Mie Gakure: Discovering Nikkei Gardeners and their Communities

Mie Gakure: Discovering Nikkei Gardeners and their Communities

Tak, Herb, Sam & Mako Omoto; gardeners; Los Angeles & Seattle (Omoto brothers)
Tak, Herb, Sam, and Mako Omoto are four Kibei brothers, all who worked as full-time gardeners with their own routes. One is based in Seattle, Washington. The other three work/worked in the Los Angeles, California area.
Their personal story is shared by their niece Vicky Murakami-Tsuda. View the original item to read more.
--
Pictured are my mother’s four brothers: Tak, Herb, Sam, and Mako Omoto. All four are/were Kibei gardeners with their own routes. One uncle lives in Seattle. The other three had/have routes in the Los Angeles area. This photo looks like it’s probably from the early 1970s, probably in Los Angeles.
My grandmother had eight children—four boys & four girls. Of the two girls, two of their husbands also worked in gardening, making six gardeners in the immediate family. If you look at any of their yards, although they’re all fairly neatly kept, none of them are very elaborate. My Uncle Mako said once that he worked hard all day caring for other people’s yards, so he’d rather spend his free time doing other things.
- Vicky Murakami-Tsuda, Los Angeles, California

Hideo Wataguchi; gardener; Los Angeles (Hideo Wataguchi mowing lawn in Leimert Park)
Hideo Wataguchi is a Kibei originally from Northern California, but resides in Los Angeles.
The Southern California neighborhood that he lives in was developed by Japanese Americans in the post-war era. Although less than fifty percent of the homes are owned by Japanese Americans now, it's past history is still very apparent. Most of the newer owners have chosen to keep the Japanese-style gardens created by the original residents. Hideo and another Japanese American gardener still live on the same street and maintain many of the yards in the area.
His personal story was shared with the exhibition team as part of the research documentation. View the original item to read more.
--
Hideo Wataguchi working on his route in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Photograph by Shane Sato. 2007.
Hideo is a Kibei born in Northern California. He returned to the United States from Japan in the 1950s. The Southern California neighborhood that he lives in was developed by Japanese Americans in the post-war era. Although less than fifty percent of the homes are owned by Japanese Americans now, its past history is still very apparent. Most of the newer owners have chosen to keep the Japanese-style gardens created by the original residents. Hideo and another Japanese American gardener still live on the same street and maintain many of the yards in the area.
This photograph was taken in conjunction with the exhibition, Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden, at the Japanese American National Museum from June 17 - October 21, 2007. His personal story was shared with the exhibition team as part of the research documentation.

Tom Yutani - Part 4; weed expert; California (Landscaping America Opening: Tom Yutani - Part 4)
Tom talks about collecting weeds for his research.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Tom Yutani
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: Tom is considered one of the foremost experts on the subject of weeds. He wrote the book, Garden Weeds of Southern California, now in its 9th printing.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Tom speaks about collecting weeds for his research.
Transcription
I collected 300 weeds in Southern California. So, they say weed killer doesn’t kill all the weeds. Certain family, it kill, certain family, doesn’t work. So, I know the weeds, a collection. I have a book published, 300 weeds, Southern California.
See part 1, part 2 and part 3 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

Tom Yutani - Part 3; weed expert; California (Landscaping America Opening: Tom Yutani - Part 3)
Tom explains how he dealt with a persistent problem impacting his roses.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Tom Yutani
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: Tom is considered one of the foremost experts on the subject of weeds. He wrote the book, Garden Weeds of Southern California, now in its 9th printing.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Tom explains his method of killing weeds.
Transcription
There was a bug called trips-was damaging the flower-and a chemical called nicotine. Once a week, nothing. Twice a week [gestures], three times a week, [gestures]. So, I used to, I told my boss to get a big tank and pump the weeds. I used to spray three times a week. I used to raise the best roses in the San Francisco area.
See part 1, part 2 and part 4 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

