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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vh Tom I. Mine Interview Segment 13 (ddr-densho-1015-4-13)

The advantages of working with a produce firm

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1015-4-13/

vh Kitako Izumizaki Interview Segment 22 (ddr-densho-1015-3-22)

Changes in agriculture: the shift from small farmers to large companies

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1015-3-22/

vh Kitako Izumizaki Interview Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1015-3-3)

Memories of family's truck farm before World War II

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1015-3-3/

vh Bill Hirabayashi Interview Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1014-4-2)

Father's formation of a farming corporation with other families

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1014-4-2/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 10 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-10)

Establishment of "farming clusters" within the Japanese American community

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-10/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 9 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-9)

Working with non-Japanese laborers on family farm

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-9/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 5 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-5)

Father's decision to form NKS, an agricultural partnership with two other Issei men

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-5/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 3 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-3)

Description of early Japanese farmers in California

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-3/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 15 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-15)

Description of Japanese produce farmers' selling and wholesale process

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-15/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 14 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-14)

Japanese farmers' innovations in agricultural equipment

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-14/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 6 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-6)

Father dissolves agricultural partnership and buys his own land

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-6/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 16 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-16)

Cooperative efforts amongst Japanese farmers: trade secrets, co-op

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-16/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 11 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-11)

Impact of the alien land law on California's Japanese American agricultural community

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-11/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 4 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-4)

Description of sharecropping style of farming

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-4/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 13 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-13)

The significance of Japanese farmers in the Santa Clara Valley

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-13/

vh Eiichi Edward Sakauye Interview Segment 12 (ddr-jamsj-2-7-12)

Family's specialization in pear growing

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-7-12/

vh George Hanada Interview Segment 10 (ddr-jamsj-2-5-10)

Sharecropping in California after World War II

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-jamsj-2-5-10/

vh Taylor Tomita Interview Segment 3 (ddr-one-7-61-3)

Helping on family's strawberry farm as a child

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-7-61-3/