Jugoro Ishii Poultry Ranch

Larry Ishii

Jugoro Ishii was born May 8, 1887, the third son of Hisakichi and Toku (Chiyoda) Ishii, in Karashima Tanushimaru, which is now part of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan (on the southern island of Kyushu). A second son, Tsunezou, died at age seven, leaving Kyutaro and Jugoro as the two oldest. Thus, at one point and being the oldest living sons, they had to leave the home and go out on their own.

Being the oldest, Kyutaro left Japan first and went to Hawaii. Jugoro intended to follow his older brother to the United States. But by the time Jugoro was ready, his entry into the U.S. was impeded by the Asian Exclusion laws and prejudice against Asians. But undaunted, Jugoro persisted and at first went to Mexico where he spent a few years. He finally entered the U.S. via El Paso on August 8, 1907, with a plan to join his older brother (who by this time had come to the U.S. mainland and settled in the Talbert area of Orange County, California).

Jugoro did make his way to Talbert and reunited with Kyutaro, joining with his brother in farming. In 1912, Kyutaro returned to Japan and married Sada Nakamura. Jugoro went back to Japan the following year and on October 27, 1913, married Mumeno Kanegae, who lived in Kaneshima, a neighboring village to Tanushimaru. It was almost as if Kyutaro and Jugoro worked as a sort of “tag team” returning to Japan one after the other: one seeking a wife while the other watched over the farming at home.

It is interesting to note, however, that the land that Hisakichi Ishii (their father) farmed in Japan is still owned by the family – for five generations now. Hisakichi was a rice farmer and rice is still grown on the family land today. Currently, a great granddaughter of Hisakichi, Hisami Ishii and her husband, Noriyoshi, (who had to take the “Ishii” last name) live in the Ishii home and farm the land.

By late 1918, Jugoro moved his growing family to the growing community of Norwalk in Los Angeles County. There, he rented land at what is today the well known “Five Points/Norwalk Square” area and grew sugar beets. By 1924, his family included five children: Mary, George, Frank, Lily, and John.

But Jugoro had bigger goals in mind – the American dream. He moved the family to another location in Norwalk on Carmenita Road and started a poultry ranch, selling eggs. Being a poor immigrant whose mastery of English was virtually nonexistent for his entire life, Jugoro never borrowed money to pay for anything: land, cars, homes, farm equipment, etc. He saved and paid for everything in cash. He bought the land (a bit over ten acres) on Carmenita Road but because of the laws of the time, as an Asian alien, he could not himself take title to land. Thus, he had to buy the land in the names of his American-born children who were citizens, Mary and George. (That law, incidentally, was not repealed until AFTER WWII in 1952.)

World War II was for Jugoro and his family, as it was for all West Coast people of Japanese descent, a most traumatic experience. Once he and Kyutaro realized what was going to happen, the brothers formed a plan. Jugoro found a friend to run the poultry ranch during the family’s “internment” and took his family to Talbert. That way, both families would evacuate at the same time and be at the same internment camp together – Poston, Arizona. Frank, however, was already serving in the U.S. Army and remained on active duty for the duration of the War. Upon returning to California after the War, Jugoro was very fortunate, in that the family was able to get the poultry ranch back and resume operations. Most other Japanese-American families, however, were not so fortunate.

More specifically, coming out of Poston in 1944, most of the family initially went to Colorado because they could not come back to the West Coast because the War was still in progress. According to War Relocation Authority records, as of January, 1944: Jugoro, Mumeno, and Lily were in Ft. Lupton (where Jugoro was picking sugar beets) and Mary and John in Denver (living at different locations). Frank was in still the Army located at Camp Howze, Texas. George, however, had not been living at home when the War broke out and had been sent to the internment camp at Rohwer, Arkansas. When he left camp, George went to Dayton, Ohio, trying to get employment in the aircraft industry.

The story of George Ishii is an interesting “sidebar” in and of itself. When the War broke out, he was employed as chief engineer at an aircraft manufacturer in Van Nuys, California, Philips Aviation. Obviously, he was forced to leave that job – against the fierce objections of the president of that company, James Philips. George was actually one of the pioneers in the aviation industry. He knew Bill Boeing (yes, that one) and Jack Northrup (before there was a Northrup Corporation), and Herman “Fish” Salmon, Lockheed’s lead test pilot of the time. But his career was dashed. Upon, release from Rowher, he was hired – apparently mistakenly – at a bomber modification plant in Vidalia, Ohio (near Dayton), and fired as soon as they figured out he was Japanese-American. The U.S. Army forced Northwest Airlines (who operated the plant) to fire George. Despite several letters from experts and his previous employer as to his qualifications and loyalty to the United States, he could not get employment in any aviation related job during that time. Ironically, after the war, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corp at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska.

