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Ishii Farms

Born on January 6, 1883 in Karashima (Village) Tanoshimaru-Machi, Ukiha-Gun, Fukuoka-Ken, Japan, Kyutaro Ishii was the oldest of 9 children born to Hisakuchi Ishii and Toku Chiyoda. In 1899, at the age of 16 and with his father’s help, he booked passage to Hawaii where he worked on a plantation on Oahu until 1905, at which time he was able to afford passage to San Francisco and complete his journey to America. From there, he made his way to Los Angeles (working on the railroad) where he settled into a flophouse on the west side. One day, in 1906, a hakujin farmer from Orange County showed up at the flophouse looking to hire a farm worker. His name was Wardlow. He spoke with Kyutaro and whether it was a word or his body language, there was something that Wardlow liked and as fate would have it, he took a chance and brought Kyutaro back to his farm in Talbert, CA.

Kyutaro was no stranger to hard work, and Wardlow recognized it. Almost a generation apart in age, they developed a strong friendship that would last for the rest of their lives. Soon, they built a house for Kyutaro (at what later became 17271 Bushard Street) and by 1912, he was “renting” land from Wardlow to farm for himself. It was also 1912 when he went back to Japan to meet, marry and bring back a wife to Talbert. Her name was Sada Nakamura and she was 19 years old. He saw a path on how he could do well in America as a farmer. Farm big. By law, he could not own the land but with the birth of his first born, Joe, in 1914, he foresaw that he could rent the land until Joe turned 21 and then Joe as a citizen could start owning land. Over the next few years, the rest of the children came along: Charles (in 1916), Nellie (in 1919), Don (in 1924) and Rose (in 1927). Eventually, at the height of their operation, they farmed along Warner Avenue (from Brookhurst to Newland) and along Bushard Street (from Talbert Avenue to Edinger Street except for the Wardlow farm and another farm). It was not a continuous block of land but a quilt-like patchwork of roughly 1/4 mile parcels disconnected by other farms. Generally, from an aerial view, Wardlow’s farm was to the south, Fulton’s farm was to the southwest, Plavan’s farm (while he was there) was on the north side of Warner while the Masuda’s, the Neishi’s and the Hara’s farms abutted the Ishii Farm on the east side facing Brookhurst. The crops they raised were many (tomatoes, bell peppers, cauliflower) and rotated but principally, before the war, they raised lima beans and after the war, it was asparagus.

The greatest challenge was WWII. A few months after the war broke out, the family was evacuated to the Poston Camp. The initial hardship was the suspension of the farm operation. They turned to their friends, the Wardlows, and the latter agreed to take of the farm. Charles (Master Sergeant) was serving in the Army with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion attached to the 442 nd Regimental Combat Team. Nellie got a job in the Poston offices as a typist. Rose, at 15, made the interesting comment that she never had a sense that things were bad. In Camp, she was glad to see her friends were living close by and she got to see them every day. For her, it was like going to summer camp albeit an armed and dusty one. After about a year, both Nellie and Joe (and his family) were able to leave the camp for Chicago (Nellie) and Colorado (Joe). Once Joe got settled in and bought a farm near Pierce, Colorado, he was able to get Kyutaro, Sada and Rose released from Poston and brought them to Colorado. One of things that Joe spoke of was the “cool” reception that CA farmers like himself received from the local nisei farmers. Like when they brought their truck to the market warehouse, trucks would line up and take turns unloading their produce. But when a CA farm truck approached the line, the other local trucks would not allow them in.

