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The purchase ensures that the home\u2019s legacy and history is preserved for generations to come. Mineta was San Jose\u2019s first Asian American councilmember before being elected mayor. He later served as a congressman for 20 years until President Bill Clinton appointed Mineta in 2000 to become the Secretary of Commerce. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Mineta to become the Secretary of Transportation, a position he held until 2006. Mineta was deeply involved in the Wesley church and was baptized there, along with his children.<\/p>\n His son David Mineta describes the church\u2019s ownership of the house as something that felt right for the family and the community.<\/p>\n \u201cJapantown and that house and the church were such a core part of who he was,\u201d David told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cFor almost 100 years, our family owned and loved that house, and our family thinks that it\u2019s really perfect that Wesley is going to write the next chapter of that house.\u201d<\/p>\n \nContribute to Local News Matters\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The church was\u00a0founded in 1895<\/a>\u00a0by Japanese immigrants. When church leaders learned the house was up for sale, they sold the parsonage their pastor was living in and used the money to purchase the Mineta home for $1.4 million. Church leaders spent around $550,000 to renovate the home. They replaced the main water and sewer line, repaired the roof, replaced the heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems, renovated the kitchen, expanded the bathrooms and more.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels good to know that for generations to come, the Mineta house will remain a very special part of Japantown,\u201d Kelli Saito Martines, the church\u2019s director of administration, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Fortifying the Japantown cultural district<\/p>\n Since the home is listed in the city\u2019s\u00a0Historic Resources Inventory<\/a>, the church had to\u00a0preserve<\/a>\u00a0it as carefully as possible. The church replaced the side and back windows, but made sure to match the windows with the original.<\/p>\n The church\u2019s renovations fortifies Japantown\u2019s\u00a0state designation<\/a>\u00a0as a cultural district, which has roughly 180 cultural assets, from historic buildings to murals and memorials. The church invited the Mineta family to view the finished renovations earlier this month.<\/p>\n David said the church paid\u00a0careful attention to fixing the house.<\/p>\n \u201cAs much as we love the house, it shows on the renovations, how much the church loves the house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels good to know that for generations to come, the Mineta house will remain a very special part of Japantown.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelli Saito Martines, Wesley United Methodist Church<\/p>\n Though David didn\u2019t grow up in the house, he has fond memories of family gatherings during the holidays when his aunt and grandfather lived there. The house was built by his grandparents in the 1920s after his grandfather immigrated to California to work in the fields. The house, like much of\u00a0Japantown<\/a>, was preserved during World War II thanks to the goodwill of a local lawyer.<\/p>\n When Japanese families were sent to internment camps, they were forced to abandon or sell their property at a huge loss. California\u2019s Japanese Exclusion Law prohibited Japanese immigrants from owning land, and the government\u00a0seized their property. Lawyer\u00a0James Benjamin Peckham<\/a>\u00a0stewarded San Jose\u2019s Japantown properties and gave it back to families when they returned, including the Mineta house.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were so fortunate to be able to come back to San Jose and the home still be there,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n Norm Mineta\u2019s experience as an internment camp survivor and immigrant in America led him to ensure others wouldn\u2019t be excluded, David said.<\/p>\n Link with aviation history<\/p>\n As the Secretary of Transportation, Mineta issued a memo days after the 9\/11 attack to all U.S. commercial airlines urging them not to racially profile Arab or Muslim passengers. He pressed President Bush to create the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which became the chief security service for the nation\u2019s airports. For that, the San Jose Mineta International Airport was renamed in his honor in 2001. A statue of Mineta sits at the airport\u2019s Terminal B baggage claim area.<\/p>\n \u201cDad was just super kind, and he didn\u2019t want anyone to feel like the other,\u201d David said. \u201cFolks felt included in the community. They felt included in the country, and he knew how much being a citizen mattered. And he would help anyone, any group, feel included.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767144849_308_LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg\")
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The church spent about $550,000 to renovate the home, including the workroom attached to the garage. (Kelli Saito Martines via San Jose Spotlight)<\/p>\n