<Begin Segment 15>

JS: Could you please tell me how the Japanese farmers sold their produce?

ES: Japanese farmers sold their fruit or produce. Like I said earlier, the commission merchants or wholesalers or processors would know who are the good growers, grow quality vegetables and fruits. So they're number one on their list. And any time that they need anything, they call on these growers. So I think the Japanese, persons of Japanese ancestry had very little trouble marketing their stuff. Well, other ethnic groups tried to imitate what the Japanese grow. It was very difficult for them because in the Japanese, the whole family works at a project and cuts the overhead down low, and thereby they were able to compete with other growers.

JS: How did, how did the... I guess what I'm asking is how did the process go? In other words, you harvested a crop, then where, then how did it go from there, eventually end up on the market, on somebody's table, put it that way. [Laughs]

ES: Well, all depends from what you grow.

JS: Okay.

ES: If you grow truck crop, or if you grow berries, otherwise the berries usually go to the wholesale market in San Francisco, Oakland, or San Jose. And...

JS: Did you transport it yourself, or did somebody do that transportation for you?

ES: Well, there were, in San Jose, in 19-, around 1917 or before, there's Japanese trucker, Kiso Yasunaga. He was where the, right on corner of Fifth and Taylor Street there, where that new building is now. He started hauling to San Francisco and other areas. Of course, locally here, most of 'em transported in the horse and wagon days.

JS: Now they would, so a truck driver or trucker would then transport this product to the wholesale market, then?

ES: Right.

JS: How would the farmer be involved in the, in the actual sales of his produce?

ES: Actual sales of produce, these produce dealers or merchants would come out to the farm and say, "I want so much of this commodity. I want so much the next day." And when there's a, supply is limited, these buyers would come out early in the morning, almost get you out of bed, and said, "I want so many crates of this; I want so many boxes of this." So when you see the buyers come out early in the morning, you know that there's a shortage, so you usually kind of hold back and says, "I only can give you so much." Well, then the merchants would say, "Well, I can get you a few dollars more." That's how it goes, bargaining.

JS: Okay. So then he would pay, he would pay you for the produce?

ES: Right.

JS: Okay, and that's how the money would be exchanged as far as that was concerned.

ES: Uh-huh.

JS: Okay, okay. Did the Japanese farmers have any competition outside of other Japanese farmers?

ES: Well, within the county itself, yes, other ethnic groups are growing produce. We had competition. But I think they played ball with the rest of the growers, and... 'cause it's, that vegetable crop is, is a type of fresh, it has to be sold today and not held over a number of days. So the rapid movement made it necessary to sell what you grow as soon as possible. So I don't think the competition is great like other, dried fruit commodities, because you can store the fruit after it's dried or processed for a long time, but the vegetable is perishable, so the turnover is great, and therefore I don't think... they might have suffered one, one crop, but you could grow two to three crops of vegetable while you only grow one crop of fruit.

JS: Was there any sort of anti-Japanese sentiment because of the... I guess you'd say success of Japanese farmers?

ES: Well, I don't know if you'd say anti, but I think there's competition.

JS: Just pure honorable competition as opposed to anti-Japanese sentiments, huh?

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2005 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.