Tom Yutani - Part 2; weed expert; California (Landscaping America Opening: Tom Yutani - Part 2)
Tom explains how he came to grow roses in San Francisco.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Tom Yutani
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: Tom is considered one of the foremost experts on the subject of weeds. He wrote the book, Garden Weeds of Southern California, now in its 9th printing.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Tom explains how he came to grow roses in San Francisco.
Transcription
When I came back from camp, that’s the first job I had to do. But, in Japan I was at agriculture school and I had an elementary school teaching certificate. Then I came to the United States. Then, I became a commercial rose grower. I used to raise the best roses in San Francisco area. My rose was number one in United States.
See part 1, part 3 and part 4 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

Tom Yutani - Part 1; weed expert; California (Landscaping America Opening: Tom Yutani - Part 1)
Tom explains the meaning of his name.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Tom Yutani
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: Tom is considered one of the foremost experts on the subject of weeds. He wrote the book, Garden Weeds of Southern California, now in its 9th printing.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Tom explains the meaning of his name.
Transcription
Yutani is a family name. Toshimasa is my name. But you write in a character – has a lot of meaning – “Toshi” is longevity. I’m 100 years old. “Masa” means prosperity. [laughs]
See part 2, part 3 and part 4 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

Takashige & Kimiko Kikuchi - Part 4; nursery owners; Culver City, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Steven Kikuchi - Part 4)
Steven Kikuchi explains how his mother was just as hard of a worker in the family gardening business as his father was.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Steven Kikuchi
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His parents, Takashige and Kimiko Kikuchi, owned a retail nursery called TK Garden Supply. His father also was a full-time gardener.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Steven explains how his mother was just as hard of a worker in the family gardening business as his father was.
Transcription
She, when my father was out gardening, five to six days a week and doing landscaping sometimes, my mother would run the business, and would interact with all the customers and became very knowledgeable in the nursery business. And, although I would never say this to them, she probably knew more about plants and the nursery business than my father. But, when I was going to school of landscape architecture, I would come home on the weekends and help out a little bit at the nursery and talk to my mother about plants and plant types.
See part 1, part 2 and part 3 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Takashige & Kimiko Kikuchi - Part 3; nursery owners; Culver City, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Steven Kikuchi - Part 3)
Steven Kikuchi explains how he is still involved in the gardening sphere.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Steven Kikuchi
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His parents, Takashige and Kimiko Kikuchi, owned a retail nursery called TK Garden Supply. His father also was a full-time gardener.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Steven explains how he is still involved in the gardening sphere.
Transcription
Right now, I’m a landscape architect. And I think, even though I hated the gardening aspect, I think there was a subconscious influence that made me knowledgeable and interested in that profession. So I went to school, and I’m now a landscape architect.
See part 1, part 2 and part 4 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

Takashige & Kimiko Kikuchi - Part 2; nursery owners; Culver City, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Steven Kikuchi - Part 2)
Steven Kikuchi remembers the heat and hard work involved in gardening with his father.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Steven Kikuchi
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His parents, Takashige and Kimiko Kikuchi, owned a retail nursery called TK Garden Supply. His father also was a full-time gardener.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Steven remembers the heat and hard work involved in gardening with his father.
Transcription
I have a brother and a sister and I’m the youngest. Probably like a lot of Sansei children, we hated gardening, especially in Los Angeles. It was very hot, a lot of hard work, long hours. And then, when we weren’t helping out gardening, we also had to help out in the nursery as well. So, it was a lot of hard work. And, I think it was only it only into my latter years of life that I appreciated the hard work that my father did that was able to support us as a family.
See part 1, part 3 and part 4 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Takashige & Kimiko Kikuchi - Part 1; nursery owners; Culver City, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Steven Kikuchi - Part 1)
Steven Kikuchi discusses how his father purchased the property to start TK Garden Supply.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Steven Kikuchi
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His parents, Takashige and Kimiko Kikuchi, owned a retail nursery called TK Garden Supply. His father also was a full-time gardener.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Steven discusses how his father purchased the property to start TK Garden Supply.
Transcription
My name is Steven Kikuchi. And, I’m the son of Tom. His nickname was Tom, his Japanese name is Takashige Kikuchi. And, my father and my mother, Kimiko Kikuchi, co-owned a nursery, a retail nursery, called TK Garden Supply in Culver City. And, at the same time my father was a full time gardener for most of his life. The opportunity came up for him to buy a piece of property and start a nursery. I remember that being a very exciting part of his life.
See part 2, part 3 and part 4 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