When WWII ended, there was local resistence against the Japanese returning back to Orange County/Talbert. It is difficult now to gauge just how bad it was in those days right after the war had ended but the “hate” was widespread. Kyutaro’s attorney, John Rutan, Sr., founder of the OC law firm of Rutan and Tucker that still operates today, was an old friend of Kyutaro’s dating back to the 1920's. After listening to Kyutaro’s description of the tense climate, Rutan contacted the US War Relocation Authority and supported the idea of sending General Joseph “Vinegar” Stilwell to the Masuda farm to award the Distinguished Service Cross to the family of the late war hero, Kazuo Masuda, They made a big show of it on December 9, 1945 with the General riding in, flags flying, hundreds of people present and an Army motorcade roaring into the small farm town. Stilwell reportedly had to “order” the local civilian leaders to be there. President Reagan, then a young captain, acted as the emcee for the ceremony. Joe recalled that later that night, the Masuda house was shot up by gunfire presumably from locals who did not agree with the Federal Government. No one was hurt nor arrests made but for the moment, the Masuda’s moved out for their safety. Even a couple years later, the resentment still lingered against the Japanese. Masae Ishii (Joe’s wife and a Secretary/Member of the School Board) attended Board meetings held at night in Santa Ana but one of the Wardlows always accompanied her to make sure she was safe from local bigots. As Charles, Stanley (Joe’s son) and Joe Ishii related in recalling the details of this story, the local agitation against the return of the Japanese in Talbert was real and only grudgingly dissipated over time.

Notwithstanding the climate, the real post war story starts out with the kindness that the Wardlow family did for the Ishii’s during WW2 when they kept Kyutaro’s farm intact and when they gave it back to him at war’s end. His friendship with Wardlow was a remarkable thing. Different country, race, language and generation, but the two managed to carve out a friendship that lasted for decades. When white-haired Wardlow would come over with presents, a 5-year old Rose would blurt out “Grandpa!” Despite the land that he owned elsewhere, Kyutaro lived in the same house that was built in 1912 on the Wardlow farm. In the early 60's when the developers were looking to buy the land on which the farm house sat, Nellie Durall (Wardlow’s daughter) explained that before he died, Wardlow made her promise that Kyutaro could live there for as long as he wanted and she was not to sell it. Charles realized the situation, spoke with Kyutaro and the latter agreed that the land should be sold but he would buy a house in the new housing development so that he could remain on the same land.

Kyutaro and Sada were like many Isseis of that time: A strong, close-knit family that met every Sunday at the farm to have lunch and dinner together with “Papa and Mama”. Whether it was going bowling, playing cards, flying kites in the fields or just climbing and hiding on every tree or roof in the compound, it is etched in my memory as an incredibly fun time. It lasted until the State started to buy up the land (including chunks of the Ishii farm land) as a prelude to the construction of the 405 freeway and the new Fountain Valley High School. Sensing the end was near, and at 80 years old, Kyutaro retired in 1963. He had been slowing down for a few years and both Joe and Charles had taken charge, investing in commercial buildings in OC and then buying land for Ishii Bros. in the Reedley/Orange Cove area. It took a couple of years, but by 1965, the last asparagus and bell pepper under the Ishii brand in Talbert was picked, packed and shipped to market.

Although it was just his back yard, Kyutaro spent his remaining years “farming” at his new home. We lived next door so they never put in a boundary wall and both yards were big lots. As a result, he had about a 1/3 acre to farm in our combined back yards. I would help him pick his string beans and tomatoes, and at the end of the day, sit there on the bench next to him. Sometimes, he would grab a tomato, wash it off, pull out a salt shaker and start eating it like an apple. I would be eating my “pay for the day” which was an ice cream soda. He was kind and never seemed to get mad. When I was 15, he started asking me what I wanted to do as an adult. College was a given but he liked the idea of a doctor in the family. I thought that the law was something I might want to do but I knew it would be really expensive. He told me to keep studying and not to worry about the other part. He died not long afterwards on April 9, 1970. Later, I found out that he had set up a trust fund and it was those monies that helped pay my way through college and law school. He was a fascinating guy. Throughout his life, he faced enormous life changing events and every time, he would step back, move around and then go forward to the next goal. He had that stubbornness or “will” to persevere, to keep moving forward. Heading out to see the world at the age of 16 on your own is mind-boggling but to go to a different country with very little education, money or prospects only makes it all the more an incredible journey.

