Nikkei in the Pacific Northwest: Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians in the Twentieth Century

4. Yasutaro Yamaga: Fraser Valley Berry Farmer, Community Leader, and Strategist

4 I YASUTARO YAMAGA Fraser Valley Berry Farmer, Community Leader. and Strategist MICHIKO MIDGE AYUKAWA The Fraser Valley of British Columbia was home to more than 550 Japanese Canadian families before the uprooting that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.1 The area north and south ofthe FraserRiver, between NewWestminsterand Mission City, was the heart ofthe berry industry, which was virtuallydominated by the Japanesebythelate1930S . AfterApril1949,whenJapaneseCanadians werefinally allowed to return to "theprotectedarea,"onlyasmall number resumedfarming , since the vast majority ofJapanese farms had been sold to the Veteran LandAdministration in 1943 after confiscation by the Custodian ofEnemy Properties.2 This isoneofthe moststrikingexamplesof"Nikkei (dis)appearance " in the Pacific Northwest. The storyofthe rocky road these pioneerswere forced to travel has been told by Yasutaro Yamaga in his book The History ofthe Haney Agricultural Association (Hene'enokaishi).3Yamagawasoneofthe mostinfluentialcommunityleaders inthe FraserValleyagricultural community. He wascharismatic , intelligent, anddaring, and he urged integration with the mainstream populace-a rather radical ideaat atime when manyJapanese farmers were still emotionally tied to their land of birth. He continued his community work in the postwar period, and the fruits of his contributions are still enjoyed more than thirty years after his death in 1971. In a compendium of eminent Issei, Gordon G. Nakayama,an Anglican minister,wrote: «Yasutaro Yamaga is perhaps one ofthe most well known among Japanese leadersin the farming field, in adult education, in the co-operative union movement , and in social work."4 Through the story ofYamaga's life and his efforts on behalfof his community , we can learn much about the history ofthe Japanese berry farmers 72 CARIBOO DISTRICT MICHIKO MIDGE AYUKAWA RITISH C MBIA o Ztl 40 60 80 100 t I I I I , Kilometers WASHINGTON STATE (USA) FIG. 4.1 Map showing the Fraser River Valley berryfarming areaprior to World WarII. (Map drawn by Tim DeLange Boom) YASUTARO YAMAGA 73 ofthe FraserValley. It is ataleofambitiousyoungmenwhoemigrated with dreams ofbecoming landowners and settling down in a strange land. They were unlike theearlierandstill more common Japaneseemigrantswho were dekasegi rado (temporary migrant laborers). Wives later joined these venturesome farmers, and together they strove to succeed bysheer hard work. Therewere manyobstacles they needed to contend with-the complexities ofthe market place, the enmity ofthe mainstream populace, and unfamiliar socialcustoms. Moreover, there were the problems ofrearing their children , who not only needed to be protected from feelings of inferiority but also from becoming strangers to their parents. There is a dearth of information on the early years of Japanese settlement in Canada. I have relied mainly on two books published in 1921 by Jinshiro Nakayama.> Nakayamawrotelaudatoryshortbiographiesofmany prominent people in the community, including one of Yamaga. It is evident that as early as 1920 Yamaga had already made quite an impact on his fellow immigrants. His biography stated in part: "He has since childhood shown signs ofbrilliance. It is said that there was no one who could outdo him scholastically. Hehas robust health and issincere. He is thoughtful and has foresight.»6 InYamaga'smemoirs, verylittle informationexistsabout his background in Japan.7 He noted that he was born in 1886 in Toyohama village in Toyota county, Hiroshima prefecture. Hisvillagewaslocated on asmall island with acircumferenceofonlyfive ri (one riequals2.44miles), ten risouthofKure, near Hiroshima city. It is one ofmanysmall islands inthat area. While afew inhabitants on the island farmed, the majority survived by fishing. Yamaga first went to the Seattle area and worked on the railroads. He moved to Canada in1908 with a"dreamofbecomingtheowneroffive thousand acres of golden field in the Canadian Prairies"8 (an assertion that is clearly overstated for effect). He did not explain how and why he had gone to Seattle first. In my research on Hiroshima emigrants to Canada, there were a number of stories ofmigration in both directions in the early years. It appeared as ifthe men (at times accompanied by th.eir wives) simply followed job opportunities.9 This movement between British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Northwestflowed freely until 1907, when an executiveorder by President Theodore Roosevelt prohibited any alien from entering the United States ifhis passport had been issued for another destination.10 Yamagawrote in his memoirs that while still in the United States, he had read in Canadian Japanese-language newspapers a number ofarticles written by Tiro Inouye, ofthe rural area ofHaney in the Fraser Valley.l1 Inouye, 74 MICHIKO MIDGE AYUKAWA a graduate of Waseda University of Tokyo, urged Japanese immigrants to go into agriculture. Presumably...