Harry & Frank Yonemura - Part 3; ABC Nursery; Gardena, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Harry Yonemura - Part 3)
Harry Yonemura remembers when he used to help his father with the nursery in their greenhouse.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Harry Yonemura
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father, Frank Yonemura, began the ABC Nursery in 1934, which Harry continues to operate.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Harry remembers when he used to help his father with gardening inside their greenhouse.
Transcription
During the winter times, I could remember spending my two weeks of Christmas vacation inside the greenhouse getting my hands all cut up because of – I was having to grab through all these grafting things. So it was by either verbal or complete demonstration on his part that I learned some of these things.
See part 1 and part 2 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

Harry Yonemura - Part 2; ABC Nursery; Gardena, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Harry Yonemura - Part 2)
Harry Yonemura speaks of his hopes to eventually retire now that his son has become involved in the nursery business.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Harry Yonemura
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father, Frank Yonemura, began the ABC Nursery in 1934, which Harry continues to operate.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Harry speaks of his hopes to retire!
Transcription
I’m second generation and my son Eric now is involved on a day to day basis as well, so he’d be a third generation. So, I’m looking forward to that, and looking forward to maybe him taking more and more of my responsibilities so I can retire. [laughs with interviewer.]
See part 1 and part 3 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

Harry & Frank Yonemura - Part 1; ABC Nursery; Gardena, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Harry Yonemura - Part 1)
Harry Yonemura shares how his family nursery, ABC Nursery, was started in 1934 by his father Frank.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Harry Yonemura
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father, Frank Yonemura, began the ABC Nursery in 1934, which Harry continues to operate.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: Harry discusses how his family nursery, ABC Nursery, was started.
Transcription
Well, my name is Harry Yonemora, and, my involvement is with the family nursery. My father began in 1934. He began his own place, and that was in Gardena. So, ABC Nursery was started in 1934. My dad was very very instrumental in teaching in various things regarding horticulture and things like that.
See part 2 and part 3 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

John Kabashima - Part 3; horticultural advisor; Los Angeles, CA (Landscaping America Opening: John Kabashima - Part 3)
John discusses the work ethic of the Japanese American gardener.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: John Kabashima
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father owned Sunnyview Nursery in Crenshaw. John is now the horticulture advisor for the University of California.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: John discusses the work ethic of the Japanese American gardener.
Transcription
What I always remember about the gardeners is they worked so hard. They would work; we would come and open up the store at 6:30 in the morning. They would be lined up, waiting, because they wanted to get to work. And we’d close at 6:30 at night, and they’d still be coming in. And some of them, the stories are that many of them worked by lantern at night sometimes, just to make enough money so they could take that money and provide for their children and give them things they didn’t have.
See part 1 and part 2 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.