John was drafted in January, 1945 and served in the U.S. Army with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, arriving in Italy in spring of 1945. He returned home in 1946, and initially went back to Colorado. When evacuation hit, John was in the middle of his senior year at Excelsior High School. Thus, he was not there for graduation ceremonies and, I am told, his diploma was mailed to him at Poston.

After WWII, and their discharge from the U.S. Army, both Frank and John joined with Jugoro working the poultry ranch. John raised his family in the original family house on Carmenita Road while Jugoro built a new home just down the road. The poultry ranch operated successfully until 1967 when suburban “sprawl” into the outlying areas of Los Angeles County made it too difficult to continue farming in that area but Jugoro was not to be deterred.

In 1959, Jugoro had invested $200,000 in a 40-plus acre piece of property in Oceanside – paying, as always, in cash. With the end of the poultry ranch in Norwalk, the family sold the land and formed a new corporation. This new family business entered the mobile home park community business. At first, the land was leased to parties that owned and operated Laguna Vista Mobile Home Estates on the land. Then in 2013, the family acquired Laguna Vista, completing Jugoro’s dream.

Throughout the years, the Jugoro Ishii family was an extremely close-knit family, gathering to celebrate, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and New Years Day. Including the early years with Kyutaro’s side, gathering for Thankgiving and Christmas Eve went on for over 100 years – over three generations. During their lives Jugoro and Mumemo were held in very esteem by all of the family and friends. Today, the Jugoro Ishii family still has annual reunions. And, every other year, there are reunions between the Kyutaro and Jugoro Ishii sides. Also, Auntie Kuni, is now 103, and we celebrate her birthday with gatherings that include both sides of the family. In April, 2022, Auntie Samie turned 100.

In retirement, Jugoro and Mumeno moved off the land on Carmenita to a home in a quiet neighborhood near Norwalk Park. There, they continued have a vegetable garden, fruit trees, and most importantly a koi pond. Mumeno crocheted beautiful tablecloths for her daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters and won awards for her efforts.

Jugoro passed away in August, 1976, and Mumeno in July, 1989. They were married 63 years. Their long and loving marriage served as a wonderful example: their sons were all married over fifty years: George & Mary for 58; Frank & Samie for 62, and John & Toyo for 57 years. A grandson, Larry and wife, Georganne, have been married for 53 years. Jugoro has one great grandson, Jeffrey, and two great-great grandsons, Jordan and Jaret, that carry on the “Ishii” name.

Jeffrey is a baseball scout for the St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball team and (pre-pandemic) would travel to Japan twice a season to scout players. That did enable him to sometimes make his way to Fukuoka to watch players for the Hawks or opposing teams. This also enabled Jeffrey to be in contact with certain of the Ishii relatives. Jeffrey, Jordan, and Jaret have all learned to speak Japanese and can read Japanese as well.

While Jugoro was alive, he made three only three trips back to his homeland: the first time to marry Mumeno, another in 1934 (to bring Mary back home and at which time he took John), and lastly in 1957 with Mumeno. Otherwise, contact with the family was only by written letter or later by telephone.

In recent years, our family members from California in the have been able to meet with family in the “old country” in 2017 and in 2019. Georganne Ishii, the wife of grandson, Larry, has become the genealogist and historian of the family and through her efforts, the vast majority of this history has been compiled and saved for the benefit of those living and our posterity. To this end, great thanks is due Georganne for her efforts so that this history and opportunity has not been lost.

Thankfully, we have a cousin, Masamitsu Ishii, in Japan (that fluently speaks English) that Georganne communicates with regularly and as a result, she organized three trips to Japan: in 2015 and the two mentioned above. The first meeting in 2015, was before a cruise that Georganne and Larry took at which time they met with Masamitsu and his family in Yokohama and discussed the possibility of having a reunion at a later date in Fukuoka.

