Densho Digital Archive
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community Collection
Title: Frank Kitamoto Interview
Narrator: Frank Kitamoto
Interviewer: John DeChadenedes
Location: Bainbridge Island, Washington
Date: April 14, 2007
Densho ID: denshovh-kfrank-02-0025

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JD: As a related question, back when you were talking about how the war hysteria and the fear and the personal greed were a factor in the central valley, where Caucasian people, immigrants, had already established farming before the Japanese were moving over there and showing that they actually could farm better, that wasn't the case was it on Bainbridge, was it? There wasn't a lot of... was there a lot of farming here before the Japanese came over?

FK: There were, there were Caucasian farms, but I don't think it got to the large extent it was until the people of Japanese descent started growing all those berries. I know at one time, Bainbridge probably grew two-thirds of the strawberry crops on, in the state of Washington. So, this was really a big industry here for the island. But, you know, the land was there, they had to take the stumps out and dynamite the stumps out, pull 'em out with horses, clear the land, and, and all that. Most of the places had been clear-cut already except the stumps were still there. So they were willing to purchase land, clear it, cultivate it by horse and, and pulling on those little cultivators you pull behind the horse, plant the plants by hand, carry rocks out. And it was just hard work, but it was profitable to do it 'cause the land was plentiful and it was fertile. So, so it was ideal. That they said... somebody said, "Hey, go to Bainbridge, it's a good place to farm." And the word would get around and people would, would come here. I remember Kay Sakai, now Nakao, used to say, she was in high school, and she could hear her dad clearing the land. 'Cause, you know, they owned all that land where the Catholic church is and where Ordway and all that is, and she said every once in a while she'd hear the dynamite go off, boom, she'd be so embarrassed. [Laughs] Yeah.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.