are toban groups each month that are in charge of making lunch. Lunch can be purchased for $2.00. Once a month, they go on a turnaround trip to the Stateline by bus. Tosh Asano is the president of the Leisure Club. Please call the center office to join.

Membership: Membership dues are $45.00 per family per year. Center Membership is required in order to take classes and participate in club activities. Membership is open to all nationalities. We have a monthly newsletter that is mailed to our members.

History & Mission statement: January 17, 1936, is a significant date to be remembered by everyone at the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center. For it was on that day our friend and benefactor, Mr. Eijiro Machida, donated an acre of his farmland to be used by the Japanese Community in the eastern part of the San Gabriel Valley.

On February 6, 1951, the name East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center was officially adopted and was chartered by the State of California as a non-profit corporation. In 1964 the purchase of the present property of Puente Avenue was agreed from the Shepard of the Valley Lutheran Church.

Mission Statement: The ESGVJCC is a not for profit membership organization that provides an environment to promote and preserve cultural heritage unique to Japanese ancestry through social services, recreational, educational and other programs.