Emiko Kimura

1919 - 2022

Emiko Kimura
July 30, 1919 - July 28, 2022
Sacramento, California - Emiko Kimura was born on July 30, 1919, in Florin, California to Japanese immigrants, Tsuneichi Kimura and Tomiye Fukuoka. She passed away peacefully at home in Sacramento, on July 28, 2022, two days short of her 103rd birthday. Emiko was predeceased by her parents, her older sister Fumiko, her older brother Kazuo, and her younger sister Machiko. She was the third of five children. She is survived by her only remaining sister, Teruyo Kunibe of South Lake Tahoe, six nieces and nephews, ten grand-nieces and nephews, and nine great grandnieces and nephews.
In 1926, the Kimura family settled in Sacramento to run a hotel on Second and Capitol Avenue, in the small enclave of Sacramento's Japantown. In 1928 they moved to the Union Hotel on Second and K St. to run the hotel and restaurant. This building still stands in the heart of Old Sacramento.
Emiko completed two years of junior college at Sacramento City College and was able to get a job with the federal government in a clerical position when in 1942, The Kimura Family was assigned to the Tulelake, California internment camp in accordance with Executive Order 9066. When Tule Lake became designated as the camp for dissidents, the family was transferred to Topaz. Emiko always said the one bright spot was that she and her sister Teruyo stayed at Tule Lake to close the books for all those being transferred, so that the two sisters were given their own cabin when they rejoined the family at Topaz. Before that, the family of six were housed in one cabin.
After the war, Emiko continued to work for the federal government and as she acquired new skills was transferred to the Department of the Interior to monitor the dams and bridges of Northern California until her retirement. Emiko retired early giving the reason that both her parents died so young that she wanted to be sure she was able to enjoy her retirement. And enjoy she did! Emiko loved travel. She visited to Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, the Continental United States and Canada. Her house in Sacramento was always a "pit stop" for family to use the bathroom, eat, and stay whenever they passed through. When her doctor told her that her blood pressure was getting too high, she began a daily walking program that lasted into her 90's. Emiko loved San Francisco and subscriptions to the Symphony, Best of Broadway, and ballet were part of her regimen. Always independent, she took up sewing, tried to learn to swim, and purchased and learned basic computer skills so she could produce the newsletter for her senior group.
Emiko lived a long full life. Her greatest joys were traveling to new places and revisiting places she loved, her dear friends and family, reading, gardening, being a lifelong learner, and her daily sudoku and crossword puzzle.
As per her wishes there will be a private family memorial.
(In lieu of koden or flowers, please consider donating to the Sacramento Buddhist Church, 2401 Riverside Blvd. Sacramento, CA 95818).