The collection documents through film and photography Sacramento's Japantown and Japanese community, the Sacramento Buddhist Church, and the Sasaki family, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950 to 1960. It shows church events, festivals, members, and visitors; Sacramento's Japantown and Japanese businesses, sports teams, families, and community members; the demolition of Japantown during redevelopment; Rev. Sasaki and his wife in the community and on church business; and the Sasaki family, including their children.

The Rev. Sensho Sasaki was a Buddhist priest who served as minister of Sacramento Buddhist Church from 1939 to 1961. He was born in 1903 in Fukui, Japan, and immigrated to the United States in 1926. He and his wife, Kinuko, also born in Fukui, had five sons: LaVerne, Conrad, Louis, Senmaro, and Senrey. Sasaki was the 25th generation of his family to be a Buddhist priest. His father, the Rev. Senju Sasaki, was the first minister of the Buddhist Churches of Canada, and his son LaVerne was also a Buddhist priest.

2 Linear Feet (1 half-manuscript box, 8 film reels)

All requests to publish or quote from private manuscripts held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.

The collection is open for research.