John Kabashima - Part 2; horticultural advisor; Los Angeles, CA (Landscaping America Opening: John Kabashima - Part 2)
John discusses the real community feel of the Japanese American community in the United States.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: John Kabashima
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father owned Sunnyview Nursery in Crenshaw. John is now the horticulture advisor for the University of California.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: John discusses the real community feel of the Japanese American community in the United States.
Transcription
In retrospect, talking to people as I traveled, everybody talks about the lack of community in the United States, and especially in the urban areas like Los Angeles. I tell them, “you know when I grew up, the Japanese American communities were really communities.” And, we all knew each other. We knew each other’s families. When I was a kid, we’d ride our bicycles, and take off, and we’d go what we thought was far enough away that nobody would know us, and then we’d get home and we were always up to some kind of prank. And, by the time I got home, my parents would know what I did. And, we’d be in trouble. It was just a wonderful place to grow up when I was a young person.
See part 1 and part 3 or this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
John Kabashima - Part 1; horticultural advisor; Los Angeles, CA (Landscaping America Opening: John Kabashima - Part 1)
John explains how his father broke into the gardening industry and started his retail nursery, Sunnyview Nursery.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: John Kabashima
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father owned Sunnyview Nursery in Crenshaw. John is now the horticulture advisor for the University of California.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Description: John explains how his father broke into the gardening industry and started his retail nursery, Sunnyview Nursery.
Transcription
My name is John Kabashima. And, I actually grew up in the Crenshaw district, in the Jefferson area, and my family actually came back to California from Rowher, Arkansas in 1950. And my father had grown up in Venice, worked with Venice salary, and graduated from USC before the war, and when he came back, he had four kids with him that he didn’t have when he left. So, instead of pursuing his career in law or a diplomatic core, he decided he better do something to feed the family, so he actually started gardening. He actually started a retail nursery in the Crenshaw district. Sunnyview Nursery.
See part 2 and part 3 of this article.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Hoshiko & Richard Yamaguchi - Part 3; Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery; Sanger, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Richard Yamaguchi - Part 3)
Richard explains the beauty of a tree from the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Richard Yamaguchi
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His mother, Hoshiko Yamaguchi, started the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Richard explains the beauty of a tree from the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
Transcription
It's amazing how many people that actually love that type of trees that are shaped already. Our trees are already shaped, ready to go. They're maintained. Once customers buy our trees, all they have to do is just maintain it. So, they're beautiful - you have to actually see them to appreciate it.
See part 1 and part 2 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Hoshiko & Richard Yamaguchi - Part 2; Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery; Sanger, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Richard Yamaguchi - Part 2)
Richard describes the trees of the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Richard Yamaguchi
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His mother, Hoshiko Yamaguchi, started the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Richard describes the trees of the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
Transcription
It's just a labor of love that my mother started, and we continue to grow. It's a hobby that kind of got out of hand. We had to start a business in order to let the trees grow. The oldest ones we have are about 51 years old, and they vary in size from 4 feet up to 10, 12 feet tall.
See part 1 and part 3 of this interview.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Hoshiko & Richard Yamaguchi - Part 1; Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery; Sanger, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Richard Yamaguchi - Part 1)
Richard speaks of how his mother, Hoshiko Yamaguchi, began planting the seeds that would eventually become the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Richard Yamaguchi
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His mother, Hoshiko Yamaguchi, started the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Richard speaks of how his mother began planting the seeds that would eventually become the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
Transcription
My name is Richard Yamaguchi. I'm from - I actually live in Clovis, California. The nursery, the Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery is in Sanger. And, that was started in 1956 when my mother went back to Japan to visit her parents. My grandfather had sent the tane, or the seeds, over from Owaji Island off of Osaka, Japan and those seeds - my mother started planting them in 1956 and that's how the nursery got started. To this day, we still have the nursery.
See part 2 and part 3 of this interview.
___________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Ray & Tom Yutani - Part 2; gardener; Los Angeles (Landscaping America Opening: Ray Yutani - Part 2)
Ray explains how he is both a physician and a Japanese gardener.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Ray Yutani
