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    Matsumoto - FTHP Taking Root in A Harsh Land

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    Ryu

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    FARMING HOME PLACE A Japanese American Community in California I9IQ-1982 Valerie J. Matsumoto Coppi © 43 by Come Uiversty ile roered Ep fr tis eth ‘Noster ernst ct rd ny fo le ‘Sites Canc Unrenly hw Sage Home esr” Sec hom New Ya a pues ty Cae Unity re Ft fag Coal Prec 5 Ley af Compe Cts io Datn Dat Meteant, Viel “ming he ee ca apne Americ comma ‘caters top Vala Me Biv ptctongsusy oe cal peed BN edoutiaes pea pen np Arne Caria ie ae atone Fam Beales “Cae Cones a= Seat and cue Te ‘iCaGh 99) case ssi ‘eocrondmnctotbe at ete yoatie ree igen Sms new Petcompant el twas Fer seat, Pe Streinatst wie crntpamcrctd prt pang 9 87 63 i 4 | i Contents Adknowledge Iperaducion Callatinga Faw Fe CChapee» Taking Rot ns Harsh Tad “Chaptee 2 Growing Up in Cortez: The Prewa Yurs CChaper 3 Merl Assembly Center Couper Amecte ‘Chapee 5 Rewetsng the Web of Community ‘Chapter 6 Rieand Rseton CConcsion Sostaining Frit [appendix A Notson Research [Appenlc B- Cal istry letervow Questions [Appendix Recipes fom Cortez, with Uist of Tens Bboeraphy se a = 20 Iniructon documents and secondary terature, My work reflects ths tension in teminology ‘The onganization of this book is both chronological and thematic. ‘Thetovo chapters that follow examine the prewar history ofthe Cortez Colony; they focus on the dynamics within the community and its telations with the larger surrounding society. The next two delineate the Word War Il experiences ofthe Japanese Americans inside and outside the concentration camp. The last two chapters focus on the postwar resettlement and development of Cortez. Chapters 2 and 6 follow a primarily topical structure that centers on key clement in family and community le: work, education, gender roles, martage, and interracial interaction, ‘Themen nd women of Corter shared withmea richly textured past ‘woven from the sturdy threads oftheir lives. Major themes in Japa nese American studies took on greater dimension when examined through the range of their experiences. Their stories revealed the presence of human til behind the shining fruit in the supermarket, nd illuminated the benefits and tensions of paticpation in a close. ‘nit ethnic community. hope my research can frm the significance ofthis history and that wil timate further exploration by te hid tnd fourth generations whose chokes even nove are shaping the f= fae of the commer cuarren L ‘Taking Root in a Harsh Land ‘The United States that Sakaguchi Maju encountered as ‘wventyoneyearold Japanese picture bride wor not what she had expected. Bor in 1834 ina coastal village in Kumamoto Pretecure, were hee family grew soybeans and ato im (sect potatoes), Maj hd heard wonderfal stories of America and in 1635 came with igh Fopesto join her husband, Sakaguchi Chokichi Her expectations met wilh eusde hock, She cred every day and long to return Japa For Sakaguchi Maju, as for many Japanese immigrants, anval :neant adjustment to untamiiar foods and customs as well sinned ‘te immersion in greling ound of sbor. After staying two days at the immigration station on Angel sland, she began her new hf in San Jose, California, entering a housetold composed of her husband, ‘atenteindaw, anc sister-in-law She spent her honeymoon working, Inastrawberty fed, Her motheninlaw di the coking forthe faa, wile the young women daughter law) went out to weedand tend Plants with her husband. She bore sik children between 1948 and gga! ‘Under the discriminatory California lanl laws aimed at sesteicting Asan farmers, the Sakaguchi fail could not lease property for more than three years thu, periodically they had to move to a new place andeplant the strawberries thet were thie mainstay: The hardship of perpetually culeaing new land and then having to leave just ast 2 Sag jeneran Conce aS Mach 38 18. a 8 Farming the Home Place became productive made financial security an clive dream, Then they leared of Japanese community im whic they oul own prop cy: In 26 they bought tele fst twenty acres in the Cortez Colony in the San Joaquin Valley of central California “The threads of many such lives and dreams have together woven ‘he fabric ofthe Cortez community as well asthe larger pest of Japanese America history. Tracing the early development of Cortez ‘makes lear the external and internal forces that shaped the setlment as well as the resources and institutions of the immigrant pioneers. Who were they? What vals and expectations did they bring here? Why dia they choose to settle in Cortez? What strategies ci they use to counter legal and socal discrimination? What kinds of organiza- tions did they construc, and to meet what needs? What a8 the texture oftheir daily ives? “The growth ofthe agricultural industry and the long history of Ca- ‘ena nativism form the backdrop for the Inception of the Cortez Cok ‘ony The Japanese men and women who sete there Faced the chal- lenges of primitive ving conditions, grsling labor, and the hostility ofthe antjapanese movement. Community organizations played 3 ‘ey role in thelr survival. ‘Oral history interviews peoved especilly important in illuminating the workings ofthese institutions as well a the everyday routine of Cortez residents. Although thousands of Japanese immigrants toiled in Calforiafelds and orchards before World Wat I, fam lie has ‘become the stuff of family legend to theis grandchildren and great= grandchildren, Inthe course