Japanese mission school fire
Nihon Shōgakkō fire
On April 15, 1923, around midnight, a fire broke out in the dormitory of a Buddhist boarding school for Japanese children in Sacramento, California. Ten children were killed, aged about 5 to 18, from the smoke and flames. The fire was started on purpose (arson) and tied to anti-Japanese prejudice.
Fortunato Valencia Padilla, a Mexican-American travelling worker, later confessed to starting the fire after his arrest in July 1923. He said he had set many other fires across California, including at Japanese homes and churches.
Padilla was charged with first-degree murder on September 1, 1923. He was found guilty on November 7, 1923 and sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison in 1970.
The Nihon Shōgakkō in Sacramento had opened in 1903 to teach children of immigrant families. The dormitory was next to the Sacramento Buddhist Church and the YMBA Hall, in an area known as Japantown. The fire killed ten children on the second and third floors; a Buddhist priest named K. Kanada and a visitor named Y. Yano helped save 13 others.
Three days after the fire, there was another arson attempt nearby. The dormitory was never rebuilt, but the church building was replaced in 1925.
Padilla’s case highlighted anti-Japanese violence of the era. He spent much of his life in prison. The school later became Sacramento Gakuen and is today known as Sakura Gakuen Japanese Language School.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:08 (CET).