In 1885 a large number of Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii, soon after around the mid-1890’s many secondary-migrated to the U.S. Mainland. Of those who came to California, a large number settled in the San Fernando Valley.
Farming in the San Fernando Valley
Nonetheless, Japanese American farmers were highly successful despite law restrictions. They would lease or buy small plots of land, and specialize in crops that were labor-intensive. Japanese farmers grew produce such as raised bunch vegetables. (I.e., carrots, green onions, turnips, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, also a few farmers grew cantaloupes, strawberries and potatoes).
"(We)usually had about 15 acres and we grew carrots and green onions and cabbage... and once we had some potatoes and cucumbers."
~ Mary Oda
San Fernando Valley Then
"Before the war, the Northridge area was mostly citrus, lemons, grapefruit, orange, and toward Canoga Park, it was mostly dry farm because they didn’t have any water facilities and that part of San Fernando Valley was the lowest part of San Fernando Valley, so in the winter it was called black frost, which would kill everything. So during the summer they grew out alpha navy beans and that type of crop."
~James Higashida
Gardening
Japanese gardeners also thrived, growing flowers and plants other gardeners had little patience for. They found the climate in the San Fernando Valley was ideal for growing flowers.
“Flowers we grew were either renunculas or anemones, which we grew in these cheesecloth tents that we would put up every year.”
~ Bill Watanabe
Life on the Farm
"The one (house) in North Hollywood was a four-room shack. It had a sink, no built in’s, a refrigerator, or maybe an ice box, and then when we made a little money, we bought a cold spot Sears refrigerator, and then of course our toilet facilities were out housed, about a hundred yards from the house."
~Bo Sakaguchi
Life on the Farm
Many farms were family run operations, often leasing land from European Americans. Other Japanese Americans were able to purchase land using their children's names, who were U.S. citizens. It was quite common for husband, wife, and children to all work in the fields. Some Japanese American families would also hire outside workers such as Filipinos, Mexicans, or Chinese.
"We had some Filipino boys working...(one) was working for us before we had to leave (during the war)... he kept things going for the guy who took over (the farm)."
~ Tom Imai
Settling in the San Fernando Valley, CA
By the 1920’s the San Fernando Valley had become a large and successful agricultural center. Most Issei (first generation) and Nisei (second generation) were involved in the farming industry. However, due to the 1913 and 1920 California Alien Land Law, which restricted Japanese Americans from owning land, many Japanese farmers and gardeners were reduced of acreage and profits.
Tough Times
It was real good getting a car during the depression, some guys weren’t eating too much and couldn’t find work”.
~Tamaru “Tom” Fujimoto
Where's Daddy?
He [our father] got up 2 in the afternoon, and around 3 o’clock he left the house and went around the farm to pick up vegetables and loaded it into his car. He went to the market in LA where he distributed to the whole market. By midnight, he went to sleep. Because he slept most of the day, we barely saw our father.
~ Harold Muraoka
Women's Roles-No Time Off
Farm life proved to be very difficult for many Japanese Americans in the San Fernando Valley, most working from sunrise to sundown. Many women juggled three full time roles: mother, wife and farmer.
"The women folk worked really hard. You know the saying they have about women…the work is never done. That was absolutely true. Using my mother as an example, she woke up early, made breakfast for everybody. If there was hired help…she had to make them breakfast and send them off to work and as soon as she finished that, out to the fields she went. Then come home half an hour early so she could prepare for lunch…So the women worked really hard I have to give them a lot of credit for that."
~Ritsuo Takeuchi.
Dangerous Work
"My mother had a stillborn. Before my youngest daughter was born and what cause that the doctor said was that she was out one day trying to scare the birds away from the crops, you know? Lettuce crops or something. She took a shotgun and fired to scare them, boom. That shock, that recoil, knocked her down, sat her on her back, you know, real bad. And that shock hurt the baby inside. It was stillborn."
~Frank Emi
Japanese Bathtub
After a long days work on the farm, many Japanese Americans enjoyed relaxing in their traditional style "furo," bathtub. The bathtubs were usually located behind the house and used firewood to keep it warm.
"My chore was to drain the tub outside the bathtub, clean it, fill it with water and come back around 5 o’clock and I start gathering the water and burn the wood so we can make the water hot. And we jumped in the water at the end of the day and took a bath. And that was the best part of the day for us."
-James Higashida
"...We all had a separate structure. And you always have a deep tub and then you have a fire underneath... yeah, I mean the tub is metal and then the building is a separate building and then you put the fire underneath and you don’t wash yourself in the tub you just sit there to soak and then I used to soak in the tub with my mother and she would rub my back... one day... we had a Japanese who worked for us and he lived in a separate house. But I jumped in the bath before he did and my father, for the first time, he hit me on my bottom. He said, 'You should never have taken a bath before the guest.'"
~ Mary Oda
Community Life
When the Japanese first migrated to the mainland, many were encouraged to “westernize” by becoming Christians, however others strived to keep their own religion by the establishment of Buddhist temples and such.
“I asked my parents, "You guys are Buddhist. Why did you send us to a Christian church? Being out in Valley, there was no Buddhist church out there. They said they figured any church is better than no church."