Charles Ishii with trademark cigar in front of Kyutaro's house

circa 1950 Kyutaro-Sada Ishii family by packing shed

circa 1950 Mochitsuki, L-R Kyutaro and Henry Kanegai's father

1955 Joe and Stanley Ishii taking a break

Judge Anthony Ishii, Donna (Ishii) Chiamori, and Linda Osaki

Hamada Family nurseries: Blossom City, Garden City, Batavia Garden

By Ellen Crane • 30 Apr, 2021
At the turn of the 20th century Yasaburo Hamada came to America from Jigozen, Hiroshima, at the age of 15. A man of small statue and a quick temper, “Harry” Hamada was adept in judo and kendo and was not afraid to use his skills. One family story recounts a job he had in San Francisco in the basement of a building. He argued with his boss and walked off the job. The next day the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake happened and buildings everywhere collapsed killing thousands including the people in the basement of Yasaburo’s building. At the age of 38, after more than twenty years in the U.S., Yasaburo returned to Hiroshima to find a wife. He was recommended to the beautiful youngest daughter of a prosperous farming family, Shiki Nagaoka. Shiki’s older sister had left several years earlier to marry a man in Hawai’i and she was also open to going to America. Shiki agreed to marry Yasaburo, 18 years her senior. She recalls the initial meeting he had with her father where she was expected to serve tea. Too afraid to even look at him, Shiki didn’t know what Yasaburo looked like until after she consented to marry him. They wed in Japan in 1920 and left for the U.S. soon after. Their son, Ben, was born in 1921 in Hollywood. Two more children followed, Namiye in 1923 and George in 1925. Ben recalls living in various places in Southern California: San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, San Pedro. They family worked hard at various endeavors but gravitated to farming and the nursery busines. Yasaburo, a man of many talents, had a gift for growing, not just plants, but animals too. Namiye remembers moving a lot but said they always had nice houses. The family spent the war years in internment camps, initially in Jerome, Arkansas, and later at Tule Lake, California, camp for the infamous “No-No Boys.” After the war, like everyone else coming out of camp, the Hamada’s worked hard to make a living. By then, Namiye was married to Manabu Okada who farmed with his brothers Taka and Shigeru. Yasaburo and Shiki had various jobs and 24-year-old Ben worked as a gardener, using trimmings to propagate new plants. Through their friends, the Gotos, who had a thriving flower shop in Montebello, the Hamada’s arranged to open a nursery next to the shop on Beverly Blvd, and called it Blossom City Nursery . Meanwhile, Ben who also wanted to farm, leased land in Huntington Beach on Talbert Ave. and Beach Blvd, while still helping his parents with Blossom City. By then he was married to Masako and they eventually had four children: Ellen, Ron, Kent and Joanne. The family’s nursery business was joined by George and his wife, Hazel, in 1950 when they returned from Chicago, baby Karen in tow, soon to be followed by Gerry, Teri and Parry. In 1953 the family purchased four acres in Garden Grove on Harbor Blvd and opened Garden City Nursery . The thriving business supported Ben and George’s families, Yasaburo and Shiki. They remained there until 1963 when the nursery was forced to move because of the construction of the Garden Grove Freeway. Garden City Nursery relocated to East Chapman Ave, Orange, in 1963. In 1971 brothers Ben and George parted ways and took ownership of separate properties and nurseries. George and Hazel continued operating Garden City and Ben and Masako opened Batavia Garden Nursery next to their home in Orange. Garden City Nursery closed in 1987. Batavia Garden Nursery remained in business until 2019, operated initially by Ben and Masako and and their children, Ron, Kent and Joanne.