of my eescardy 1 was overwhelmed by ‘the wealth of detail that poured forth fom the Issel and Nise, grag: aly delineating the growth ofa farm, the roting ofa family, and the ‘leveling web of social relations ina rural ethnic community. ‘The modern imagination is more apt tp see the urban fae of Cali fornia, with its burgeoning technological industies and Hollywood dream factories, than the agocutural bounty of hearllond. And those who cast an appreciative eye over glowing oranges and egg plants in the supermarket, who select aiins, aut, and fu ice for ‘amping trips, who bay canned peaches for winter baking or choose 3 Wine for dinner seldom bother to learn the history hidden behind Inbal ie “Sunkist” "Del Monte,” "Blue Diamond.” The hegemony ‘of arge-scale corporate farming anu the sty of cooperative marketing AMAP SHOWING THE AREA PRESENTLY OCCUPIED. BY THE MERCED CO. PORTION OF CORTEZ COLON AND THE NAMES OF PREVIOUS PROPERTY. OWNERS IN THE YEAR A.D.1909, a 1982 = LEGEND ~ Be coury Bears SCRE OF HOA, ma oF THe coy’ Bhecrer easy gh estore % hp i of wl 3 e Dialer Faring the Home lave have also obscured the vital role that Asian immigrants and other inthe cal ‘Dramatic change charscerized California agriculture droughout | themineteenth and early twentieth centuries, n the wake ofthe Mex can War, the vast Mexican rancos—later mythologized in Western movies “became the fragmented spoils of Euro-American setters ny fortune hunter, fst ured by the Gold Rush, dlocovered that a beter living could be made feeling the miners, and they settled down to cultivate what Sandy Lydon has termed "green go.” Wheat be- ‘ame te first major export crop inthe 1860s, is production facitated by the completion of the raironds and the selling of ralioad land fant; uiialtue also thaved on the miners demand for slobel. Hlomeves, bread and ssne alone would not satisfy Califo’ fast {rowing population, In the lst throe decades of the nineteenth cen- fay, speealy-cropageclturefotished,*produdngs dazzling seray of frais, nuts, and vegetables. From its inception, commercial farming in California had been shaped by th raoads, banks, and large scalelandoveners who relied ‘on ited laborers and tenant farmers. After the completion oftheir ‘work on the oad, many Chinese found employment in age ture They harvested wheat and other crops, reclaimed the swamnp~ land of the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta, and fended vineyards, frchards, and vegetable elds throughow the sate. By he time ofthe ‘Chinese Exclusion Actin 18a, they consisted more than haf of Cali fownia’sagricltral labor force, and from one-half to three-quarters of itsspecilty crop workers The predominantly male Chinese workers Ivete indispensable to large farmers and feared as competitors by 2. Theat seve dfnans of “peity cops Te etapa o sgetay op erge nae sah he USD. coated tah ESL gee whe oom spar een per calle ln te Thee of cin copes Tyne cy decoupage ‘SAG, Sse sty gop on etn Caserta pea ep spree tte ery astray Leaes Comer ened spc ope Pry th ses fe spat ae em Cope” Ce the Cir a ne en apkaonlapers tn wad eterno etl ‘rete cope fu tl dion), any todced to the Unie Stes by Sta enn Hd sl or wancnen ete came op nto an opr “rece ele, Hae apie Mitral tng Sen rhs Bonde hh i ‘Tabing Root na Hark Land yro-Americans who owned sll farms. Organized labor and the Hearst pres rallied publc sentiment agains the Chinese immigrants ‘giant violence drove many Chinese from the rural areas ad into the relative security of urban Chinatovins. Aftr 2883, as bachelor Intoress who were enable ether to many lcally oo send for wives fn China grew older, the number of Chinese workers in aricultare Asindled “At the turn ofthe century Japanese immigzants followed the Chi ese into California's fields and orchards, Same adventurous students In search ofa Wester education had begun toazive in the 180s. On theirbeels came increasing numbers of male workers. They journeyed abroad to pursue economic opportunity and to avoid military con- ‘Scuption at Jepun loosened ils restrictions on emigration. Severe eco- nomic dislocations after the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (19u4-1905), compounded by rapid population igrowth, sperred the exedus. Many Japanese first traveled to Hawai in responte to the demand fr plantation labor others flocked othe trainland to bul ralloacts alae the menial jobs formerly held by the Chinese, Between 1891 and 900, 27449 Japanesecame tothe West Coast, from both Hawai and Japa, to work in agriculture, canneries, logging, and mining, in domestic service, and inthe meatpacking and ssltindesteies« Within a relatively brief period, from 2898 to 1998, agriculture eclipsed both domestic service and railroad construction and became ‘he leading enterprise ofthe Japanese. Scholars have delineated se> ‘eral factors inthe steady inflox of apanese into WestCoast agricul Fist, farming had long been 2 respected occupation in Japan, and ‘many’ of the immigrants, coming Primarily from the economically “stressed url prefectores, had some experience nit, When they met ‘vith obstacles to entering urban manvafaaring industries —portally ‘becuse of animosity against the Chinese who had precede! them and also because there sas sufcint pool of white Ibor to fil these positions —agsculture became increasingly attractve.