Densho Digital Archive
Japanese American Museum of San Jose Collection
Title: Eiichi Sakauye Interview
Narrator: Eiichi Sakauye
Interviewer: Jiro Saito
Location: San Jose, California
Date: February 8, 2005
Densho ID: denshovh-seiichi-01-0013

<Begin Segment 13>

JS: How significant were the Japanese farmers in the agriculture economy in Santa Clara Valley before World War II?

ES: How did...

JS: Pardon me?

ES: Ask the question again?

JS: How significant, what was the importance, how important were they in agriculture?

ES: Oh. In Santa Clara county, I think truck crop growing was very significant amongst the Japanese. Or growing truck crops for shipping concerns or packing concerns or canning concerns.

JS: You may have answered this, but what do you think were the reasons for their being an important part of the economy?

ES: Well, I think they have talent in growing these crops, and like I said, they're interested in growing quality, not quantity. And that's, the processor knows that, and therefore Japanese growers profit by it.

JS: Did, do you think there was any role that Japanese in Japan type of agricultural practices that were brought by these immigrants, did that play a role in any of this, do you know?

ES: Oh, I don't think so, because in Japan, their major crop is rice, grain crop. And not as much as the varieties of vegetables grown in Japan that could be grown here. I do think that hard work, long hours, family help, has a great deal to contribute to their success.

JS: Okay. Well, like a cultural blend of these different things, as opposed to a actual technique or actual experience with a type of crop are, you think are the most important things here. How did major events in the United States such as World War I and the Great Depression in the late 1920s and '30s, how did they affect Japanese agriculture in the valley?

ES: Well, I think it affected all industry in the Depression years, but farmers, I think, were able to survive because they grow their crops. [Laughs]

JS: Did you become, like, employment places, or did you find a lot of people willing to work on your farms and stuff like that during this time?

ES: Well, in Depression years, it's so difficult because it hit everybody, and moving produce kind of slowed down as well as the feeling of being in a Depression year. So we were all in the same bandwagon together.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2005 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.