Japanese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley

In the late-19th century, the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) was an area well-known for its citrus and walnut orchards, which attracted the attention of Japanese laborers. In 1906, the Japanese Association of America reported the Japanese population as follows: 362 in Pasadena; 173 in Santa Anita and Monrovia; and 176 in Montebello and Norwalk. While a majority of the population consisted of men, there were a small number of women. ^[1] Most were agricultural laborers, ranch hands, and nurserymen, however a handful in the more urban areas like Pasadena, worked service jobs as cooks, butlers, and servants. ^[2]

Issei that arrived in the SGV were originally from prominent agricultural areas of Japan such as Hiroshima, Kumamoto, or Okinawa prefectures. Most were second, third, and fourth sons that left Japan in search of more economic opportunities. ^[3] Many Issei decided to settle in areas of East SGV, such as El Monte, Puente (La Puente), and West Covina, where there were more open agrarian areas for farming. They started farms that produced mostly berries, amongst other crops, and made weekly trips selling their produce to the wholesale market in Los Angeles. ^[4] On January 14, 1917, the San Gabriel Japanese Association was formed, where it was reported that 90% of its members were farmers. Additionally, there were smaller communities of Japanese living in cities such as Alhambra and South Pasadena that had large white populations. ^[5]

By the 1920s, the Japanese population across the SGV had grown, leading to the formation of community institutions. Religious organizations played a significant role in providing basic services for the primarily young Japanese men arriving in the area. ^[6] With the help of larger church sponsors, Japanese-serving churches provided a night school and temporary housing for men, while women were offered classes in cooking, sewing, and the English language. ^[7] Although most Issei practiced Buddhism, the SGV area was unique in that there was no formal Buddhist temple built until after World War II. Instead, the community formed their own howakai groups ^[8] and rotated meetings in different households to practice Buddhist teachings more informally. Buddhist priests from larger temples in Little Tokyo traveled monthly to these meetings, and conversely, the Issei sometimes brought their families to temples in Little Tokyo while running errands there on the weekends.

Many Issei also built successful nurseries and produce stands in the 1920s and '30s. ^[9] One longstanding nursery was the Mission Nursery, now known as the San Gabriel Nursery & Florist, founded by Fred and Mitoko Yoshimura in 1923. Fred Yoshimura first learned gardening while staying at a boarding house in San Gabriel and eventually provided landscaping services for large estates. Through various gardening jobs, he obtained plant cuttings and propagated his own stock, which formed the beginnings of the nursery. ^[10]

While many Japanese residents achieved relative successes in their business ventures, they faced complicated experiences in navigating race relations within the larger community. Segregation in housing, education, and recreational spaces further challenged the Japanese to understand their position in relation to white, Mexican, and Black neighbors. In El Monte, Bacon Sakatani recalls attending a segregated elementary school during the 1930s that was designated for Japanese and Mexican children only. ^[11] In nearby Monrovia, segregation was enforced in housing and schools, with Asian, Black, and Mexican residents only allowed to live south of the Pacific Electric train tracks. ^[12] Segregation was also observed in recreational spaces such as swimming pools and parks. In Monrovia, Pasadena, and El Monte, Japanese residents described only being allowed to swim in the public pools either one day of the week or just before cleanings. ^[13]

Japanese Americans were deeply connected to the experiences of Mexican Americans, as the groups interacted with each other and occupied the same spaces. In the SGV, Mexican workers helped fill labor shortages following the exclusion of Japanese workers per the 1907–08 Gentlemen's Agreement and the Alien Land Laws of 1913 and 1920, that restricted Issei land ownership. ^[14] Due to restrictions of land ownership, Japanese men who were more financially stable leased land from white landowners, which provided opportunities to be promoted from farm laborers to managers. The Great Depression of the 1930s caused land prices to drop, which further prompted white owners to lease land to Japanese growers who then hired Mexican laborers to work. ^[15]

In 1933, representatives from the Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (CAWIU) in El Monte organized a strike of the primarily Mexican, but also Filipino, white, and Japanese berry pickers, who received lower than average wages and demanded higher pay to match their labor. Takashi Fukami, a spokesman and secretary of the Japanese Growers Association, argued that matching the demands of the strikers would bankrupt the Japanese growers. On June 5, 1933, more than 800 workers went on strike against the Japanese growers, which would become known as the El Monte Berry Strike. With the berry harvest at risk, the city's Japanese leaders successfully petitioned El Monte schools to dismiss Japanese students to help their families harvest the berries. The strike lasted over a month and concluded when a settlement was reached that led to increased wages for workers, but did not meet the full amount demanded. ^[16] Ultimately, during these prewar years, the early Japanese settlers worked hard to build their own community organizations and businesses. Despite best efforts to form a longstanding community, tensions escalated with strained US and Japan relations leading up to the war.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Imperial Japan on December 7, 1941, the FBI swept throughout the SGV, detaining and removing Japanese community leaders that they deemed suspicious. Fred Yoshimura of the San Gabriel Nursery was one of the individuals arrested and interned for several months. Mitoko Yoshimura was not informed of her husband's whereabouts and had to make arrangements to pay bank loans and sold the property, following the passage of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. The Yoshimuras were acquainted with E. Manchester Boddy, publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News , who purchased their business and nursery stock at a "fair enough price." ^[17] Boddy also used this opportunity to purchase all of the camellia stock at another Japanese-owned nursery in Montebello known as Star Nursery. ^[18] Local newspaper publications referred to Boddy as "a friend to the Japanese" and one of the few public figures willing to speak out in their defense. However, the sale of the nursery and stock were well below market prices at the time. Eventually, Boddy would go on to sell the Yoshimuras' nursery and transport their original stock to his estate in La Cañada, which in 1953 became the public gardens known as Descanso Gardens. ^[19] Boddy's advantageous business transaction ultimately helped Mitoko pay off their bank loans and put the family in a better financial position compared to other Japanese Americans that had lost all their belongings. ^[20]