® As Iebuhashs Yamato observed, the Japanese gradually left the “airoads, mines, ell Mal ane, fs res, Te Ei of Seta "Smee, ae St Cit Sty ofthe Ps ef he reali arnt eed array rah "esta ua,“ pres megan Cerna Apart” yen ‘elton tape es Farming the Home Pace sad lumber mills, where they found tle opportuni toiseand atthe ‘same time were subjected to rae of thumb and close supervision, ‘and tured to farming, shih offered the best chance for economic Independence and bility” By a909, more than 30,000 Japanese ‘worked in California as tenant farmers of farm labors. “The Japanese easily adopted the contrac bor system of the Chi nese and were soon in great demand as farm laborers because they “rol accep lower wages than non-Asian workers. As young rootless trchelor mals, they were well sited to the seasonal harvest needs of rowers engaged in Intensive farming, and they were more willing to ‘migrate from lstct to district than the established white workers [As the jpanese gined familarty veith U.S, laws and agricultural practices and began o amass some capital, a growing number moved from farm labor to tenant faring, [ike many European iruigrants, the majority of Japanese workers initially intended to make their forkanes and then retusa to thelr Homeland. They considered themcives delay! workers, only going away temporally. However, few attained the success of which they “reamed, Reconciling themselves to more modest gain, 2 substantial number who developed stakes in small businesses and farming sent for wives and established families. This transition i orentation tothe United States, Yuji Ichioks has suggested, marked the turing point between to major periods of Japanese immigration history: an iia ‘hase (885-197) of dase nur, and a subsequent phase (108 gat) during which the Japanese, influenced by immigrant leders advocating permanent residency, Began to put down roots? These ‘Immigrants fermed themselves the "ase," the fst generation of Japa nese in the Uited Stats. Japanese American communities grew as female immigrants a> sived, miniy between sgiand soa. In 907, the Gentlemen's Agree- ‘ment hac curale the flow of male laborers rom Japan but had eit Jsophole permitting the families of men already sien jin ther ‘Urged by Japanese leaders to establish permanent settlements, many sien retard to thei homeland to fin vives. Some were reunite wvith the women they had manied pri to emigration. A sizable 2 lash pop. nce Ba, aan, Neha Te Te te st Gone yn ny, seh er Yn Foes, 98) Pe “Taking Root a ars Land umber eagerly aeaited the arrival of picture brides. Marrage‘n Japan ibis time was aanged by faules rater than individ couples, {Ind the shai ton (picture mariage) evated from usual practice iy in the absence ofthe bridegroom from the wedding ceremony. ‘The union received logalrecogrition when the wife's name was en- eve in the husband's fal reise. The picture beidesarzived [Gutching photographs and scanned the faces ofthe men on the dock, hoping to find the one that matched. They came for a variety of fewons Like Sakagrich) Maju, most had lear stories ofthe bright prnpect of fein America and were desirous of earning money to Felp thes families. Some peshaps hoped to escape hometown sca fal, or bed dutifally acquiesced in parental decisions: others came ‘rotivated bya spit of adventure ora wish for independence, What- rer their motives or backgrounds, they found many challenges to {heir dreams in a vasiety foals: the urban Little Tokyos whece thie famiies ran small shops and Boardinghouses; the lumber mill and Salmon cannery towns of the Pacific Northwest; the fields and or hands ofthe West. Laveence Jelinek has stated thatthe California Japanese, both as laborers and farmers, "were responsible fr developing the commer cal iportance of ce and potatoes, while they dominated th vegeta ble and berry regions ofthe Sacaamento, San Joaquin, and Imperial valleys as well a8 of Los Angeles and Orange Counties" They a0 played a major role in cultivating exchards and vineyards in these frets, According to an Immigyation Commission report by the ste ter of 1909, half of the Japanese labor force inthe United States— roughly 3500 0ut of 79,000—Wworked in agreuture, three-fourths of them in Caforia. Approximately 6,000 may have been independent farm opecators.2 “The ere of the most extensive panese involvement in farming — goo-sg42—coincded with and filtated the rise of industrialized so For futher domain aout the par ret and i wom npn ce ‘nm Gee “et Won Canteyohe, Respir Aa Ari, Emin Got {Uo gai Aan eri nen rest fae 2978) hp [SCM Naka nan Pee Cowra "sp ey Re hos open pp stoy Alp Yo Une Bctoe BreNe ek Sino Caer gh rie pt 1 Reser lon a BA own, Ett mA Huy tego te nt Sta on Yad Moro 9) P88 2 a 4 ering the lore Place sgseulure in Colforia. The consolidation of landholdings gredually ‘Boplaced many smal farmers, They found it hard to compete with langesale owners, who hired Menicen and Japanese workers o tend the vast acreage. The growing polarization between small ang large favre reflected the uneven tug-of-war between corporate and fly sgeculure.