Located at the east corner of Etting and Pleasant Valley Roads in Oxnard (between Rose and Rice Avenues) is the Historic Japanese Cemetery, circa 1908. The site was designated Ventura County Historical Landmark No. 17 in June 1971.

From time to time I drive by this awkwardly situated cemetery, a narrow sliver sandwiched between the hustle and bustle of Pleasant Valley Road and a mobile home park to the north and a residential area to the south.

NOTE: The cemetery was vandalized on 6/19/17. The Ventura County Japanese American Citizens League is leading the effort to restore the cemetery. Learn more at venturacountyjacl.weebly.com/cemetery-restoration.html.

According to the Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board, the Japanese Cemetery was given by the Masonic Lodge to the Japanese community at a time when the Japanese were not permitted to own land in California. The larger Masonic cemetery lies to the east of the Japanese plot. The markers are wooden boards on which inscriptions in Japanese are printed. The last burials were around 1960.

The site has been cleaned up in recent years by the Ventura County Japanese American Citizens League.