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father, Tom Yutani, was a gardener. He and his brothers helped him with his work. Tom Yutani is also an expert on Southern California weeds.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Ray explains how he is both a physician and a Japanese gardener
Transcription
I have good memories of working in the yards of—that he landscaped in. And I still consider myself a Japanese gardener and I enjoy working in the garden right now, my own garden. So, as a personal gardener I go to my daughter’s place and I’m their Japanese gardener too. So, I guess it’s in the blood, even though I’m a physician, gardening is in my blood and I think it’s a tradition I’m keeping up right now.
Click here for part 1 of this interview >>
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Ray & Tom Yutani - Part 1; gardener; Los Angeles (Landscaping America Opening: Ray Yutani - Part 1)
Ray discusses his father's (Tom Yutani) beginnings as a gardener, and admits that helping his father garden was fun.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Ray Yutani
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father, Tom Yutani, was a gardener. He and his brothers helped him with his work. Tom Yutani is also an expert on Southern California weeds.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Ray discusses his father’s beginnings as a gardener, and admits that helping his father garden was fun
Transcription
You know, I was nine years old when he started into gardening. We came out from Detroit, having relocated there after the—going out of the camp. And, he promised he would never work for anybody else but himself. And, of course, there’s not many things you can do on a shoestring budget, but of course gardening was one of those things. If you had a dependable car or truck, inexpensive tools and enough for a lawnmower, you can—you know with hard work and dedication you can start—that’s why he started out with the gardening and he did it for quite a few years. He was lucky that he had three sons, I’m number two son, and he was able to—we helped him out. For us it was fun, you know but it was—it helped him out in his gardening.
Click here for part 2 of this interview >>
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Sanezumi Nagano; gardener; Los Angeles (Landscaping America Opening: Joe Nagano)
Joe Nagano talks about his father Sanezumi.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Joe Nagano
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father, Sanezumi Nagano, was a gardener. He helped his father with his work
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Joe reveals the Japanese American secret!
Transcription
My father began about 1925, and soon after that UCLA was being built, and the UCLA Westwood community was really growing. Um, there was a lot of work for gardeners, landscaping people and things like that. My father had a model T and no power machines, no power mowers, no clippers and things like that. So, I had to do it all by hand, and that's one of the reasons the Japanese Americans were very strong and really wonderful athletes. [laughs] That was one of our secrets. [laughs]
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
George & Hankichi Wakiji - Part 2; gardeners; Alta Dena, CA (Landscaping America Opening: George Wakiji - Part 2)
George explains why we he believes we should be thankful to the gardeners who came before us.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: George Wakiji
Relationship to Japanese gardeners: He and his father, Hankichi Wakiji, were both gardeners
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: George explains why we he believes we should be thankful to the gardeners who came before us.
Transcription
Without gardening, I don't think the Japanese would be able to - the Japanese Americans would have been able to exist, because, you think about it, they were gardeners, and my two sisters became domestic workers, and that's the only kind of jobs that were available at that time. So, I think that we owe a debt of gratitude to our parents and to the older Nisei.
Click here for part 1 of this interview >>
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
George & Hankichi Wakiji - Part 1; gardener; Alta Dena, CA (Landscaping America Opening: George Wakiji - Part 1)
George explains how gardening has changed over the years.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: George Wakiji
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: He and his father, Hankichi Wakiji, were both gardeners
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: George explains how gardening has changed over the years
Transcription
So, I used to go on my bicycle on Saturdays to go gardening, and I had a number of jobs in a place called Alta Dena. And so, in those days, you know, I didn't have to worry about tools. The customer had the tools there. So, I would just go to do the work there, cut the lawn - not power mower - just hand mower. So, that was the way we used to do it in those days.
Click here for part 2 of this interview >>
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Khan Komai - Part 2; nursery owner; Los Angeles (Landscaping America Opening: Chris Komai - Part 2)
Chris Komai shares how in order for his family business to succeed, he and his siblings had to help his father, Khan Komai, with the nursery business.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Chris Komai
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father, Khan Komai, was a nursery owner
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: In order for his family business to succeed, Chris and his siblings had to help his father with the nursery business.
Transcription
Like most Japanese American families, my father needed his children, my two brothers and my sister, to all help at the nursery. So we were required to work at this retail nursery. It was called Komai Bonsai Nursery, but it was really a retail nursery. And, as children, we all had to work in the nursery watering plants, cutting cans, lifting up steer manure and putting it in people's trunks. All the kinds of, of not very much fun jobs. But, this was required for our family to succeed.