® Hostility to Asian farmers and laborers served as a potent organiz ing tol for politicians and labor unions, 25 Alexander Sexton and Reger Danicls have made cles. Campaigns forthe exclusion of the Chinese inthe nineteenth century and the Japanese in te tventieth found widespread support in Califa. Fears of economic competi ton, coupled with Euro-American bel inthe inferiority of racial ‘thace peoples, fueled agitation against Asian imumigrants, They met srth harasameat, siokene, and socal and legal discrimination. De- Fhe the right to become naturalized citzens and to exercise related ‘iright, Asians constituted porticularly vulnerable segment ofthe Tabor force, Wail they faced a battery of restrictive municipal, stat, [End national laws, se immigration and land laws mostaffeted rural ‘community development "The passege ol n series of immigration las shaped the contours of “Asian settlement in the United States. The Chinese Exchsion Act of {38a effectively ended the inflox of all but merchants, scholars, and Sipiomats. Despite the clamor of exlusionists to extend such prob Sons to other Asians, the United States exercisecl more caution in Sealing with Japanese immigran's. Japan's status as arising world [power had been confirmed by vitor inthe Russo-Japanese War. In Toor 8, President Theodore Reosevelt negotiated the Gentlemen's ‘Agreement that bared the imsnigration of further male workers, but ‘Rimitted the wives and family members of opunese already living this country. ln 10:0, of the 72,157 Japanese an the United States bit scar a om pe Sete te ls gi babe ty saturn ean Pes ta let ast ‘Rogiamsastent emma ee ‘Sad calms Ants Miscogenabn Laven” Axon a ae Amro Expenses: Wo ieee ear eee eb oe Search tents Ae “Toking Root ica ars Land mainland, 5,81 were marred women and 4,302 American-bom chi Zen. By soto, out of a population of 11,010, the numberof married ‘Nomen hed sen to 23,293, accompanied by an increase to 29,672 Niet! Antrfepanese leaders ke California Senator James Phelan ‘Noted with slr the emergence of Japanese familes and denonced thelogphale that hae made this possible. The Immigration Act of 124 holed the triumph of the excusionists by cutting off all Asian immigration othe United States. ta farmers met with rusting restictonsin land use in Califor aia The Aben Land Law of 2513 prevented them from purchasing JRnat or from leasing itfor more than thee years, This law didnot go Har enough i the eyes of ant-Japanese forces. Aharsherlaw, passed in ‘eGo are “liens ineligible totizenship” rom leasing land o rom “eguiing it through corporations or in the names of their American- oth chiliren ® Nevertheless, os Roger Daniels has suggested, these Thus aay have had greater paychologieal than economic impact since by zoas many Tse had already acguize the tie to and in the names Urabeis Nise! children. It appear thatthe laws were not consistently [ndorced, especially in regione where seh srictares ran contrary to the interests of large landowners, For example, many landlords in Santa Clara County circumvented the Las by making verbal agree: rents sith the Japanese tenant farmers to whem they leased prop- ay? in 1919, against this larger backdrop of California agecultural de velopment and a long history of ant-Asian nativism, a handtl of Japanese families seltedin te Cortez Colony. The fist tarive found 1 bleak pocket of the San Joaguin Valley, scoured by sandstorms, Stourating in voracious jackrabbits, and holding ite promise of the fevtie Eden they envisioned, Yet Cortez made atsnable the corner stone ofthe dream: landownership, By the 193, around tity fam ies, each operating a twenty to foryacte farm, constituted a ten ‘ous comanunty with strong collective bonds ‘The seed from which the colony grew was the dream of Abiko Kyularo. An energetic idealist, Abiko wore many’ hats—village ped 2 Pra pha, {5 Setanta poh 8 9-8 5 Farming the Home Place ler, banker, newspaper publisher, businessman, immigrant leader. His event Ie (1855-1936) spanned two counties and {wo cen tures. Abiko was born tothe Kobayashi fai in the town of Suara, in Nigata Prefecture, japan. Shorly after his bith hs mother died, and Kyutaro was brought up by the family of his scholarly maternal frandlather, Abiko Taide, Because of staitened family circumstances, Kyutaro assisted fro chilhood! in the family business by pedaling Candles and paper in neatby villages." At the age of seventeen, he ‘secretly sat ont with ends for Yokohama, planning to stow away on Ship to America, where he hoped to make hisfrtane, This proved ‘more dificult shan he had expected, and for several years he worked in Tokyo at odd jobs and attended classes, including English In Tokyo Christianity played a major role in determining the course of Abiko ie: He ad fist encountered Christan bei in Suibara {hough an English missionary whoalluenced his decision to journey to the United States. In Tokyo he was baptized and, under the guid tance of a Presbyterian minister, Okuno Masatsuna, Abiko began to ‘develop the religious commitment that would shape the rest of hse, Like the majority of the earliest Japanese immigrants to the United States, Abiko came asa student, in 2883. He waveled under the aus pices of the Fakuinka (Gospel Society), the fist Fapanese immigrant {rganizaton in San Francisco. Founded by Methodist and Congrega tionalist converts n #877, dhe Fakuinkal provided members with Towship and sparian lodgings, and subsequently gave rise to other Christin groups." During the late ninetoenth contury, and for decades after, San Fran cisco was the major port of entry for lapanese into America as well ax the largest population center of Japanese inthe nation. Only in San Francisco dil the U.S. Census of 1899 find enough Japanese to con stitute an ethnic community, as measured by a distinct eons eae fry By the turn ofthe century other sizable enclaves coalesced in Sreramento, Fresno, Portland, Seat, Tacoma, Salt Lake City, and Vancouver, British Columbia, In 1904, t,0c0 japanese, or one-fourth ic tvmton Newel aed Chapa St PRs Taking Root ia tars Land 27 ‘Abiko fail potait, 525 af to ight Kyutaro Abik, Yasuo Abiko, and arming the Home Ploe ofthe Japanese in the United States, lived in San Francisco. Neaity ‘one-thal of the San Francisco fapanese were employed in domestic orice, followed in rusmber