In 2017, that first reunion became reality in Fukuoka at which Larry, Georganne, Karie (Ishii) Lasko (granddaughter of Jugoro), Adrienne (Lasko) Chamberlain (great granddaughter of Jugoro), Jeffrey Ishii, and Jaret Ishii met with many of the Ishii family descendants.

Then in 2019, a second and larger reunion took place also in Fukuoka at which time the following attended from California: Larry Ishii, Georganne Ishii, Karie Lasko, Nina (Martin) Nagel (granddaughter of Jugoro), Debbie (Ishii) Chiya (granddaughter of Jugoro), and Candace Chiya (great granddaughter of Jugoro). Attending from the Kyutaro side were: Donna (Ishii) Chiamori (granddaughter of Kyutaro); Erin (Chiamori) Takemoto (great granddaughter of Kyutaro) and husband, Mark; Erin’s daughters, Emiko and Megumi (great great granddaughters of Kyutaro); Andrea (Chiamori) Arakawa (great granddaughter of Kyutaro) and husband, Tatsumi; Andrea’s sons, Keiren, Kojorio, and Keizo (great great grandsons of Kyutaro); Anthony Ishii (grandson of Kyutaro) and wife, Jeanette; Michael Ishii (great grandson of Kyutaro) and his fiance, Sky Shields.

Jugoro was well respected and known in the community. I remember very old family friends. There were the Franciosi’s that grew flowers and lived across Carmenita from the poultry ranch. There were the Pellitier’s who lived north of the poultry ranch on Carmenita. So close were the families that we called the elderly Mrs. Pellitier “Grandma” Pellitier. Then there were the Tripepi’s who had the car wash in town. When the new Norwalk City Hall was opened, Jugoro had his name on a plaque as a contributor to its building.

Jugoro and Mumeno could not have imagined what their legacy would eventually be nor what they would leave behind for the generations that would follow. It has been a truly amazing story – the American Dream!

Jugoro Ishii Family: Jugoro standing, Mumeno sitting; children from left: Mary, John (in Mumeno's lap), Lily, Frank, George

Jugoro Ishii Farm House, Carmenita Road, Norwalk, California; c. 1930

Ishii rice fields, Japan: from left: Masamitsu Ishii, Noriyoshi Ishii, Georganne Ishii, Hisami Ishii, Adienne Chamberlain, Karie Lasko

Kyutaro and Jugoro Ishii Combined Family Reunion, 2017 in Anaheim, California

Ishii Family Reunion in Fukuoka, Japan in 2017

Ishii family crest (mon) on headstone at family cemetery in Tanushimaru village

Aerial view of Jugoro Ishii poultry ranch (taken in early 1960's)

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

By Ellen Crane • April 30, 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

April 29, 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.”

Nawa Farm

By Jane Bongiorno • May 20, 1985
In September 1903 at the age of 23 years, Juichi Nawa, the eldest son of nine siblings, left Gifu, Japan for America, arriving in San Francisco he worked for several years and by 1911 saved enough money to purchase ten acres of farmland in Norwalk, California. At the age of 19, Sakaye Okawa, one of eight siblings left Wakayama, Japan for America to marry Juichi in a marriage arranged by family and friends. On the Norwalk property they grew oranges, vegetables and raised chickens for eggs. They had four children, Jimmy, Mary, Stella and Jiro. Juichi and Sakaye were active in starting the Norwalk Gakuen, now the Southeast Japanese School Community Center in Norwalk. Life changed suddenly in April 1942 when the U.S. Department of Justice identified Juichi as a dangerous enemy alien and was detained at the Tuna Canyon Detention Center, Tujunga, California. In May 1942, unknown to his family he was transferred to the DOJ Internment Camp in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In August Juichi was reunited with his family at the Santa Anita Assembly Center and in September the Nawa family was transported to the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas. Fortunately after the war ended the Nawa family was able to return to the Norwalk property. Starting over, they farmed and egg production became the primary family business again. Eventually, egg production gave way to a successful wholesale nursery business that lasted for many years. In 1977 the land was sold and within the residential area built on the property a street was named Nawa Lane.