Click here for part 1 of this interview >>
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Khan Komai - Part 1; nursery owner; Los Angeles (Landscaping America Opening: Chris Komai - Part 1)
Chris Komai discusses how Khan Komai, his father, first learned about the art of Bonsai, a talent that would later enable him to establish the Komai Bonsai Nursery.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Chris Komai
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father, Kahn Komai, was a nursery owner
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Chris discusses how his father first learned about the art of Bonsai, a talent that would later enable him to establish the Komai Bonsai Nursery.
Transcription
Originally, my father had learned the art of Bonsai, or miniature trees, from my mother's uncle. My mother's uncle was a man named Frank Nagata, and Frank Nagata was among those who started the original California Bonsai Society in the early 1950's. When our family had to go to camp in Amache, Colorado, Frank Nagata was there and I think that's when he talked to my father about the idea of teaching Bonsai to Americans. In order to even make this happen, though, my father had to run a retail nursery for many many years, before he was able to build a classroom on his property and begin getting clients.
Click here for part 2 of this interview >>
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Dexter & Frank Nishiyama; gardeners; Pasadena & Orange County (Landscaping America Opening: Dexter Nishiyama)
Dexter Nishiyama thanks his father Frank for introducing him to gardening, a hobby and career that led him to become the Orange County Gardener's Association's youngest president.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Dexter Nishiyama
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: He and his father, Frank Nishyama, are/were both gardeners
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Dexter thanks his father for introducing him to gardening, a hobby and career that led him to become the Orange County Gardener's Association's youngest president.
Transcription
My name is Dexter Nishiyama, and I was the Orange County Gardener's Association's youngest president back in 1985. I served two years, and my father was a gardener. His name was Frank, and he was with Crown City Gardeners for the longest time. I remember the picnics and working with him, and just wanted to thank him for stirring me to be a gardener, because I didn't have anything else to do. [laughs] So, thanks dad.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Masatoshi & Teizo Matsunaga - Part 1; gardeners; Los Angeles (Landscaping America Opening: Masatoshi Matsunaga - Part 1)
Masatoshi Matsunaga explains when his father first became a gardener.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Masatoshi Matsunaga
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: He and his father Teizo Matsunaga are/were both gardeners
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Masatoshi explains when his father first became a gardener
Transcription
My father's name is Teizo Matsunaga. My name is Masatoshi Matsunaga. He originally started off as a farmer, according to family history. And as - I don't know how he got into gardening, but I guess after the third child was born I think he wanted to move into the city. Either in the late, late 1900's, 1929 or early 1930's, he probably started. And he was working in Los Angeles.
Click here for part 2 of this interview >>
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Masatoshi & Teizo Matsunaga - Part 2; gardeners; Los Angeles (Landscaping America Opening: Masatoshi Matsunaga - Part 2)
Masatoshi discusses the benefits of being a gardener.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Masatoshi Matsunaga
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: He and his father Teizo Matsunaga are/were both gardeners
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Masatoshi discusses the benefits of being a gardener
Transcription
I went into gardening because I just got out of the service and that's - that's in, I think I started in 1965. So, right after I got out of the army, so you know - I really didn't go into gardening just because I loved it. It was just a job that I had to do, I guess.
Helped put my kids through school. I guess I have a little bit of the old ni-issei tradition. Meaning to say I guess, a lot of my father - his goals was to send his children to school, and I think I've accomplished that, so I think it helped. Plus, my wife worked quite a bit. I could say it was a very good living. We didn't make a lot of money, but I had enough money to - we gave them an education anyway. So, that's one thing I'm happy about.
Click here for part 1 of this interview >>
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
George Nakaba; gardener; San Fernando Valley, CA (Landscaping America Opening: Ken Nakaba)
Ken Nakaba speaks about his father, George Nakaba, who was a Japanese American gardener. He discusses George's creativity and need to express himself through gardening.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Kenneth Nakaba
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: His father, George Nakaba, was a gardener
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Ken explains his father's creativity, and how he expressed himself through the small gardens he would create.
Transcript:
My name’s Ken Nakaba and my father’s name was George Nakaba. He was a gardener in the San Fernando Valley. Growing up as a gardener’s son, I of course helped him every Saturday, anything to get out of going to Japanese school.
Let’s see, I guess I did remember, as a child growing up, living in the Valley, he would always have this need to express himself in some way so he would build this little garden in the back. But I guess he was kind of a modernist in that he kind of made this Japanese garden out of found materials. I remember he made a lantern, looked like a stone lantern, only it was made out of an upside down barbeque dish with legs that I don’t know where he found them. And, so I guess his sort of creative need was expressed in these various little gardens that he would do. But it’s funny, he never really forced it on anybody else; he just kind of did it in his own backyard. And he also liked to grow bamboo, so we had a backyard full of bamboo. Anyway, that’s probably good. [laughs]