by Keepers of boardinghouses and hotels, ‘employees in white-owned stores, and factory workers. Many found ‘work in businesses that catered tothe ethnic community: restaurants, {Employment agencies, grocery stores, bathhouses, shoe repairshops, snd laundries. The growing Japanese community was able o support fourteen prefectural associations (krjnka), eight schools that taught gla and a numberof religions organizations that, ike the Paki ‘ai were primarily Chistian.” "Aste oldest Japanese organization i the United States, the Fuku int offered immigrants the opportinity socialize wth thei oun teymmenas wells to receive religious taining, With characteristic zeal ‘Abiko became an influential leader and instruct of the Methodist Branch Fukuinkai while he simultaneously parsued studies at the University of California at Berkeley? Tn the got, imbued with Christian Healism and possessed of leedership skills guined in his Fukuinkai work, Abiko turned his ene ifs to the advancement and guidance of Japanese immigrants inthe United States. A powerful advocate of permanent settlement in the United Sites, he Became one of the most iniuential igure in the ap nese Amencan community, He answered natvst alls to exclude the Jepanese by mounting a entique ofboth the dominant society an the Immigrant workers. Beyond the factors of racial disriminaton, eco homie feat and poitcal maneuvering, he believed that ignorance out the Japanese lay atthe heart ofthe exclusion movement; the fnawer, he fl, rested in education. Abiko also decried the deisegi tmind-sctof the pases, which he sae not only asaspurto gambling {nd unscrapulous behavior but asthe major obstacle to founding a Stable immigrant communis Uafinching in his ideals, he took a bold and unusual stance in favor ofthe sash elon (picture mar Hage) practice, sensationalized by the excusionistsas'a reason to Seemann ——-" Soo “Taking Root ia Harsh Land ural Japanese immigetion, Abiko roundly eed both the Japa- Sjese Assocation of America athe spanese Foreign Ministry fr the {eesion to stp issuing passports to pleture brides in 1920. This, he foresaw, would impece the progress of community formation—his Iielong commitment ‘Abiko’s views tached a large audience through his fst enterprise, Japanese newspaper purchased in 1537, merge with a second paper fn ilpp. and cenanped the Nice! Shimbun Gupnese American News}. ‘The Nice! Shimbun wlimately became the most widely circulated of the apanese lnumigrant newspapers. Through his paper, Abiko con- tinued t0 asist rpanese students by providing par-time newspaper jobs for those wha needed sponsorship to stuay im the United States. Mest importantly, however the Nice! Shimbun constituted a power fol instrument fr nursing cohesiveness in the imunigrant Japanese ‘community. I confronted sees such as educational discrimination in ‘Stn Francia, restrictions on Japanese immigration, the Alien Land Tow, and the debate over pictize brides.» In the fist eition of the [Nive Skinbun, Abiko stated his belief dat such » newspaper could “engthen relations among the dispersed immigrants and “establish Spiritual tes ofthe Japanese ving on the West Coast"2" Among, the pewespapers long-term aims were the protection ofthe rights of apse ese in Arica, the exploration of neW Holds of enterprise for ban {nd ral Japanese, and the encouragement of further Japanese m= tration to the United States "The gos enurnerated inthe Nike Skinbun were close to Abiko’ heart. From the tite of his involvement with the Fukuinkai, he had dreamed of establishing permanent Chistian colonies of Japanese limmigranis, whose numbers steadily increased. To this end, he o= ganized several other busineses.I4 agoa he founded the Nichibei [Rangyosha Japanese American Industrial Company) which handled 3 laud, Reset op a 2 Aimer of eae Sino pre predate nonin che ‘ded tsps Ang thon sere Yana Mr who ned the A ‘Sein pl Santo ce pms pane ny nd premerat SlrdUneraye yO ne oe sutton np 2B hf ion ote Nek Sina, Ako pulse an Engh lnguge scree re ede ee arsnget se » arming the Home Place Japanese contrat labor forthe ralroad, mining, and sugarrefining industries, and the acquisition of farmland in conta California. inthis period, Abiko also set up and managed the Nichibe! Kinyusha, a ‘Savings and loan company. Through his earnings fzom these concerns [Abjko was ble ose up in 1986 the Bekok Shokusan Kaisha (Ameri- ‘an Land and Produce Company) which purchased land in Merced ‘County tobe subdivided and esc tobecame his first setiement, the ‘Yamato Colony in Livingston, California ® These organizations and the Nite! Shimbun provided the bases forthe realization of Abiko's dream and the hopes of those drawn by i ‘The japanese who pioncered Abike's thee colonies in Livingston, ‘Cressey, and Cortez were among the fortunate minority to make the ‘transition roa farm laborer to farm owner. In 1907, Issel amis feted onthe rst piece of land Abiko purchased in Livingston, Cal Moria. This was the beginning ofthe Yamato Colony, which by 1320 covered 2,450 acres, and had developed a close afiiation with the nearby Cressey Colon, anather Japanese settlement begun in 2918. In ‘919, Abiko established the 2.000-cte Cortez Calon, thiteen miles northwest of Livingston and seven miles couth of Turlock. Through fis liberal terms, Abiko made it possible fr these Isei to become: landowners but thefull alization of his ison and their reams a5 not easly oF quickly accomplished. In fact, Abiko's ist land acquis ‘ion company folded in 195, overextended by purchases, and in the aly yeats, the colony setters, ke mos