Agriculture

Many Issei (first-generation Japanese immigrants) began as sharecroppers. Others sought to buy land, but the Issei had to overcome obstacles preventing them from competing with white farmers. California and other states passed alien land laws prohibiting Asian immigrants from purchasing or leasing agricultural land. There were ways around the discriminatory laws: an Issei father could put the property in the name of his American-born child, or issei could form corporations in which a majority of the shareholders were American citizens. Despite the alien land laws, Issei farmers played a significant role in West Coast agriculture. In the years just prior to World War II, Japanese American families grew 35 percent of the produce in California. By the 1920s, Japanese Americans supplied 75 percent of the produce and half the milk to the Puget Sound region.

Industry and employment (481)
Agriculture (769)

Related articles from the Densho Encyclopedia :
Seabrook Farms

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769 items
Hideichi and Masako Yamane (ddr-csujad-8-84)
doc Hideichi and Masako Yamane (ddr-csujad-8-84)
Oral history interview with Hideichi and Masako Yamane. Information on the oral history project is found in: csuf_stp_0012A; Glossary in: csuf_stp_0014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: FCPL Yamane, Hideichi and Masako
Brookville Gardens (ddr-densho-109-64)
img Brookville Gardens (ddr-densho-109-64)
Left to right: Mrs. Terayama, Kameo Yamamoto, Haruaki Yotsuuye (driving).
Family on their farm (ddr-densho-153-16)
img Family on their farm (ddr-densho-153-16)
Amy Matsushita and parents Kyoko Amitani Matsushita and Yasutaro Matsushita.
Wagon with berry crates for shipping (ddr-densho-18-29)
img Wagon with berry crates for shipping (ddr-densho-18-29)
Wagon filled with berry crates at the Northern Pacific Railroad depot.
Transplanting produce in hotbeds (ddr-densho-18-57)
img Transplanting produce in hotbeds (ddr-densho-18-57)
When farm areas were flooded, it was sometimes necessary to transfer produce, as shown here.
Natsuhara & Sons warehouse (ddr-densho-18-10)
img Natsuhara & Sons warehouse (ddr-densho-18-10)
Jack Natsuhara in front of the Natsuhara & Sons warehouse, which was also used as a fertilizer mixing plant.
Family visiting a chicken farm (ddr-densho-182-102)
img Family visiting a chicken farm (ddr-densho-182-102)
Photo possibly taken on Vashon Island, Washington. Mimbu family, Mary Amano on right.
Japanese Americans picking strawberries (ddr-densho-182-109)
img Japanese Americans picking strawberries (ddr-densho-182-109)
Photo possibly taken on Vashon Island, Washington. Frank Ouchi.
Japanese Americans picking strawberries (ddr-densho-182-108)
img Japanese Americans picking strawberries (ddr-densho-182-108)
Photo possibly taken on Vashon Island, Washington. Frank Ouchi.
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