The Colma Japanese Cemetery is located just south of San Francisco in Colma, Calif. The three-acre cemetery is the final resting place for more than 5,000 people, including members of the Kanrin Maru, the first Japanese ship that arrived in America. The Japanese Benevolent Society of California was established in 1901 with a grant from the Emperor of Japan to provide “a suitable burial ground for deceased Japanese.” The cemetery holds monuments dedicated to numerous community pioneers, including a towering monument of the “Potato King,” George Shima (Kinji Ushijima); “Rice King” Keisaburo Koda; Kyutaro Abiko, publisher of the Nichi Bei Shimbun and pioneer of the Yamato Colony in Livingston, California; and Dr. Ernest A. Sturge, a Quaker and physician who devoted his life to work among the Japanese. It also includes the Santa Fe Railroad Workers Memorial Monument. Every year more than 200 people attend the annual Memorial Day service at the cemetery.