ofthe ssi farmers, enlered {088t hardchp in transforming andy wasteland into what the Califor. ‘a State Board of Control would later inciage with “the best in the State” {As the mobility and numbers of Japanese immigrant workers ine creased, so di the anti-Asian sentiment that ha led to the baring of (Chinese inunigrtion in 1882, In 2908, under pressure from the stall, farmers, stkan groups and jsirnalists sho resurested the specter of the "Yellow Peri,” the United States and Japan concluded the Gentle: ‘men’s Agreement that limited immigration tothe wives and relatives of Japanese workers already present in Ameria In 1913, seven years iter the Yamato Colony seers bought thei farms, Califor passed sc lyn annotate ey i | | } i i Taking Root Harsh Land an Alon Land Law that bared “aliens ineligible to Gitzenship" from ‘wing land and limite heir eases to three-year periods, Despite the verity of thi aw, the Japanese —incding the Cortez and Cressey pioneers circumvented itby buying landin the name oftheir Ameri Enn-bomn children an! by forming corporations to hod ew their lane. During World War, hostility against the Japanese waned and thee fortunes improved, As non-Asian farmworkers Rocked to wibanazeas terme! the warSie industrial Iabor demand, dhe need for frm en fants and laborers rose. It was during ths second decade, Masakazu Iwata has asserted, thatthe Japanese made their most notable ad- vances in agriculture, realizing high wartime profits and enlarging their operations > The Yamato Colony members iad by this time chived asl footing and sere able o prosper from the wartime de- ‘mana fo their produce. By 3920 5152 Japanese farmers held 361,275 tres in Califomia and produced eros vale at $67 milion 31 ‘With the end of World Wr Tand the return of veterans and work erin the war industries, however, economic competition and ant Japenese sentiment resurged. A formidable antJapanese mavernent ‘emerged from amumber of California organizations the Native Sons— [and Native Daughters—of the Golden West the American Legion; the California State Federation of Labor; and several farm groups, par ficult the California State Grange. Ther efforts spawned several ‘scusionist organizations, such as the California Oriental Exclusion League, led by State Senator Mi Inman, and the Americanization [League ofthe San Joaquin Valley. => Founded in 1639, on the eve of the renewed nativim, the Cortez Colony faced a complex web of hostility, ambivalence, and fear from its inception, Even before the pioneers acved, the local newspapers ‘devoted much attention to the antiJapanese crusades of Valentine S, “McClatchy, publisher ofthe Savamenfo Bex, and US. Senator james D. Phelan. In July i919, Phelan deseibed California asa tibutary colony of apa, declaring, "The rats are inthe granary. They have gotten in lander the door and they are breeding with alarming rapid.” His 3 in, Acodig ty Maas tin 0 he panes n Calon tai nes, ah iby shares oe 7.898 BY ‘ite purser Yate ante “2 an as Pen Pp es » Farming the ome Place focal concern was the stipulation in the Geadiemen’s Agreement of 1908 that permitted the entrance into Ube county of the wives, exper Cally pictize brides, oF fapanese workors, These women, he argued, ‘licumvented the agreement by tong inthe fields as laborers and ‘iving birth to children, thereby “increasing the horde of nonassimil- {ble eliens who are crowding the white men and women of the lands, IF this is not checked now,” he concluded, “it means the end of the white race in Caforia, subdivision of American institutions and the {nd of cur Western evilization’ To combat this perceived pet tclusionist leaders called for stringent mensures. McClatchy advo. fated cancellation of the Gentlemen's Agreement, the exclusion of Dletce brides and all Japanese immigrants, and the passage ofa law barring Asians and thelr American-born chldzen fom holding US. sdzensti "These proposals were matters of growing conermin the Sanoaquin Valley. The timing ofthe development of the Cortez Colony woud have done ite to ally the fears of exchsionsts, In December 1919, shorty after the Bist sellers anved, the alarmed Meroed County Farm Bureau directors formed 2 special committe of delegates fom fraternal organizations and boards of tade within the county to op- ‘pose father Japanese colonization. In January 192, this committee tically Became the Messed County Antilapanese Association, elect ing as presicent Eber G. Adams, «Farm Bureau representative and editor of the Liston Cvonice. Farm Advisor). F. Grass was voted Secretary and Major Harey Thomas ofthe Fraitland Farm Center and the American Legion was elected vie president, Representatives fom the Oda Fellowes, Lodge of Ets, Knights of Pythias, Native Sons, and local farm centers agreed fo launch a twofold campaign of “moral persuasion agpinst persons who attempt to sll or lease property to Japanese” and “pitiless publicity” against those undeterred by the ormer method In Turlock, the town closest othe Cortez Colony and theStanislaus| ‘County "Melon CH of Califomia,” the anteJaparese issue was com> plicated by the cantaloupe growers reliance on Japanese laborers dur Ing the harvest season. Local exlusionists succeeded in obtaining 2 Soa nay 8 3 Masco ay “Taking Roo i Hash Ld pledge from many residents ofthe white community not to sll or Rose their land to Japanese, bt the question of labor remained a thorny one, Growers protested that thy could not afford to pay the 38 ‘Shur to yocentea erate for picking and packing melons demanded by ‘Shute markers, as epposed tothe Jpanese rte of 28 