~ Bill Watanabe.
Home Life
Although there was a great deal of anti-Japanese sentiment due to labor competition and international relations, the Japanese Americans in the San Fernando Valley made it their home. They attended church, raised families, family excursions and merged their new western lifestyle with their traditional culture.
"My mother used make like eggs and white rice or fried rice for breakfast.. she used to make rice just so that it was kind of crunchy, not too hard. Just right."
~ Bill Watanabe
Health Care
My Parents told us never to go to the County hospital, because the Japanese get no help there. For example, there was a terrible flood and a White woman got covered with mud. The nurses ignored her because they thought she was Black or Mexican. After they washed the woman’s dirt, [realizing she was White] they helped the woman immediately.
~Mary Oda
School in the San Fernando Valley
Anti-Japanese sentiment also affected the education of the Nisei and Sansei children. Some schools, specifically in northern California had segregated “Oriental Schools.” Japanese American children in the San Fernando Valley were not segregated but were usually only one or two in a classroom.
“One of the Japanese Americans was student body president. We were the only 3 non-whites. There were no blacks, no Hispanics… Northridge back then was mostly Jewish.”
~ Bill Watanabe
Japanese Language Schools
Often feeling marginalized in “American” schools, many Japanese American children also joined Japanese Language Schools to socialize with other Japanese American children and learn Japanese language and traditions.
"(We went to) the Japanese Language because it was everyday after American school... and I really have to thank them because they gave us a social life, a community life, because we knew were not accepted by Caucasians."
~Mary Oda
Japanese Language Schools
"We had Japanese school in San Fernando. It was only one day a week though, on Saturdays only and I think we had regular class from maybe 9-3, or 8-4."
~Ritsuo Takeuchi
Family Outings
For Japanese Americans, family outings were rare due to the fact that farm labor consumed most of their time. However, when the opportunity did arise, they were very much cherished, and the families often dressed in their best outfits.
Picnics in the Valley
“Going to the beach or having a picnic, everyone wore a suit and tie. When you went out in public, you wanted to look better.”
~ Bill Watanabe
Leisure Time
"The only time we ever got to go to the movies was on a holiday, the major holidays. And my mother didn't believe in playing cards. So we never had a deck of cards at home at all."
~ Bo T. Sakaguchi
"You went to a theatre you had to go sit upstairs…that happened quite often."
~ Ritsuo Takeuchi
Leisure Time
“Growing up in the valley back then, you had activities that weren’t planned. You could play sports in the backyard and the neighbors would come over. And we’d play baseball or throw a football around. We would have a lot of church group activities. We would go to the beach.”
~ Bill Watanabe
Japanese Celebrations
Although Japanese Americans wanted to be accepted in America, many felt strongly to hold to their Japanese cultural traditions, such as the Obon Festival, Boys Day, Girls Day, and New Year celebrations. New Year's day was especially looked forward to, as it was one of the few days they did not work.
“We used to make mochi every year in the traditional way. We’d stoke a fire, boil water, put the rice on top of the steaming water and cook the rice. My family would all get together on New Years’ Day or New Years’ Eve and make mochi...The first time me and my cousins did it, we singed our eyebrows and eyelashes. ”
~Bill Watanabe
World War II-Leaving Home
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the declaration of war against Japan, Executive Order 9066 was put into action and Japanese Americans on the West coast were forced to evacuate. With little notice, many people were forced to sell their belongings quickly, most for pennies on the dollar.
"We had a virtually new refrigerator and the day before they were supposed to leave, a gentleman came by, wanted to know if they wanted to sell anything. So my Dad says, 'I’ve got the refrigerator,' and the gentelman says, 'I’ll give you a dollar for it.' So my dad tells him 'no.' And the fellow replies, "Well, it’ll be free tomorrow cause you’ll be gone and you can’t take it with you.' So my dad put it on the street and drove over it with a truck."
~Roy Muranaka
World War II-Internment Camps
Camps were located in California, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arkansas, and Idaho. Out of those who went to camp 2/3 were Nisei, American-born and 1/3 were Issei. The average amount of time that they were interned was 2.5 years.
"We sort of had an unconscious knowledge that we were put on an inferior status... So we knew we had a second class status and we sort of accepted it. That's why when they told us, you have to drop everything and go to camp, nobody protested."
~ Dr. Mary Oda
World War II-Internment Camps
"It was very difficult. Apparently, the houses were ready and we came in busload. In May, Manzanar, it was cold and windy, the wind was just horrendous. We were given a mattress cover and we had to go to pile of hay and stuffed it in, and that was our mattress for about six months. And the bad part of that was there were ticks and we used to get bites and it was very difficult. "
-James Higashida
Tule Lake
Amongst the internment camps across the county, Tule Lake was home to the those who were detained from other camps because they were thought to be potential enemies of America. Even many mothers and children were not exempt from this high security camp.
Lost Fortunes
Due to the swift and forced evacuation of the Japanese Americans in the San Fernando Valley many lost their homes, their vehicles, and other priceless artifacts such as photographs and family heirlooms. However, some who wanted to prove their loyalty to America disposed of any and all items that linked them to Japan. Also, racism and discrimination was often experienced.