Sakuma Farm

29 Apr, 2021
In 1907 Takeo Sakuma left Kyushu, Japan to go to America. He moved to Bainbridge Island, west of Seattle and began farming; taking the ferry he sold produce at terminal markets and Pike’s Place Market. Returning to Japan, he married Nobu in 1914, immigrated in 1915 and they started a family. Takeo became known for strawberries, challenging due to growing conditions on Bainbridge Island. The fertile Skagit Valley near Burlington was recommended as ideal for strawberries. Atsusa Sakuma moved to Burlington in 1935. Atsusa was the oldest Nisei, first born in the U.S., and first to grow berries in Skagit Valley. One by one, Atsusa’s brothers moved to Skagit after high school to help with harvesting. In 1941 the brothers farming in Burlington supported the family remaining on Bainbridge Island. Then Pearl Harbor was attacked in December. The Sakuma family was imprisoned at Manzanar in March. In June the brothers from Burlington were ordered to Tule Lake (northern California), five hundred miles from the rest of the family. While family was treated as the enemy, three of eight Sakuma boys joined the famed 442 nd Infantry Regiment. Three other sons served with the MIS. After the war, the Sakuma family returned to Bainbridge, but their property was lost, so they moved to Burlington. During the war, their farm was maintained by the Oscar Mapes family—a never forgotten act of kindness. With success, the brothers went into the certified plant business in 1948. They provided the start for strawberry farmers throughout the West Coast. Two brothers in Redding, northern California, ran the growing Norcal Nursery around 1970. Norcal acreage covered Oregon and California. The Sansei generation started management from 1997 until 2000 when the last Nisei retired. Bryan, Glenn, and Richard managed Washington operations; Ron and John managed California operations. The Sakumas entered fruit processing in 1990, and Sakuma Brothers Processing, Inc. began in 1997. Since 1997, plant propagation, research, commercial operations and sales, berry and fruit farming, harvesting and beginning a fruit stand. Sakuma berries sell throughout the U.S. and worldwide. 2004 brought the first female board member and first Yonsei to the business. The tradition of excellence continues today. The new generation is committed as the first to their corporate vision: “Honoring our past, growing our future.”

Kiyo "Kay" Ueda Hiatt Farms

By OCO Tanaka Farms • 18 Jun, 1970
Kiyo (Kay) Ueda Hiatt (1926-2020) was a pioneer in the Florida Citrus Industry. She was one of the first women executives in the fresh produce business and wielded tremendous influence during her career. As one of the top sales agents of Florida citrus, she played a leading role in the tremendous growth of exports to Japan in the 1970’s to the 1990’s. Kay was a first-generation Japanese American citizen born in Fife, Washington. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Kay’s family was forced into an internment camp along with tens of thousands of other Japanese Americans. But she rose above the injustice and indignity of the long three years there to persevere and achieve success in the business world. Against great odds, she was accepted to Bucknell University soon after being released from the internment camp. After marrying Roy Hiatt, they moved to Florida where she began working at a citrus packinghouse grading fruit. Because of her insatiable appetite for learning, she queried employees in other departments at the packinghouse and gained a deep understanding about the overall operation. Soon, her curiosity paid off and she was asked to run the shipping office. That experience led to an offer to join the sales desk. In a few short years, she was promoted to sales manager. Kay was known for her keen intellect and love of language. She was a voracious reader and a talented writer. Kay was an iron-willed woman full of strength and stamina tempered by patience and self-sacrifice.

Kayano Farms Inc.

By Tommy Kayano • 21 Feb, 1970
In the late 1950’s a small farm was started in the Westminster area of Orange County, CA. It was a farm consisting of three families. it was made up of the Nakatani family, Hashiba family and the Kayano family. It was known at the time as NHK Farms. As the families grew and got older they eventually split into three separate farms, Nakatani Farms, Hashiba Farms and around 1970 Kayano Farms was started by Hajime and Noriko Kayano. Hajime’s family came from Okayama, Japan while Noriko Nakatani’s family were from Hiroshima, Japan. Coming to the United States by way of Seattle they eventually settled in Downey, CA. WWII came and they were interned in Rowher, Arkansas. Kayano Farms was based in Westminster, CA but had plots of land that they worked in Garden Grove, Stanton, and Riverside. Growing primarily leaf lettuce the operation eventually downsized and opened a roadside stand at the Westminster location. The farm and roadside stand stood until 2011 before it was permanently shutdown .

