Volume XIII, Number 3 • Summer 2001
The Flower Industry

A Thing of Strength and Splendor
by Dianne Fukami

Timeline: Nikkei in Northern California's Flower Industry
by Kenji Murase

Memories of a Carnation Cutter
by Hiroshi Kashiwagi

My Flower World
by Yoshimi Shibata

In Their Own Words: Marlene Nishimura Wahi
by Ken Kaji

A Brief History of San Francisco's Ikebana Schools

Spotlight: Haruko Obata

Member News

Program Calendar

My father entered America as an illegal alien in l927, after the 1924 ban on immigration from Japan. This, plus his leadership in building the Buddhist church annex on the Yakima Indian Reservation (mentioned in a story in the Coram nobis issue of Nikkei Heritage) contributed to his being separately interned during World War Two at the Missoula, Montana detention center. His illegal entry and classification as an enemy alien brought threats of deportation even after we got out of camp after the war. A provision of his tenure in the United States was was that he report to someone in the Nikkei community assigned to him as a sponsor (more like a parole officer). His sponsor happened to be the Domoto family. So for the first two years after we got out of Tule Lake, he dutifully made monthly trips to the Domoto nursery in Oakland.

I recall this as an example of the close associations developed within the Nikkei community regardless of geography, occupation or prior affiliation. Likewise, much as flowers in Japanese esthetic symbolize the cycles of life, the nurturing of those flowers symbolize Nikkei enterprise in the west—thus the focus of this issue.

Yet farming, along with many businesses established by Issei, is quickly becoming part of our past rather than our future. Of the l3 kids in my family who grew up on a strawberry farm in the Santa Clara Valley, only my sister Yoshiko remained in an agricultural business. She and her husband Tadao operate Kajiko Nursery, raising carnations in Morgan Hill. To offset the brunt of competition in Colombia competition, they also run a flower shop and raise watercress and mint.

Recently, I visited Kawakamimura, a lettuce-growing center in the Japan Alps and Watsonville's sister city. I was astounded at how special that place was. This is the only place I know of where every family can count on one of their children carrying on the farm tradition. The village makes every effort to keep life attractive for the youth. The village has its own TV station with daily showings of an aspect of local life. Every house is wired to the mayor's office to receive news and notices twice a day. During the winter off-season, about 20 of the younger farmers become ski instructors. The village also took advantage of popular hiking routes on nearby mountains by buying out a dying bus company and routing the busses to include all the key entry and exit points for climbers, with convenient stops at village eating and resting places.

These farmers are thinking way ahead, retaining their independence through creative thinking. Similarly, Sansei governance is building upon the Issei's foundation and strengthening international markets for growers such as Kajiko Nursery. Perhaps, with such leadership, a future generation of Nikkei farmers will emerge.

-Isao Fujimoto, Nikkei Heritage Editorial Board