That’s one story that I can recall, other than the fact that he used to collect things. Sometimes he’d use them in his garden to create something out of it, but mostly, it was just collecting stuff.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Mabel Jingu Enkoji; Japanese Tea Garden; San Antonio, TX (Landscaping America Opening: Mabel Jingu Enkoji)
Mabel Jingu Enkoji was born at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio, Texas. She discusses her relationship to the garden, as well as the garden's name changes.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Mabel Jingu Enkoji
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: She was born at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio, Texas.
Date: July 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Mabel was born at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio, Texas, and speaks about the garden's name changes throughout history.
Transcript:
My name is Mabel Jingu Enkoji. I was born in San Antonio, Texas at the Japanese Tea Garden in 1925. I had six sisters and two brothers, and my mother and father living there. My father developed a tea business and we lived at the tea garden from the early 1900s until the war started in 1942. Well, actually '41, but we were evicted by the city in 1942. It became named as the Chinese Tea Garden from the Japanese Tea Garden during the war and then after the war, the mayor, Cisneros, renamed the garden back to Japanese Tea Garden, and we were invited back for the renaming.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Koichi Tsunoda; gardener; Los Angeles (Landscaping America Opening: Helen Sperber)
This interview, and those that follow, was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
Here, Helen Sperber speaks about her father, Koichi Tsunoda, who was a Japanese American gardener in Los Angeles, California. Helen discusses fond memories of her father and the times they shared together.
To read the transcripts, please view the original item.
--
Interviewee: Helen Sperber
Relationship to Nikkei gardeners: Her father is Koichi Tsunoda
Date: June 17, 2007
Location: Japanese American National Museum
Brief Summary: Helen Sperber reminisces about her experiences with her father, Koichi Tsunoda, a Nikkei gardener. She discusses the memories she has of watching her father work, and of helping her father work.
Transcript:
Hi, I’m talking about my dad, Koichi Tsunoda. He was in the Tule Lake relocation camp, where I was born. When we came back out here, he was a farmer, and then when we moved to Los Angeles, he became a gardener.
What I can remember is everyday my mom would make a lunch for him in his little lunchbox and packed his favorite food and he would take that into his pick-up truck and he would go gardening.
And what I remember the most is he worked early morning to late at night, and if he missed a day, if it rained, he had to come back and work on the weekends. He did this all the time. And, in the summer when I was out of school, we used to go sometimes with him, and some of his places were close by, so I would walk there and we would help him rake – do simple things like rake the grass and stuff like that.
And later on, after he did that he worked for the city, at the museum in Exposition Park at the rose garden. I just remember just going out with him and going into the truck and going to different places with him when I had the time. And, it was a really nice experience, we ate lunch together, and it was something I’ll remember for a long time.
____________________________________________
This interview was conducted as part of the Opening Day activities for the exhibition Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden.
The concept of "mie gakure"—or "hidden and seen"—is a central design principle in Japanese stroll gardens, where the path curves, and elements are arranged so that new, unexpected views are discovered at each turn.
Inspired by the personal stories of Japanese American gardeners that were "unearthed" for the Japanese American National Museum's exhibition, Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden, we invite people to share their own connections to Nikkei gardeners, Japanese-style gardens, related businesses such as lawnmower shops and nurseries, and the communities that emerged around them.
It is through these personal stories that we hope to reveal the true nature of these communities and the people who were a part of them. Particularly in the western United States, it is easy for most Japanese Americans to find at least one individual with a connection to gardening or landscaping somewhere in their family tree, or it may be the father or grandfather of a friend or acquaintance.
Honor these individuals by including them in this collection. Share their stories and anecdotes.
Instructions to participate
If you don't already have a Discover Nikkei user account, create one, then log in. Upload your photograph, video, or audio file (visit the Contribute page for guidelines). Once you've published your contribution, email editor@DiscoverNikkei.org with a link to your item and we'll include it in the collection.
We will continue to add new stories to this collection as they are contributed, so check back for more!
The new Nikkei Album!
We’re excited to share our redesigned Nikkei Album. It’s a work-in-progress, so please have patience as we add more features and functionality. It will be an exciting tool for our community to easily share photos, videos, and text! Learn MoreNew Site Design
See exciting new changes to Discover Nikkei. Find out what’s new and what’s coming soon! Learn MoreDiscover Nikkei Updates



See exciting new changes to Discover Nikkei. Find out what’s new and what’s coming soon!