T. Ohara Farm

By Lisa Ohara • 11 May, 1968
Toyoaki Ohara was born in Japan on December 7, 1903. He came to America at the age of 16 and worked as a gardener for Fox Studios. When he saved enough money, he married Teruko Kuboyama in 1934. In the 1930s they started to grow flowers in Inglewood, CA. When WWII started they were put in a concentration camp in Rohwer, AK. When the war was over, they returned to California and had to start over. They started growing flowers in Harbor City, CA on leased land. Here they grew stock, aster, and lochspur. Toyoaki and Teruko Ohara had six children – Sachiko (Susie), Toshiaki (Tom), Yoko, Teruaki (Ted), Etsuko (Patsy), and Masaki (Roy). In 1950 the family bought some land in Orange County and started to grow chrysanthemums under cheesecloth, and later in plastic greenhouses. In 1968 brothers, Tom and Ted, bought the flower business from their dad and leased his property while they looked for their own land. In 1979 Tom and Ted bought 10 acres of land in Anaheim, CA. Here they built 250,000 sq ft of steel greenhouses and a few saran ones and grew chrysanthemums, china, pom poms, and spiders all year round. They had a side crop of stephanotises, myrtle, and ivy. Even though Tom and Ted owned the business, it was still very much a family affair. Grandma, Susie, and Barbara (Ted’s wife) worked on the farm. Grandpa and Grandma lived in a house on the property (Tom lived in a separate house on the other end). Ted took the flowers to the Southern California Flower Market three times a week. They farmed on this land until 2004 when they sold their property under imminent domain to the Orange County Water District and were forced into early retirement.

Takahashi Farms

By Faith Ishibashi • 22 Apr, 1964
Henry Takahashi graduated from Garden Grove High School and began strawberry farming in Garden Grove in 1964. A son of a farming family who grew various vegetables in Cypress, he concurred with other farmers that the most profitable crop to grow in Garden Grove, because the soil and temperature were both right, was strawberries. Not having any background in strawberries, Henry turned to Paul Murata for guidance, and within a year, Henry was a successful strawberry farmer. Henry says farming has changed through the years. As a farmer, he was not just a grower, but also a mechanic, carpenter, truck driver, horticulturist, pesticide specialist, welder, truck driver, human resource manager, accountant, and more. Henry Takahashi retired from farming in 1972 and now resides in Fullerton. The family has many stories to tell, such as actor James Colburn's mother lived over the fence ®gularly bought strawberries to give to her son. Their farming days were full of many wonderful memories.

Mitsuuchi Farms

By Marti Hosoda • 22 Apr, 1963
Strawberry farming meant a steady income for Roy and Nancy Mitsuuchi, who began farming strawberries in Santa Ana in 1963. The Mitsuuchi found that the sandy soil was ideal for strawberry farming and eventually all their farming was switched to strawberry growing. Prior to strawberries, the Mitsuuchis farmed beans, celery, cauliflower, and tomatoes. The strawberries the Mitsuuchi harvested by the efforts of family and migrant workers were sold at their stand, to various restaurants and to the co-ops.

Sakamoto Farms

By Ann Imayanagita • 22 Apr, 1961
Haruki and Shizu Sakamoto began strawberry farming in Garden Grove in 1961, while continuing to work on the Fountain Valley farm of their relatives Paul and Hatsuye Nagamatsu. The Sakamoto farm in Garden Grove was small and was handled by the family and a couple of migrant workers. For over 30 years, Teruko Shimoda drove from Los Angeles every weekend to help the family stand (see photo below). In 1977, Haruki moved to Yorba Linda and continued farming until 1995.

Kotake Farms

By John Kotake • 22 Apr, 1960
After World War II, Masajiro Kotake returned to strawberry farming in Norwalk. Over the years, Masajiro began accumulating land and expanded the strawberry farm. The height of the Kotake strawberry farming came in the early 1980s with their farms in Orange, Los Angeles, and Ventura. In 1960 the Kotake brothers joined Naturipe Berry Growers Association as charter members. Strawberries were a good source of cash income and held high retail prices at the stands. Strawberry farming provided a comfortable life for the family but farming required everyone to pitch in and help from preparing boxes with baskets to picking strawberries. Strawberries were a good “mix” as it was a “winter” month crop between the tomatoes and other crops.
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