Friends and allies helped their Japanese neighbors by watching their belongings or property during their wartime incarceration. Tokuji Yoshihashi of Pasadena recalls that a local Quaker minister, Herbert Nicholson , transported requested items in his truck to families in Gila River in Arizona. ^[21] Married couple Ted and Hazel Roberts in Baldwin Park, who sponsored a Nisei Girl Scouts Troop called the Cherry Blossom Girls Reserve, helped to store personal items of some evicted Japanese for the duration of their absence. ^[22] The Roberts were also entrusted the keys to the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center and watched over the property, by leasing the facility to West Covina schools to help pay for upkeep and property taxes. ^[23]

Japanese Americans were removed from the area under Civilian Exclusion Orders No. 54 (West and North San Gabriel Valley) & 55 (East San Gabriel Valley). With Santa Anita Avenue as the dividing line, those from West and North SGV were sent to the short-term detention facility in Tulare , California, and then to the Gila River concentration camp in Arizona. ^[24] According to the Final Accountability Roster , a majority of Japanese sent to Gila River from the SGV were from Pasadena, with 751 individuals and the next largest group being from the city of San Gabriel with 216. Those in East SGV from cities like Covina, Baldwin Park, and El Monte were sent to the Pomona , California detention center and then to Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming. Of this group, the largest numbers were from Puente with 260 individuals and 254 from El Monte. Additionally, around 100 each came from the nearby areas of Baldwin Park, Covina, Monrovia, and Arcadia. ^[25]

While many Japanese Americans remained in concentration camps for the duration of the war, some were given permission to leave and pursue work or educational opportunities. A few months before the lifting of the West Coast exclusion orders, Esther Takei Nishio became the first Japanese American not in a special category allowed to return to the West Coast. At the age of 19, Takei arrived in Pasadena on September 12, 1944, to attend Pasadena Junior College, with support from most faculty and students. However, when Los Angeles newspapers announced Takei's arrival, a "Ban the Japs Committee" was formed by local Pasadena resident, George L. Kelley. The committee planned a protest and meeting that was attended by members of anti-Japanese organizations including the Native Sons and Daughters of Golden West and the American Legion. Although her arrival was met with mixed and even hostile responses, Takei's resettlement helped pave the way for the mass return of Japanese Americans to the West Coast. ^[26]

The end of the war and closing of concentration camps prompted Japanese Americans to return to their homes on the West Coast or resettle in places across the country where they could find work. As large numbers of Japanese Americans began to repopulate Southern California, reports of a housing crisis circulated amongst the community. While resettlement experiences varied widely, multiple accounts recorded by anthropologist Tom Sasaki point to the severity of the housing scarcity in 1946 as Japanese Americans were forced to live in crowded hostels, trailer parks , sheds, tents, amongst other makeshift forms of shelter. ^[27]

Hostels played an important role in providing Japanese Americans with temporary housing after the closing of concentration camps. Religious groups such as the Quaker-led American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) prepared well in advanced for the return of incarcerees and advertised hostels through information bulletins. The cost of running hostels was relatively low as it was noted that a hostel in El Monte cost only 19 cents per person, per day. ^[28] On January 15, 1945, the Pasadena Hostel , located in the Japanese Union Church, was the first hostel to open in a former restricted area on the West Coast. Nearby, the First Presbyterian Church of Altadena was also used as a storage house for belongings and an AFSC office. ^[29] Former Japanese language school buildings were also used as temporary housing, with some families staying up to two years after the war. ^[30] Conditions varied by hostel, but they provided a way for residents to find job listings while also being informed on community news through social networks. ^[31] Eventually as Japanese Americans found their own homes, these hostels closed down or were converted into business hotels. ^[32]

Japanese Americans returning to the SGV faced many challenges during the resettlement period. Some families found that items and property stored during the war had been stolen or vandalized. Many started over by returning to farming in order to recoup the earnings they had lost. ^[33] However, by 1945 land use changed drastically with fertile areas subdivided to make room for real estate developments. In El Monte, farm consolidation prioritized the development of small homesteads and part-time vegetable gardens used to support the war, which limited the number of available jobs to returning Japanese farmers. ^[34] Postwar farming proved to be a challenging line of work, as Mits Aiso commented in 1946, "Another bunch of guys who are having a tough time are the farmers out in Covina. It cost them 25 cents a crate to grow cabbages. The market will pay them only 20 cents a crate. Rather than sell, the farmers plowed up all of their crop. They lost a heck of a lot of money out there this year." ^[35]