Nakagawa Family Farm

By Kerry Yo Nakagawa • May 20, 1985
Our Jichan Hisataro Nakagawa immigrated from Nukushina, Hiroshima, Japan to Olaa, ( Big Island, Hawaii ), when he was fourteen years old. He worked at the Kaiwiki Sugar Cane Company and in 1886, moved to the mainland of Bowles, CA. He obtained twenty acres of wine grapes. Hisataro, his wife Sasayo, sons Johnny and Dyna would run the farm from the turn of the century to the 1960’s. During WWII, The Nakagawa family entrusted their farm to neighbors and friends Jeppe and Alma Raven during their 'incarceration' at Jerome, Arkansas. After the war the Ravens picked up the Nakagawa’s from the train station and brought them back to their home and farm. Jeppe Raven gave our Jichan ( Grandfather ), Hisataro a cigar box. Inside was filled with the cash profits the farm made for four years! Not only did the Raven work the farm, they gave them back the profits too! Baseball has been in the Nakagawa family for five generations and Uncle Johnny was the Shohei Ohtani of the 1920's and 1930's. We feel very blessed to come from 'Earth People,' Baseball Ambassadors and great family cooks. Aloha and Mahalo Nui Loa from the Nakagawa family!

Hoshino Farm

By Hitochi Morimoto • May 20, 1983
Like so many new arrivals of Japanese immigrants to the West Coast of the United States in the early 1900’s, Tomejiro and Kino Hoshino were no exception. Japan had sapped most its wealth financing the Sino-Russian war of 1904-1905. The rural and farming community suffered the most. Therefore, the Japanese government encouraged “kuchi herashi” (reducing mouths) and assisted these folks to immigrate to North America, South America and Hawaii for better opportunities. Tomejiro Hoshino, born 5/15/1887 in Sobue-cho, Aichi-Ken, left home and arrived with his older brother and his older brother’s friend in Mexico on 11/17/1906. When they came upon the Rio Grande River, the older two built a raft, enabling Tomejiro to cross into the United States as he could not swim. After struggling along the West Coast, Tomejiro found a job as a farmer in Elk Grove, California, and settled there. On 3/29/1915, he was able to send for his fiancee Kino Hattori to join him. The following year his first child Sakiko was born on 6/6/1916. In 1926, Tomejiro and Kino were able to purchase 20 acres located at Route 2, Box 2408, Elk Grove, Sacramento County, California, for $12,800 under their first-born daughter’s name (American citizen). This property consisted of a house, a warehouse, 8 acres of fruit trees, 2 acres of grapes and 10 acres of working fields. In 1939, registered owner of the land was transferred to their eldest son Jack Hoshino. That same year Jack entered the U.S. Army, and his sister Michi was given power of attorney. When war broke out in 1941, the entire family was sent to the concentration camp at Manzanar. The Hoshino property was left in the care of a neighboring farmer, but the annual property tax of $300 accumulated to $1,200 in 3 years. Unable to pay the tax, in 1943, the family had to let go of the farm for $4,100, one third of what they paid 17 years earlier in 1926. In 1951 upon his release from the Army, Jack sought compensation under a newly created law and received $2,500, a mere moral bandaid. Seven of Tomejiro and Kino’s children settled in Southern California with Jack being the exception, who elected to remain in Sturgis, South Dakota, where his army career ended. They all fondly remember the farming days. Though the work was hard and the world was cold and left bitter memories, the experience and discipline learned on the farm became a good foundation upon which to build their own families. None in the Hoshino family went into the agriculture field after the war. Elk Grove, where the Hoshino farm was located, has now become partially residential. That 20 acres purchased in 1926 for $12,800 is now valued around a million dollars. Yes, the prejudiced, unjust and uninformed did not help the Hoshinos during the Tomejiro-Kino era. All the descendants of the family feel very grateful for the sacrifices made by them and for the lives we enjoy today. Let us always remember! Now, it is our time to lend a helping hand to others toward creating a more just world.

Farms of Ichitaro and son Kaneo Makishima

By Julie Yamashita • May 20, 1983
Ichitaro Makishima sailed from Iwakuni, Yamaguchi-ken, Japan in 1896 at age 17 to work on a sugar cane plantation. But when he witnessed whippings, he ran away. Sixteen years later he was settled in Sacramento, California, and his mother sent him a bride. Twenty-year-old Yoneyo Makishima arrived in 1913. Ichitaro started a general store, and the family lived in a boarding house in town, but Yoneyo contracted tuberculosis so doctors told Ichitaro to move to the country. That is when they started farming, about 1925. They grew strawberries, tomatoes and lettuce on 18 acres of leased land in the Florin area of Sacramento. The farm included a house and a dormitory for a seasonal crew of as many as 15 men. Yoneyo did all the cooking for her large family and the crew, and all nine children worked in the fields. When the family was evacuated in May 1942, they locked their belongings in the chicken coop. They were at Tule Lake until 1945. After camp the current tenants refused to return their belongings. Most of the family then worked as sharecroppers in Woodland. Everyone pooled their money to buy 12 acres of farmland in Rio Linda, CA, but they were not able to live as a family again. Eldest son Kaneo ran the farm and mostly grew strawberries. Ichitaro left the farm in 1955, and Kaneo sold the farm in about 1973.

