1800's-1910's

1854
U.S. and Japan sign treaty forcing opening of Japanese ports to American ships and starting limited trade.

1876
First Japanese garden in U.S. presented by Japanese government at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition at Fairmount Park.

1882
Chinese Exclusion Act bars immigration of Chinese laborers, setting stage for subsequent legislation curtailing immigration and …

Nippon Nursery, Pasadena
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1930's

1933
Century of Progress International Exposition in Chicago displays Japanese Garden and Pavilion, designed by Issei Taro Otsuka, a garden builder based in the Midwest.

1934
One-third of Los Angeles’s Japanese American labor force work as gardeners.

1935
American writer Loraine Kuck’s book One Hundred Kyoto Gardens is published and coins the term …

Japanese Tea Garden
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Shogo Myaida, 1930

Shogo Myaida was an Issei, and a garden designer both before and after World War II. One of his best public works is the Japanese-style garden at the Hillwood Estates, Museum and Gardens in Washington, D.C. To read more about his life, please view the original item.

Shogo Myaida
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1940's

1941

Japan attacks U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawai`i, prompting U.S. entry into World War II.
1942

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, authorizing forced removal and incarceration of West Coast Japanese Americans in concentration camps.
After only one month in the camps, Japanese American inmates under take individual and community …

Japanese American Students Withdraw
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1950's

1950

U.S. officially enters Korean War.
1952

McCarran-Walter Act makes all races eligible for naturalization and establishes a national-origins quota system for all immigrants. Many Japanese immigrants are finally able to apply for U.S. citizenship.
In Fujii v. State of California, California Supreme Court rules Alien Land Law unconstitutional.

1953

Refugee Relief Act passes, extending …

Gardening in Redondo Beach
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Hoshiko Yamaguchi's Favorite Pine Tree

This black pine tree is Hoshiko Yamaguchi's favorite, a pine tree she plantd back in 1956.

In 1946, Nisei Hoshiko and her husband Eisaku Yamaguchi left the Tule Lake Segregation Center in California with their four children. The family spent the next decade working as farm laborers before purchasing property …

Pine Tree
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1960's

Early 1960s

Chevrolet develops a pick-up truck model specifically for gardeners with a built-in ramp and tool case. It never catches on—as most gardeners prefer to customize their storage rigs themselves.
1961

Northwest Federated Japanese Gardeners Conference created by Seattle Japanese Gardeners Association and Vancouver Japanese Gardeners Association.
1964

“The Encounter,” an episode of …

Morimoto's in Santa Ana
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1970's

1974

Film Chinatown (dir. Roman Polanski) features Nisei actor Jerry Fujikawa as a Japanese gardener who plays a pivotal plot role.
1976

Pacific Coast Chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association established so that Japanese-speaking contractors can network and learn about current issues in the industry.

Paul and Vicky Murakami
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1980's

1981

Cherry-tree cuttings from Washington, D.C. Tidal Basin are given to Japanese horticulturalists to replace trees destroyed by flood in Japan.
1984

The Karate Kid (dir. John G. Avildsen) features Nisei actor Pat Morita in role of gardener and martial arts instructor.
1988

President Ronald Reagan signs into law H.R. 442, which provides governmental apology …

Women' s Auxilliary - Los Angeles Southwest Gardeners' Association
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1990's-2000's

1990

The National Bonsai Foundation dedicates the John Y. Naka North American Pavilion at the U.S. National Arboretum. Named for a former landscape gardener and master bonsai artist from Los Angeles, the pavilion reflects the growing popularity of bonsai in the U.S.
1991

John Y. Naka awarded National Heritage Fellowship from National Endowment …

Use a Blower, Go to Jail
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