• 1923 – Ten Japanese-American children were killed in a racially motivated arson attack on a school in Sacramento, California.

Nihon Shōgakkō fire

Coordinates: 38.5768°N 121.5034°W

Date: April 15, 1923
Time: around 12:00 a.m., PT
Location: Sacramento, California, United States
Coordinates: 38.5768°N 121.5034°W
Cause: Arson
Motive: Anti-Japanese sentiment
Perpetrator: Fortunato Valencia Padilla
Casualties
10 children killed
Convicted: Fortunato Valencia Padilla
Trial: September 1, 1923 – November 7, 1923
Verdict: Guilty
Convictions: First-degree murder
Sentence: Life imprisonment

The Nihon Shōgakkō fire, or Japanese mission school fire, was a racially motivated arson that killed ten children in Sacramento, California, on April 15, 1923, at the dormitory of a Buddhist boarding school for students of Japanese ancestry. Fortunato Valencia Padilla, a Mexican-American itinerant from the Rio Grande Valley, admitted to committing the arson after his arrest in July 1923. Padilla confessed to at least 25 other fires in California, 13 of which were committed against Japanese households and Japanese-owned properties. Padilla was indicted on first-degree murder charges for the school fire on September 1, 1923, in Sacramento, with the prosecution seeking capital punishment. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was incarcerated at Folsom State Prison and later San Quentin State Prison; he died in 1970.

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Investigation

Other fires
Padilla's confessions included at least 25 fires in California. This record qualifies Padilla for the designation serial arsonist. This record also demonstrates instances of spree arson.

• January 16, 1921 – Three Japanese homes and a Japanese mission, Fresno
• April 26, 1922 – Two Japanese homes, Fresno
• May 30, 1922 – Madary Planing Mill, Fresno
• September 14, 1922 – Fig Brownie Plant of the California Peach and Fig Growers, Fresno
• October 8, 1922 – Japanese Congregational Mission, and Japanese home owned by S. Eda, previously burned on January 16, 1921, Fresno
• October 13, 1922 – Japanese-owned property, Fresno
• October 15, 1922 – Japanese-owned property, Fresno
• October 20, 1922 – Two Japanese-owned homes, Fresno
• November 13, 1922 – Japanese-owned public garage, Fresno
• April 26, 1923 – Two fires in the same night in the "Japanese quarter of Fresno"
• June 29, 1923 – Golden State Cannery in Colton, California
• June 1923 – Santa Fe lumberyard in San Bernardino, California
• July 1, 1923 – San Bernardino Lumber Yard (possibly same as previous)
• July 4, 1923 – Union Oil Company warehouse, Riverside
• July 5, 1923 – Superior Honey Company plant, Riverside
• July 10, 1923 – Anaheim Orange and Lemon Association packing warehouse, and Charles Bagnell warehouse, Anaheim
• July 11, 1923 – Americanization Teacher's Home, Placentia; American Fruit Growers packing house, Placentia; Orange Growers' warehouse, Anaheim; Placentia Walnut Growers’ Association warehouse, Globe beach house, and a cottage, Fullerton
• Dates unclear – Three fires in Sacramento including one at a boarding house

Padilla was said to have denied any connection with the blaze that consumed the Casa Blanca school near Riverside.

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