The return of Japanese American businesses to the area brought renewed hostility and competition from locals. Mr. Yagi, Secretary of the So-Cal Floral Association, commented on Japanese Americans in Montebello facing discrimination. He stated, "When some of the growers went back there, they told them that they did not want their business. The mayor, the police, and other public people knew these people well and because of pressure from Wilcox and Gronn, who have their places across the street, the Japanese had a difficult time. But they are back there now." ^[36] Japanese flower growers faced boycotts by white nurserymen who refused to sell or buy from them. Additionally, anyone who bought from Japanese growers were boycotted by members of the Nursery Exchange. In a testimony from Shig Higashi, he stated that ironically "all of the Caucasian nurseries got their start and made their money when the Japanese left. They took over the Japanese nurseries, and made a killing on what was left." ^[37]

The Japanese community in the SGV slowly rebuilt itself, but not to the same prominence as it had been before the war. A number of surviving religious organizations, community centers, language schools, and businesses eventually resumed operations through community support. In West Covina, the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center financed the construction of several new buildings, but only after thirteen families put their homes up as collateral for the bank loan. ^[38] During the 1950s and '60s, the SGV rapidly transformed from semi-rural farming areas to suburban developments. Monterey Park, Montebello, as well as unincorporated areas in South San Gabriel, were relatively less racially exclusive compared to other areas. By the 1970s, Japanese, Mexican, and Chinese Americans homebuyers were well established in Monterey Park, transforming the city into a "majority minority" population. Real estate agent Kazuo Inouye, founder of Kashu Realty, was instrumental in selling homes to first-time homebuyers in previously racially restricted neighborhoods. He opened his first office in LA's Crenshaw neighborhood in 1947, and a branch office in Monterey Park a decade later, which further diversified the landscape. The Japanese American population in Monterey Park increased by nearly two-thirds in the 1970s, but ultimately dropped by about a fifth in the 1980s. ^[39]

The demographics in the SGV shifted again in the decades following the 1965 Immigration Act, which introduced new waves of Asian immigrants. ^[40] A 2018 report by Asian Americans Advancing Justice found that Japanese Americans represented the highest percentage of homeownership amongst Asian Americans in the SGV at 75%. However, from 2000 to 2010, they were the only Asian American ethnic group to show a population decline at -4% in the area. ^[41]

Recent preservation efforts have recognized the legacy of Japanese American history in cities like Monrovia and at the Pomona detention facility. Through the efforts of Bacon Sakatani, who chaired the Pomona Assembly Center Committee, a plaque marking Japanese American confinement at Pomona detention facility was installed on August 24, 2016. ^[42] In Monrovia, a bronze art piece by Maryrose Mendoza was installed on June 8, 2019, to honor the history of Japanese Americans and on January 13, 2026, the city opened Satoru Tsuneishi Park, dedicated to a Japanese American poet from the area. ^[43]

In 2023, two Japanese American legacy businesses located in the city of San Gabriel, The San Gabriel Nursery and Toyo Miyatake Studio, celebrated their centennial anniversaries. ^[44] Longstanding organizations that started before the war also continue to serve the community today including: Montebello Plymouth Congregational Church, Sage Granada Park United Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church Altadena, San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center, and the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center, amongst others.

Although the population of Japanese Americans is not as large as it once was, the legacy of the community continues to thrive through its longtime residents, businesses, and organizations that reside in the area.

Stanley Kunio Hayami (1925-1945): Known for collecting letters, writing diary entries and drawings that provided a rare firsthand look at camp life at Heart Mountain, Wyoming. Was part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy, where he was killed in 1945.

Esther Takei Nishio (1925-2019): The first Japanese American not in a special category allowed to return to the West Coast from the concentration camps. Her resettlement in Pasadena helped pave the way for the mass return of Japanese Americans to the West Coast starting in January 1945.

Albert Fairchild Saijo (1926-2011): An author and poet that wrote numerous books and was often associated with San Francisco's generation of Beat poets. Wrote a series of haikus while on a cross-country road trip that was published in a volume titled, Trip Trap: Haiku On The Road .

Bacon Sakatani (1929): Grew up in El Monte, before being incarcerated at Heart Mountain concentration camp. He has been active with several Japanese American preservation efforts including the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation.

Gene Isao Sogioka (1914-1988): A watercolor painter, illustrator and muralist that was born in Irwindale, California, and worked as a background artist and animator for the Walt Disney Studios.

"A Community of Contrasts: Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the San Gabriel Valley," Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Los Angeles, (Los Angeles: AAAJ-LA, 2018).

Cheng, Wendy. "A Brief History (and Geography) of the San Gabriel Valley," PBS SoCal, August 4, 2014.

---. The Changs next Door to the Díazes: Remapping Race in Suburban California. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013).

Guzman, Romeo, ed. East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte. (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2020).

Ling, Susie. "Pre-War Japanese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley," Thinking Aloud (blog), January 19, 2020.