50 year anniversary of Japanese pagoda built on compassion, Longmont
KANEMOTO monument, Longmont — The Tower of Compassion in Kanemoto Park turns 50 this year, (installed in 1973) marking a milestone in the city’s long and treasured relationship with the Kanemoto family.
It all started in 1908, when Goroku Kanemoto, a young Japanese immigrant, left his home in Hiroshima, Japan and headed to Mexico. He first worked for the railroad. On a trip heading north to Canada, he hopped off the train in the Denver area to try his hand at farming. He was impressed by Colorado’s fertile soil.
In 1935, when Goroku died, his oldest son Jimmie took over the family business, with the support of his younger brother George. The Kanemotos eventually purchased land in south Longmont. They farmed there for nearly 30 years, and would sell their fresh produce at their South Main Street roadside market, Freshway Market.
Jimmie and George continued the family business of farming while starting other ventures. In the mid-1960s, they opened Kane Manufacturing and Supply Company and built a 700-home subdivision, known as Southmoor Park. The neighborhood included a shopping center and apartments, capitalizing on the growth brought by new construction of the nearby IBM and Federal Aviation Administration facilities.
The brothers donated land back to the City of Longmont near the Southmoor Park neighborhood in 1966. The City decided to make the land a park, and Jimmie and George asked that it be named after their father, so the seven-acre Kanemoto Park was established. The brothers continued to give back to the Longmont community donating land for a fire station, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, the St. Vrain Greenway, a Buddhist temple, a school administration building and Burlington Elementary School.
There were several Japanese families in Longmont, but their history was diminished to some extent over the years. In 1972, the Kanemoto brothers commissioned the Tower of Compassion The pagoda is built on five levels: love, empathy, understanding, gratitude, and giving selflessly. Together, they make up what the monument stands for — compassion.
The Kanemotos were never sent to an internment camp during WWII, and the Tower was built in a response to the kindness of the city and the efforts Gov. Ralph Carr, who opposed the internment of Japanese-Americans living in Colorado. (There’s a great book about the governor, written about 10 years ago. And the Longmont Times Call has a detailed article on it).