Uyeda and Kudo Farms

By Elayne Shiohama • May 20, 1982
Story as told by Elayne Shiohama and extended family: In 1917, Sanzo Uyeda sailed from Chikushino, Fukuoka-ken, Japan to San Francisco seeking a better future for him and his wife, Wasa, née Kawaguchi. He found work on a Caucasian family’s farm in Cutler, California. Wasa and Sanzo had two girls and two boys, starting with Mitsue, my dad Nobuo (later named Jimmie by a neighbor who couldn’t pronounce Nobuo), born June 17, 1921, then Kimiye, and lastly, Joe. As a youngster, my dad accompanied his father in many trades, including truck farming and running a pool hall in Lindsay. They farmed the area until WWII, 1941. Sanzo was torn away from the family when the FBI sent him to a prison camp in Santa Fe, New Mexico due to his membership in a kendo club. The daughters, married with families of their own, were interned, but Dad took his mother and little brother to Brigham, Utah. He worked on a sugar beet farm, in a cannery, cut the leather jackets for the US Bomber pilots, and also learned the building trade. Auntie Kimiye married a flower rancher and resided in San Diego County. Upon release of the internees, the Uyedas returned to California in 1946. Although faced with discrimination, Dad and Grandpa eventually found work in the building trade. Dad married my mom in 1947. She grew up on a tomato farm in Pomona. When Sanzo retired, he and Wasa moved to Lucerne Valley where his sons built a home. Two hours away from family, the ever busy Sanzo, built a koi pond and Japanese garden and grew Asian pears (nashi), for the Los Angeles markets for 15 years. He built a small “reservoir” but told the grandkids it was their swimming pool. He added a packing shed, refrigeration and taught Wasa, who never learned to drive a car, to drive the tractor. Stricken with cancer, Sanzo returned with Wasa to LA, where he passed away in 1976. Wasa remained in LA until her death circa 1986.

Kiyo "Kay" Ueda Hiatt Farms

By Cynthia Benedetto • June 18, 1980
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.

Higashi Farm

By OCO Tanaka Farms • May 20, 1979
“Mr. Higashi was a farmer. He saw the wide prairies filled with waving grasses dotted with wildflowers. He decided it was the perfect place for a harvest of happiness.” So begins the story of the Higashi Family Farm in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Shiichi “Sam” Higashi immigrated from Hiroshima, Japan, to western South Dakota with his brother, Sanichi “Tom” Higashi, around 1916. They discovered the area after working during the sugar beet harvest. Sam returned to Japan to marry Kiwano, and after a short partnership with Tom and his family in Belle Fourche, SD, Sam and Kiwano moved to rented land in Spearfish, SD. Their children Clarence, Kenny, Mae, Jean, and Lily helped with planting and harvesting, providing the surrounding community with produce. Kiwano was widely known for her ability to raise strong, healthy greenhouse seedlings in the spring despite the frigid northern climate. Unfortunately, Sam passed away in 1940, but Kiwano and the children kept the truck farm going, raising sugar beets, cabbages, potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, and other vegetables. During WWII, Kenny enlisted in the military so that the family would be permitted to remain on the farm rather than face internment. From 1942-1946, he served in the 100th/442nd RCT, the only American of Japanese Ancestry from South Dakota in that unit. Clarence and Kenny eventually purchased the property, allowing Kiwano to remain in the family home until her death in 1978. Though the acreage is smaller, family members still reside there today. In total, the Higashi Farm operated for over 50 years. (Quotes and illustrations used with permission from the children’s book, “A Place for Harvest: The Story of Kenny Higashi”, by Lauren R. Harris, illustrated by Felicia Hoshino, copyright South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2022. www.SDHSPress.com)
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