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

Facilities
Format
Genre
Usage

Use <Ctrl> or (⌘) keys to select multiple terms

769 items
Farmhouse in Japan (ddr-densho-259-542)
img Farmhouse in Japan (ddr-densho-259-542)
Caption by Homer Yasui: "A substantial farm house in Japan It must have been the home of a rich farmer."
Packing house in Mosier, Oregon (ddr-densho-259-345)
img Packing house in Mosier, Oregon (ddr-densho-259-345)
Caption by Homer Yasui: "Cement block packing house and storage shed, Mosier, Oregon."
Children on a farm (ddr-densho-28-9)
img Children on a farm (ddr-densho-28-9)
The Suguro farm was located in the Midlakes area of Bellevue, Washington. Front (left to right): Sumie and Toshi Suguro. Back: Mae Suguro, Eva Aramaki, and Mitsue Suguro.
Gidra, Vol. I, No. 3 (June 1969) (ddr-densho-297-3)
doc Gidra, Vol. I, No. 3 (June 1969) (ddr-densho-297-3)
Selected article titlese: "The Persecution Rests" (p. 1), "CS, It's a Gas!" (p. 1), "Reflections in a Slanted Eye" (p. 2), "Grapes Are Coming!" (p. 4).
A water wheel in an agricultural valley (ddr-densho-299-26)
img A water wheel in an agricultural valley (ddr-densho-299-26)
Caption on reverse: "WPA-46-69188. 25 Nov 46 / Agricultural Japan: / This scene of one of the many valleys / in Japan, shows the intensity of Japanese / agriculture, and the utilization of every / available source of power, as shown by / the water wheel in the middle of this / field. (Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan). …
Crops growing in a flood plane (ddr-densho-299-24)
img Crops growing in a flood plane (ddr-densho-299-24)
Caption in reverse: "FEC-49-1868. 18 March 49 / NRS Project: / Use of land on flood plane of the / Tamagawa River, Tokyo for growing / wheat and vegetables. Quite common / now in urban districts. / Photographer - Dunn / Photograph by U.S. Army."
Japanese farmers threshing rice (ddr-densho-299-63)
img Japanese farmers threshing rice (ddr-densho-299-63)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-47-77289. 14 July 47 / Japanese farmers work hard: / Japanese farmers, working on a / farm located near Mount Fuji, / Japan, thresh rice by means of a / foot driven machine. This is / extremely fatiguing work, and / the operation must be executed / with great care as grain left …
Crops growing in bombed out buildings (ddr-densho-299-7)
img Crops growing in bombed out buildings (ddr-densho-299-7)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-49-2015. 30 March 49 / NRS Project: / Production of food crops among bombed / out buildings showing utilization of / every available space. / Photographer-Crowe / Photograph by U.S. Army."
A woman cultivating crops in a bombed out area (ddr-densho-299-23)
img A woman cultivating crops in a bombed out area (ddr-densho-299-23)
Caption in reverse: "FEC-49-1946. 25 March 49 / NRS Project: / Utilization of every available space / for production of food crops, even / among the rubble of bombed ruins / and foundations. Woman with baby / on her back cultivating winter wheat / Tokyo metropolitan area. / Photographer - Crowe / Photograph by U.S. Army."
Farming fields in Tokyo (ddr-densho-299-49)
img Farming fields in Tokyo (ddr-densho-299-49)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-49-1870. 18 March 49 / NRS Project: / Use of land on flood plain of the / Tamagawa River, Tokyo for growing / wheat and cabbage. / Photographer - Dunn / Photograph by U.S. Army"
Japanese farmer planting rice (ddr-densho-299-176)
img Japanese farmer planting rice (ddr-densho-299-176)
Caption: "Rice plants are planted individually by hand in the muddy soil."
Farmers weeding potato fields (ddr-densho-299-10)
img Farmers weeding potato fields (ddr-densho-299-10)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-48-6063. 17 July 48 / Crop collection report: / In Japan, as is shown in this picture / taken in the Urawa area, Saitama / Prefecture, farmers weed their / potatoes by hand. / Photographer - Calmus / Photograph by U.S. Army Signal Corps."
Japanese farm in the mountains (ddr-densho-299-62)
img Japanese farm in the mountains (ddr-densho-299-62)
