<Begin Segment 10>

JS: Now, during the early years of Japanese farming in Santa Clara Valley, they were grouped in what they call farming clusters.

ES: Yes.

JS: And could you please tell me a little bit about what the farming clusters were all about?

ES: Well, farming cluster, as you call it, is a landlord opens his land for a group of Japanese persons to farm on there. That's why there's a cluster on north San Jose on Trimble Road, Milliken Corner, Berryessa, Milpitas, Edenville, that's where these little farms established, and there's a cluster of them living together.

JS: And they had their own little homes...

ES: Right.

JS: Separate homes, like individual family homes on this, on this acreage.

ES: Right.

JS: Which one did your family belong to, if you did belong to a cluster?

ES: Well, we had our own cluster, because that NKS company. And after that, we went on our own, so we had our own established.

JS: Can you describe the type of roles that these clusters played in the Japanese community at that time?

ES: Well, these clusters were mostly of same prefecture, from same prefecture from Japan, and they had what they called kenjinkai, their own association, and they would have their own activities. Then when they needed some community help, they would sort of get together, like a, that's where the original Nihonjinkai, Japanese associations started.

JS: So they were almost like little, small communities within the greater community of Japanese who were living throughout the valley at the time.

ES: Right.

JS: Did they have their own schools or anything like that?

ES: Well, the schools, the children had to go to courses, the regular American school.

JS: Okay.

ES: But on the weekend, Saturdays, usually they have a little Japanese language school.

JS: In the cluster, or they --

ES: In the cluster, or nearby cluster.

JS: Oh, wow.

ES: They had, in Milliken Corner, they had Alviso, they had Berryessa...

JS: How much interrelationships did you have between clusters? Was there any sort of getting together with several clusters or anything like that for some big event or anything like that?

ES: Not that I know of, but I know what you mean; play baseball. [Laughs]

JS: Nothing like that, huh?

ES: No. There was a undokai, or a picnic to get together.

JS: Oh, okay.

ES: That way it overlaps, you know. 'Cause I may have a relative in the, in another sector there, they would get together and we had this undokai, or picnic, that we usually get a open space or pastureland and have a picnic.

JS: Was there any sort of self-identification with these clusters? I know you said that they were grouped on basis of common, from ken in Japan. Wakayama-ken would form a cluster, but was there any sort of group identity as far as being a member of this particular cluster was concerned?

ES: Well, yes. Being a member of this particular cluster, or like Hiroshima-ken, Wakayama-ken, and Fukuoka-ken, they would get together and have their undokai or their picnic, so then on the other hand, some of the clusters are all mixtures, so they'd go from one place to the other. Or their relatives are in another cluster, so they get together one way or the other.

JS: And as far as Japantown was concerned, in relationship to these agricultural communities, what was the relationship there? Was there any sort of interplay there?

ES: Well, Japantown had little family merchants, and of course, like I said earlier, the Japanese only spoke Japanese, and catered to these Japantown stores. So there were Japan stores that catered clothing, drugs, medicine -- I don't call it, "drugs" sometimes a bad word to say drugs. But medication and so forth.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2005 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.