The Japanese first came to the South Valley in 1895 as immigrant
farm laborers.
The Japanese first came to the South Valley in 1895 as immigrant farm laborers. Following a familiar saga in U.S. history, many of these Asian immigrants had been displaced by political and religious persecution and also by economic hardship in their homeland. Through toil and perseverance, they quickly adapted to American society and found a productive livelihood – mostly in the agricultural industry here.
But starting in 1906, early Japanese-Americans in California had to deal with racial resistance for several decades. An anti-Japanese movement grew in which white supremacy attitudes caused the California Legislature to pass “alien land laws.”
Although these anti-Asian laws forced many Japanese from their homes and farms in other parts of the state, they were not extensively enforced in the Santa Clara Valley.
So this region developed a larger population of Japanese farmers who, through hard work and economic prudence, increased their agricultural land holdings.
The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, ignited anti-Asian bigotry on the West Coast. This was reflected in a letter dated May 12, 1942, from a “leading official” of the Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association sent to Congressman John Anderson:
“What can you suggest that I do and thousands of Californians be led to do, that may make it possible to get rid of all Japs, sending them back to Japan either before or after the war is won. I am convinced that if it is not done or at least the action completed before the war is over, it will be impossible to get rid of them…. The Japanese cannot be assimilated as the white race. We must do everything we can to stop them now as we have a golden opportunity now and may never have it again.”
On Feb. 13, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed his infamous Executive Order 9066 to legally round up all people of Japanese heritage living in the West Coast and place them in various U.S. concentration camps.
Many South Valley Japanese-Americans, who had lived here as patriotic citizens for decades, were forced by their own government to leave their homes.
On May 8, 1943, Morgan Hill’s City Council voted unanimously to oppose the resettlement of Japanese-Americans in this region.
On June 14, 1943, the San Jose City Council and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors both voted to oppose any Japanese-Americans returning to their former West Coast homes.
This opposition was motivated by economic self-interests by the area’s white growers interested in expanding their farm markets.
After World War II, Japanese-Americans who had spent years in the concentration camps faced a harsh period of readjustment. Many had lost their homes and belongings. Watsonville resident Frank Sakata who owned the Gilroy Hot Springs Resort donated the hotel there as a place for homeless internees to stay during this difficult time. In the 60 years following World War II, the local Japanese-American community has gone through a healing process by contributing much in cultural and civic gifts to the South Valley region.
Source: Japanese Legacy: Farming and Community Life in California’s Santa Clara Valley, by Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y. Okihiro
