Pocket Life
By Corky Mau
April 2026
Together They’re 206
Two sisters look back on more than a century
Pearl Matsuhara has stories to tell. She’s 104, so her stories are many. And she’s not alone. Her baby sister, Amy Miyashima, turns 103 on April 16.
Pearl and Amy were the youngest of five children born to Rikichi and Kuni Masuda. When the girls were small, the family moved from Elk Grove to Japantown, south of Capitol Mall.
They attended Lincoln School and Sacramento High School. The family ran a restaurant at Third and L streets. Customers enjoyed tacos and burritos, two for a nickel. The sisters went to work at ages 5 and 6, rolling fresh tortillas. Workers taught them Spanish songs.
When prohibition agents visited the restaurant, the elder Masudas told the children to climb into bed and hide liquor bottles under the blankets. Commerce was a family affair.
The Masudas sold the restaurant and bought a nearby grocery store. That venture ended in 1942 when the family, with 120,000 other Japanese Americans, were forced into internment camps.
Pearl and Amy were students at Sacramento Junior College when the U.S. entered World War II. The family was sent to Tule Lake where weekend dances and basketball games helped enliven incarceration. The sisters got clerical jobs. “We made $19 a month, the same pay as the camp doctors,” Pearl says. “Camp life wasn’t that great, but I liked having a job.”
Pearl’s daughter, Colleen Matsuhara, thinks the hardships of Block 9 at Tule Lake left a deep impression on her mother. “She was older and understood the injustices of Executive Order 9066. After she left camp in 1946, I think she was determined to make up for those lost years,” Colleen says.
Pearl married her childhood sweetheart, Yosh Matsuhara, in 1947. They were together 58 years before his death in 2005. After many years in Land Park, Pearl resides at Aegis Living Carmichael. She does chair exercises in the morning and enjoys afternoon residential events. Family visits are frequent.
Colleen attributes Pearl’s longevity to lifestyle. “Mom never drank or smoked. There were regular lunch dates with friends. Dad was very active in Asian sports leagues and she went to all his games. They had weekly Tsubaki dance classes and exercised regularly at California Family Fitness.”
Amy married “Soapy” Miyashima in 1948. They raised four children in Greenhaven and were married for 68 years before his death. Her family includes four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. “Our mother was always outgoing and liked having a good time. Maybe that’s why she’s lived so long,” daughter Lynn Miyashima Chinn says.
Pearl and Amy have always been close. Both worked in government, Pearl for Sacramento County, Amy for the state. Both were members of Parkview Presbyterian Church. Both enjoyed knitting, crocheting, ceramics and travel. The families often vacationed together at Lake Tahoe.
Pearl and Amy were great cooks. “Our mothers organized family gatherings to make tamales. I think this reminded them of their childhood, hand rolling tortillas,” Elaine Low, Amy’s daughter, says. On New Year’s Day, the family still gathers to make traditional Japanese food.
Census figures show about 10,600 centenarians in California. It’s unclear how many are siblings. But we know Pearl and Amy are members of a special club.
POCKET WALK/RUN
Lace up your running shoes for Roarin’ Through the Pocket 5K on Saturday, April 4. The walk/run winds through the Pocket greenbelt and is sponsored by Sacramento Senator Lions Club. Register by April 3 at thepocket5k.com or contact coachteddymorris@gmail.com.
FARMERS MARKET
Greenhaven/Pocket Farmers Market reopens April 12, at Elks Lodge No. 6. The market runs Sundays through Nov. 8 offering fresh produce, food vendors, artisans and music from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
COMMUNITY MEETING
The quarterly meeting of the Pocket-Greenhaven Community Association is Thursday, April 16, at 6 p.m. at Robbie Waters Library.
Corky Mau can be reached at corky.sue50@gmail.com. Submissions are due six weeks prior to the publication month. Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
