Image Contributed by: Jane Muranaka

Names of people:

Date: circa early 1950s

Place: Kwakami family ranch in Sunland, California

Photograph by: Toyo Miyotaka

Original Photo size:

Description: This is one of the photos that Saichi, a first-generation Issei, would have professionally shot each New Year. This land was purchased by the Kawakami family in 1933 and placed under Chizu Kawakami's name. Chizu, Saichi's wife, was born in the United States and therefore was not blocked by the Alien Land Law. Thus, unlike many Japanese Americans, the Kawakami's owned their land throughout their internment so that they had a home to which to return when they were released.

Pictured are peach blossoms and renunkulas. This photo reflects the arduous labor and time it took for Saichi and his family to get back on their feet after Internment. Immediately after the family was released, some members stayed at Manzanar while Saichi went back to the ranch in Sunland to replant the gardens and to wait for the tenants to which the home had been rented to finally leave. Once the rest of the Kawakami's returned it would take years for the family to re-establish their lives.

© California State University, Northridge 2008

For more information about this project, please contact:

Edith Chen, Professor Asian American Studies Dept.
18111 Nordhoff St., JR 340
Northridge, CA 91330-8251
edith.chen@csun.edu
818-677-4966

Nancy Takayama
San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center
nt.high.mtn@juno.com