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The long legacy of Japanese immigrants and the strawberry fields of Southern California
A photo of the Tanakas on their farm.
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Tanaka Farms
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SoCal History: why strawberries took root across the region
Before the turn of the century, taking a trip to Disneyland meant you might come across a rather odd sight: a full blown strawberry field. The H&M Fujishige Farm was a prominent fixture in Orange County from the fifties well into the 90s, but it was by no means the only strawberry patch in SoCal. Nearly all of the strawberries sold in the US trace their roots back to California, and many of the farmers behind these delicious red berries can trace their family’s roots back to Japan. Before World War II, 95% of all strawberry farmers in the Los Angeles area were Japanese. The war brought the mass internment of Japanese Americans, with over 120,000 people being incarcerated due to their heritage. With their internment, the nation’s strawberry crop numbers plummeted. After the war, some former internees were recruited for their strawberry growing prowess by big growing coops, and the state’s strawberry harvest ballooned once more. But as population centers formed and grew, these strawberry farms were pushed further and further out to the periphery of metros. Joining Larry today to talk about the history of strawberry fields in SoCal, and the people who made their livelihoods farming these plots of land is Emily Anderson, a project curator at the Japanese American National Museum and Farmer Tanaka, owner and operator of Tanaka Farms in Irvine, a multi-generational family farm known for their strawberries tours and pumpkin picking.
Strawberry fields used to be a common sight in Southern California, growing among the region’s suburban sprawl with splashes of greenery and fragrant smells.
In fact, nearly all strawberries sold in the U.S. today trace their roots back to California — and one particular group of immigrants.
Here's what we know about the intersection between Japanese American history and those delicious red berries.
How Japanese immigrants took to strawberries
At the turn of the 20th century, a large group of Japanese immigrants arrived in the U.S., many with farming experience.
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15:45
Listen: Why strawberries took root across Southern California
Emily Anderson of the Japanese American National Museum and Farmer Tanaka of Tanaka Farms in Irvine talk about the history of Japanese immigrants with Larry Mantle, host of LAist's "AirTalk" show.
“The vast majority of Japanese people were raised on small-scale farms,” said Emily Anderson, a project curator at the Japanese American National Museum. “So working in agriculture was the perfect fit for them.”
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By 1924 the Immigration Act, sometimes called the Japanese Exclusion Act, limited immigration, completely excluded immigrants from Asia during a time of anti-Asian sentiments. State laws also prevented Japanese immigrants already here from owning land and barred them from becoming naturalized citizens.
Some Japan immigrants turned to work as tenant farmers on small patches of land and found strawberries to be a high-yield crop. Japanese immigrant farmers quickly became the backbone of the berry business.
“Prior to World War II [Japanese immigrants] were growing about 90% of strawberries in the state," Glenn Tanaka, whose family owns and operates Tanaka Farms in Irvine, said.
Farmers incarcerated
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entry into World War II in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which forcibly removed and incarcerated people of Japanese descent.
Most of them had to walk away from fields that were just about ready to harvest
— Emily Anderson, the Japanese American National Museum
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More than 120,000 Japanese Americans were detained in incarceration camps. The order devastated many businesses, including farmers.
“Most of them had to walk away from fields that were just about ready to harvest,” said Anderson.
During the war, California’s strawberry crop dwindled to about a quarter of what it had been. Tanaka said his grandfather and father were able flee and avoid incarceration but had to leave their family farm.
After the war, they began growing strawberries again.
Many other Japanese farmers did the same after the war. By 1950, California harvested over 81 million pounds of strawberries or four times the prewar high, according to the L.A. Times.
The agrotourism shift
The Tanakas turned from selling wholesale tomatoes and strawberries to providing agritourism services. Instead of selling their produce to companies, Tanaka Farms allows visitors to come and pick their own strawberries and pumpkins while also offering different activities.
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“We invited some schools out to come pick strawberries, and it was just a really, really big hit,” Tanaka said. “Having the public come out and pick the strawberries saves us a lot in labor and enabled us to survive and still be farming.”
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
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