cons, or could They rey on American workers to sty in the field unt the end of the Ronrest As the melon harvest drew neat, the editor af the Tiack Jur, Winfield Scot, biterly noted: ‘mundreds f panes Rocking Tse, and v9 to ster out vee thobrondand ere acres comnprisedin ths retiigaton dst, wile (Thee men aon hurdres, ne many of them x-servicren, fees [Rete work which sholdsighly be this and at ving wage a wees [Mice enable the workero ive hea white man bu! he Japanese, [Sie areveady fo unde the Amescanand tke the Wook at What angel" “The Turlock Board of Trade appointed a committee to investigate the mater an lo recommend. course af action for growers, laborers, and Contactors or shippers and distabutors. Ata July 1920 meeting that endorsed white labor and a fixed contact price of 35 cents per crate, ‘were conspicuously absent ‘uring the harvest season ofthe following year, these unresolved, long-sinmering tensions erupted in viglante action and violence. Masked white Bandits, who were never caught, robbed a numberof Japanese ranchers in the Tusock area. On July 15, masked white “4 Tir Dy rn uy 2 9-Y eas dat sow soerat over wate mie The Evers sent the pn atc of rer pert st ‘SI to ps pe hrs was ance pet, “The wee ao nF Expt panne ate" teen Poste (85 saan t,o Ena Ue fa Ange Aan ain Sais Cees, {Stacy of Cale 9p rl a ha he tat enw Tadeo ie wo wcein apr wvte doris pickers and pocorn thie ‘So ting the aga te ede de pes peste: Sheree tani sna oleae doped py {Siatungcconyee ws oper crepe ating “nk can hyp, Thee iy rea ay hve mop tnd vapeaie ended nee: aha aves pon ed [thru warten winnie opemaiestssconsper cate Eo “Th en nen p99 3 uring the Home Pace men expelled ten Japanese Inbores rom Livingston. And in the ely moming hours of july 20, armed white riders awokened Aiycight Japanese laborers in cantaloupe ranch bunkhouses al at the Hata Store. The vigllantes deported the workers fromm Turlock on tucks, unloaded them at Keyes, sh miles north of Turlock, and were them “The Turlock deportation, 35 Yuji ichioka has asserted, represented more than the action ofa gioup of tansient white harvesters it was planned and sanctioned by aszable proportion af the Turlock comm rity. Of the 150 people invelved half were lozal residents. The extent Df theie complicity was evidenced by the Use of tricks and cars— beyond the means of migratory workers—and the fact that when Jepanese called the Turlock police station for asistance during the ‘aid, the to officers on duty had absented themselves to avoid ine volvement” “This expulsion, one of several such vigilante incidents to cur in suzal California uring the 19205, sparked national otery, news papers expressed public indignation from coast 9 coast Even exch Soniss ke California Governor Wiliam Stephens and Senator Inman deplored the deportation, fearing that such actions wold serve to sce the Japanese exlasion movement #Staniaus County Sher lf Dallas, backed by state and federal authorises, assured protection, ‘ef Japanese harvesters enroute to Turlock, and growers, ankious over the harvest, kep shogun vg on their aches ot night, Despite the elforts ofthe vigilantes, the white comaurity in Turlock ‘didnot reach a consensus on Japanese immigration. A division of ‘pinion was clear when the local chapter ofthe Japanese Exclusion League of California fel sort of ts 192: fund-raising goal of $000; by the end ofthe drivein March Turlock had raised $420, ane the rest of Stanislaus County gave $0. “General apathy,” was the disapproving verdict ofthe Tari urna. In Livingston, the other city clase to Cortez, the situation of the Jepanese setlors was even more complex. The record of events nat ‘only eveas the ambivalent attitude of Livingston whites and te fine line of aceptance trod by the Yamato Colony members, but also tts porte pg santana Zeeman terete spear : ma “Taking Root Harsh Land suggests a deep-rooted factor in the long prewar rivalry and social {stance between these fwo epanese communities. The mounting pressure antJapanese sentiment and organization formed a wedge ip etn loyal along las ines iy he ine of info th Cortes setler, the white Livingston commit) athe panes Yara Colony had eset aie ‘Sitnn slate of penta coerce With he element of Cre onever the Lvgson newspaper sepa the panes na ‘gon “the pees” andr puncte” The er of the Li Sn Carne Ebea ©. Adama, rected hk conradiion—he {the tne of» nner of panes nthe Namato Cony ad ‘Tada ther coal events as ambly a ny lhe oa als he ‘Sich the prevent he Mos County Antspanese Associ Mon Although Adsos was wes inthe compsign fo hat fer Sapuese mngrton the eon “ap” which wen printed nat Citrnia papers ofthe 39am, cling the Trl ural ad the ene Conny Sin, i nt apes pape, Adama made i eat that wile vehement apposed to the nf of panes, he di ot Shpport the emer exusnist aim of denying cizensip 10 the ‘Xnentan-bon children of panes sy sted in the Unies Sine: Frequent mento of terra oa ai the acon ofa Stumuons such note Farm Center ard te Board of Tae, nd Ieters tothe etor nda tht git a mamber of Livingston whites {esis tho eitor ofthe Crome held a ambivalent view 0 the Min November 199, G. Adie annourond he ara of the Inpanese Peni Livington Te Yamato ond Cresey colonies ‘Mee conning atact newcomers an the fal 99, the st overs began fo ithe Cort Colon. Adams wrote ‘Probably nome ln Caforia di the people ofa communi dese the ‘ese more than her in Lavington, fo out conions, wh raion 0 the ogame, reo ae, have on ileent than eeshote. Here we Inada sor offs of high ess, high tye ligt, nationally Isponese They made goo neighbors, good tarmers, go ptt. They ip this itt prosper and pve and they were adie by thet Isr mind Areca fends nd observers. 