About the Wakamatsu Pilgrimage

Join us for our third biennial pilgrimage to the site of the first large settlement of Japanese in America, which was established 154 years ago. A national and state historic landmark, the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony was established June 8, 1869. It is also the birthplace of the first Japanese American, and the grave site of the first Japanese woman buried in the U.S., Okei.

This year’s pilgrimage is a rare opportunity to learn about the storied history of this colony led by John Schnell and former samurai from Aizu-Wakamatsu, present-day Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Participants can trace their own roots through family history consultations with volunteers from the California Genealogical Society.

Event Highlights:

• Talk by Professor John E. Van Sant, author of “Pacific Pioneers: Japanese Journeys to America and Hawaii, 1850-80”
• Bus and bento packages from San Jose, San Francisco, East Bay and Sacramento.
• Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony tours and exhibits, including the Okei gravesite and Graner House Museum.
• Recognizing descendants of Wakamatsu colonist Kuninosuke Masumizu.
• FREE Family History Consultations with California Genealogical Society volunteers.
• Recently-installed monuments.
• Bon Odori dancing to honor ancestors
• Taiko by Koyasan Spirit of Children Taiko … and MORE!

MUST BE AMBULATORY: WALKING INVOLVED.

This year, we are offering bus packages to four separate locations: San Francisco, East Bay, San Jose and Sacramento. Each package includes admission onto the charter bus there and back, as well as a bento lunch on-site, water and tours of the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony. Please read each package’s details carefully before purchasing!