Caption on reverse: "WPA-46-69189. 25 Nov 46 / Japanese Farm: / This Japanese farm in the mountain range / of Yamanashi Prefecture is a good example / of the clean, well kept, and fully culti- / vated fields of the Japanese farm. / Photographer - Wheeler / Photograph by U.S. Army"
A farmer hoeing a field to plant rice (ddr-densho-299-8)
img A farmer hoeing a field to plant rice (ddr-densho-299-8)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-47-77281. 14 July 47 / Rice planted in Japan: / A rice paddy near Mount Fuji, Japan, / is prepared for planting by hoeing / unplowed portions of the field by / hand. This field, flooded to a / depth of eight inches, will do its / part in alleviated Japan's serious / …
Farmers learning about the land reform laws (ddr-densho-299-194)
img Farmers learning about the land reform laws (ddr-densho-299-194)
Caption: "Farmers at a meeting where they learn about the land reform laws which were enacted for / their benefit."
Farming in bombed out areas (ddr-densho-299-12)
img Farming in bombed out areas (ddr-densho-299-12)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-49-1871. 18 March 49 / NRS Project: / Utilization of every available plot / of ground - use of the soil between / the foundations of bombed out areas / for growing foodstuffs. Tokyo. / Photographer - Dunn / Photograph by U.S. Army."
Farmers planting rice (ddr-densho-299-9)
img Farmers planting rice (ddr-densho-299-9)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-47-77282. 14 July 47 / Rice planting in Japan: / Japanese farmers force shoots / of rice into sodden earth of / a paddy located near Mount Fuji, / Japan. This extra-large rice / paddy is part of a ceaseless / battle against starvation in Japan. / Photographer - Kaye / Photograph by …
Farmers eating lunch next to rice paddies (ddr-densho-299-29)
img Farmers eating lunch next to rice paddies (ddr-densho-299-29)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-47-77286. 14 July 47 / Rice planting in Japan: / At a farm near Mount Fuji, Japan, / a group of Japanese farmers eat / lunch along side of the rice paddy / in which they have been working. Soon / they will be plodding through the / sodden earth again in their …
Crops grown in a bombed out area (ddr-densho-299-32)
img Crops grown in a bombed out area (ddr-densho-299-32)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-49-2011. 30 March 49 / NRS construction project: / Every available plot of ground is used / for the production of food crops. A / garden being prepared in the rubble / of bombed out building. / Photographer - Crowe / Photograph by U.S. Army."
A farmer in his rice paddy (ddr-densho-299-15)
img A farmer in his rice paddy (ddr-densho-299-15)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-47-77287. 14 July 47 / Japanese rice farming: / A Japanese farmer works in his / large rice paddy located near / Mount Fuji, Japan. Rice is first / planted in special beds of well / fertilized soil, and when it / reaches a certain size it is pulled / up and taken …
Farmers threshing grains during harvest (ddr-densho-299-28)
img Farmers threshing grains during harvest (ddr-densho-299-28)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-47-77285. 14 July 47 / Japanese farmers work together / during harvest time: / Japanese women, men and children / thresh barley and other cereal / grains on a foot-powered threshing / machine at a farm located near / Mount Fuji, Japan. On farms such / as this it is often a community …
Fields in the Arakawa River flood plain (ddr-densho-299-60)
img Fields in the Arakawa River flood plain (ddr-densho-299-60)
Caption on reverse: "FEC-49-1949. 25 March 49 / NRS Project: / Use of flood plain of the Arakawa River / for winter crops -- Tokyo. / Photographer - Crowe / Photograph by U.S. Army."
Japanese farmers with
img Japanese farmers with "Honey Buckets" full of fertilizer (ddr-densho-299-182)
Caption: "'Honey Buckets' full of human excrement collected to be used for fertilizer."
A field of rice shocks (ddr-densho-299-16)
img A field of rice shocks (ddr-densho-299-16)
Caption on reverse: "WPA-46-69185. 25 Nov 46 / Field of rice shocks: / This field of rice shocks around / Yoshida-mura, Yamakashi, Japan, is / a typical farm scene of Japan in / the fall. / Photographer - Wheeler."
API