8 Farming the Home Place Adams tone shifts ominously ashe continue citing diferences in ‘dass Background to distinguish the first Yamato Colony members from the recent arevas: ‘Buta hat wa he sutln sexist hee upto afew months ict fly few weeks ago. could not Din our eyes or denden our entstothe act that moe apanese were coming nee parse tof the pe of the orginal wentpame fos Infact the first group of Livingston Japanese (the Yamato Colony) had incied a numberof highly educated and accomplished men—a ‘wealthy iil engineer, a college agriculture profesor, «high school teacher, and » divinity Schoo! graduate.® The Corte settles in gen- Cal did have less education ad they were primarily working-ass people. Historian Kesa Noda has ako found significant social and ‘Sconomic differences between the Yamato and Cressey colonists 38, twel as between the eae and later Yamato setters Regardless of the Isse's perspective on this dass dference, Adams viewed it asa ‘dear separating ine. His warning to the Livingston Japanese was ‘ually lear For yom the Japanese oho fist lasted hee some oe keeping the "stuationlcaly well in an, Bt of lt ha boo apparent that Conirl over te nly aring brothers was being nt Is became ‘mater that or panes rons ee t,t WoHy ve [ts imposible to ascertain the extent ofthe contr! ofthe Yamato Colony members over the flax olber Japanese into the area. How fever, the uneasy climate ofthe tines and the veiled threat of retaliation for noncompliance may have exacerbated the contrasts betveen the ‘seo colonies the Yamato Colony, founded in 1996, had by 1919 attained a degree of economic well-being and social aceptance by ‘whites, while Cortez was a newly established, strugaing Venture of reenkorn pioneer. Tes Hkewise dificult to assess the degree to which class consider ou eis Dig Geet November, 58 ia i | “Taking Root na Harsh Land tions relly affect antiAsinism. Even highly success ium {rants like George Shima, the "Potato King,” confronted bareees to ‘Ec acceptance, Urban studies have stressed the racial basi fo ant [Asonism, particularly among Euro-American workers. AS a rural Community Livingston presents dierent, highly unusual scenario ‘dueto fectors of religion, language, and Uning as well asclass, As an flk-Christian setlement with a numberof educated middle-dass pi neers iuent in English, the Yamato Colony ints early days had beon het forge positive tes with the anger Livingston community. Given the best of antiJopanese sentiment in the late 19108 andl early 19209, {tdoes not sem likely that middle-clas status would have improved the receplion of the Cortez eters (many of whom were also Cris- tian). However, shared bonds of lass, zeligion language, and history ‘ealy made a diference in how the Yamato colonists were perceived Sd teed ata crcial point. And i appears that inteaethnie cass “visions, exacerbated by ant Asianism, did discourage the formation ‘of a strong ethnic alliance between the Coztez and Yamato Colony residents, would take nother manifestation of anti-Asianism—the ‘World War Internment that drew no distinctions among Japanese ‘Americans to eal the rifts between therm. “Asin the ret of Merced County, antJopanese fecings ran high in| Livingston in 1ga0. With he sanction ofa voto taken at amass meeting tended by “practically every resident ofthis town and people fom the surrounding country,” sigas appeared at the highway entances to LUvingston, stating, “No more Japanese wanted." Senator JM. Ine rman of Sacramento, president of the California Oriental Excksion Teague, praised these signs to a crowed of several hundred in Merced and expressed the wish that this message be coped and placed over the Golden Gal i lelters “Tange enough forthe hspanese 1o sce all the way from Havwai"© Livingston businessmen applied pressure to bork the sie f local property to Japanese. The Merced County Ant= Japanese Assocation crélated pledge cards among landowners in {he Livingston dstniet exacting a "morally binding” agreement not to 4 Hesings blo the Hue Comte on Ingato and Natron are imation Japa, gu eth Cangas 3 Gah pst ‘ign that hw es In Logon maa °Ne ire pane wae her than etme waned Tht, eect th arava he Yana Coy ent tM Cony Se, by 30 Faring the Home Pas selorlase nd to Japanese # Thesis alo reared to ore circt means On tweaprfour hours note a aker GH: Wien nda merchant, H, White bought afripace ach eth of oes for tao keep fm fling to opaese hans “Theeschsinistfale, however o prevent te majrland salen ortec—the Sunny Acres rat adj the sate vlan clon the north, aed the waspoer tract owned by lary Eva song he Sane Raay othe nh ae of he Mere Rr inslanecs the Lihystn Crone detected that "the engineering ‘wing dameby Mr. Oth ca apnea editor af San Ftc, he ‘8 wll own in Livngson and Merced where he has done ch ‘ely busines of ate" Inthe se ofthe her tac the Alleged Esa was silo hve so 4 Mercadante el purhssrin the tanec as Abi ‘Amid the contoversy over the ers sete apanese in Cota, the postion ofthe Yamato Colony members was ute psoas They were caught betieen fms fists on» angle page ef the Liringsion Croce, an arc Bitbny reporting tht Okuda having ane new home erected om is tc was sanded be ‘ween recrlment noe for the Anjepanese Accom ano photograph of aman hangin egy or eling Ind toa epee Juste woncaly athe pesk of exons avy « chon soup of predominant white youth surprised wo Young ise! ws sen, Rose and Mary Nak, wth amg feet fe eae and

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