community en

Silk

Chapter Twelve—A Japanese Girl

For the past two days, Okei’s teeth chattered, all day and all night. It was as if a spirit had entered her body and ...

community en

Silk

Chapter Nine—Pickles and the Promised Land

Matsugoro Ohto wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he and his fellow carpenter, Kuninosuke “Kuni” Masumizu, took a break from their woodworking project ...

community en

Silk

Chapter Six—Okei: Star Stories

Okei Ito hated mosquitos. In the California inaka, they seemed to swarm everywhere, breeding in water collected in surrounding ditches. In these same ditches, old ...

community en

Silk

Chapter Two—Wheelbarrow Wars

Shinshi-san went into her second bedroom, the one filled with mulberry leaves, and checked on the status of her silkworms. Hundreds of white skinny caterpillars ...

culture en

Silk

Chapter One—Jou Schnell: Keeping House

Jou Schnell looked out her window of her small four-room, wood-framed house on Gold Hill. Through the walnut trees, dappled light streamed onto the dew-covered ...

migration en ja

The 150th Anniversary of Wakamatsu Colony, the First Japanese American Settlement on the North American Frontier

Supplement: The Article that Revealed Okei to the World

The Wakamatsu Colony, born of the dreams and labor of the new immigrants, collapsed in only two years. One of the members of the group ...

migration en ja

The 150th Anniversary of Wakamatsu Colony, the First Japanese American Settlement on the North American Frontier

Part 2: Okei's California Home

Read Part 1 >> The story of the first Japanese woman to be buried in American soil emerges from history’s shadows. The Wakamatsu Colony had ...

community en ja es pt

Nikkei Chronicles #7 — Nikkei Roots: Digging into Our Cultural Heritage

The Tea of Soul from Aizuwakamatsu Revived After 150 Years

History of Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm About 150 years ago in 1869, the first group of approximately 22 immigrants to the U.S. mainland ...

community ja

カリフォルニア、謎の若松コロニー異国で亡くなった悲運、おけいの墓を訪ねて ～ その3

その2を読む ＞＞日系人たちにはよく知られた墓だった「おけいの墓」の前に話を戻そう。周囲は草木ばかりで ...

community ja

カリフォルニア、謎の若松コロニー異国で亡くなった悲運、おけいの墓を訪ねて ～ その2

その1を読む ＞＞プロシア人に率いられて太平洋を渡る会津が官軍に攻め入られ鶴ヶ城が陥落したのが1868年秋、この翌年の春までに、会津を出てカリフォルニアにわたった一団があった。 当時 ...