The Muranaka family settled in San Fernando Valley after the war and started farming. Shortly after, they Muranakas were forced to sell their land to Los Angeles City schools at a fraction of its value. Parts of California State University, Northridge and Porter Middle School was formerly their farmland.

"My father was arguing about whether the school needed all the ground or not and, he said they wanted all of it. My dad wanted to keep that[part of their property] to keep the equipment and stuff because it was still home base to the farming operation. He said no, no, no, no, the city wants that, the school wants that. As I understood it later, the city, the school never took title to that ground that the procure man guy did and he turned around and sold it to the developers for a profit. Which is pretty bad you know, but that’s the way it was. I asked my dad about it later and he goes hey Roy, he says, that was only 10 years after the war, you got no chance to stand up to anyone then."

~Roy Muranaka

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Settling in the San Fernando Valley, CA (Aerial View of Kawakami Family Ranch)

By the 1920’s the San Fernando Valley had become a large and successful agricultural center. Most Issei (first generation) and Nisei (second generation) were involved in the farming industry. However, due to the 1913 and 1920 California Alien Land Law, which restricted Japanese Americans from owning land, many Japanese farmers and gardeners were reduced of acreage and profits.

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Image Contributed by: Jane Muranaka

Names of people:

Date: circa early 1950s

Place: Kwakami family ranch in Sunland, California

Photograph by: Toyo Miyotaka

Original Photo size:

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

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

© California State University, Northridge 2008

For more information about this project, please contact:

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

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