"The land, the title of the land was in my mother’s name because she was a US citizen, and we had a neighbor, a German neighbor and he watched our place while the family was at camp, but I understand that a family moved into the house and lived in our house during the war.
-Jane Muranaka
Brave Acts
Despite the country's anti-Japanese sentiment, a few non-Japanese did reach out to assist and help Japanese Americans. Before being interned, some families left their cars and other valuables with their neighbors. Others were surprised by the unusual kindness of their Caucasian acquaintances during internment.
"The only visitor I had in the year and a half I was in camp; Dr. Edwards. And you know I appreciated what he did (recommending Dr. Oda to a Medical School) and I said, Dr. Edwards came all the way out to Manzanar and my daughter said, “Mom do you realize he was jeopardizing his own position by coming out to see you?” And I didn’t realize that, and she said, “Gee, he really went out of his way to see you.” Because he must of felt bad that I was in camp, that we were all in camp, all of us Japanese were in camp and he must have sensed that it wasn’t right either."
~ Mary Oda
Rebuilding their lives
After internment, many Japanese Americans originally from the San Fernando Valley, returned to find out that they no longer had a home to return to. Thereafter, trailer park camps, such as in Burbank and Sun Valley, became home to many Japanese Americans.
Finding a home
Japanese Americans were restricted from where they could live even after the war. It was quite common for real estate agents to show Japanese American homes in minority designated areas.
“It was just known of the places you were allowed to go, and the places that you weren’t allowed, this was normal for the Japanese…”.
~Tamaru "Tom" Fujimoto
Japanese American roots at Cal State University, Northridge
The Muranaka family settled in San Fernando Valley after the war and started farming. Shortly after, they Muranakas were forced to sell their land to Los Angeles City schools at a fraction of its value. Parts of California State University, Northridge and Porter Middle School was formerly their farmland.
"My father was arguing about whether the school needed all the ground or not and, he said they wanted all of it. My dad wanted to keep that[part of their property] to keep the equipment and stuff because it was still home base to the farming operation. He said no, no, no, no, the city wants that, the school wants that. As I understood it later, the city, the school never took title to that ground that the procure man guy did and he turned around and sold it to the developers for a profit. Which is pretty bad you know, but that’s the way it was. I asked my dad about it later and he goes hey Roy, he says, that was only 10 years after the war, you got no chance to stand up to anyone then."
~Roy Muranaka
Gaman
"Sure, there were discriminations; there are places where they hesitate to go, because my dad spoke very little English. My mother was a Nisei, she went to Grammar school where she spoke English very well. However, there was a certain amount of discrimination that was Gaman (endurance) and Shikataganai (accepting what cannot be helped) , that came into play, so it didn’t really bother to us."
-James Higashida
America is Our Home
Despite the hardships, discrimination, and trauma that the Issei and Nisei endured many are proud to call America their home because it is where they grew up or raised their families.
"...My father always felt that this was the land of opportunity and the night we went to camp, he said to me, we're going to camp tomorrow, I'm not sorry I came to America."
~ Mary Oda
Acknowledgements
Principal Investigator: Edith Chen
Community Director: Nancy Takayama
Research Team-Cal State University Asian American Studies Students:
Cecile Asuncion
Teddy Avila
Tiffany Cheng
Jean-Paul deGuzman
Eve Green
Lindy Fujimoto
Patricia Gopez
Yen Hoang
Amy Ikeda
Ryan Ito
Lori Monji
Joseph Kim
Scott Mitsunaga
Caroline Moya
Dinah Nghiem
Peter Ngotngamwong
Stephanie Ngueyn
Faith Ramirez
Michael Razon
Machiko Uyeno
Everett Wong
Tiffanie Young
Library advisors: Robert Marshall, Special Collections Archivist Mary Woodley, Collection Development Coordinator
Kris Tacsik, Map Curator, Map Library Susanna Eng, Asian American Studies Librarian
Curriculum Consultant: Joyce Burnstein
Media Assistance:
Patricia Miller, Barbara Ann Ward Language Lab
Nikkei Album consultants:
Vicky K. Murakami-Tsuda, Japanese American National Museum
Bobby Okinaka, Japanese American National Museum
CSUN Web Development advisors:
Lynn Lampert
David Moon
Elizabeth Altman
Video assistance: Tony Hillbruner
Academic Consultants:
Jorge Garcia
Gordon Nakagawa
George Uba
Laura Uba
Community Advisors:
Nancy Takayama
Hal Suetsugu
Administrative Assistance:
Janaki Bowerman
Reyna Kennedy
Eve Green
Cecilia Lu
Molly Ngueyn
Deborah Arroyo
Janet Wong
Norine Galvin
CSUN Public Relations:
Brenda Roberts
Carmen Chandler
Past Funding:
The John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation
Special Acknowledgements to:
Lane Hirabayashi, Chair, George and Sakaye Aratani Professorship in Japanese American Redress, Internment and Community, UCLA
