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Survey of the vocational activities of the Japanese in the city of Los Angeles

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Survey of the vocational activities of the Japanese in the city of Los Angeles

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Content A SXJRVEÏ OP THE VOCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE
JAPANESE IN THE CITY OP LOS ANGELES
j, :
O i ;
A T h m t n
Presented to
the Paeultj of the Department of Sociology
Ohlreralty of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
by
Isamu Nodera
May 1936
UMI Number: EP65579
All rights reserved
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D i s s ^ a t i o n P u b l i s N r i g
UMI EP65579
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P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346
This thesisf written under the direction of the
candidate's Faculty Committee and approved by
all its members, has been presented to and ac
cepted by the Council on Graduate Study and
Research in partial fulfillment of the require
ments for the degree of
ecrj
Dean
D ate 1 .9 .36.
Faculty Committee
Chairman
PRBPAGE
A good many people have presented either orally or
In written forme the Japanese problems in Califomia, which
always involve the Japanese farmers within the State*
Strange enough, however, a very few attempts have been made
to deal with the vocational activities of the Japanese in
Los Angeles, whose vocational backgrounds consisting In the
main of farming in Japan as well as in the United States*
In this study an attempt has been made in most cases
to trace the origin of the Japanese entry and their advance
ment in a number of vocational fields, into which, the
writer maintains, have entered the majority of the first-
generation Japanese in Los Angeles# These vocational lines
include: personal services, agricultural pursuits, and
produce business# One chapter is devoted to the presenta
tion of the major vocational fields which the second-
generation Japanese are pursuing in this city at present.
Throughout the study major forces at work In inducing either
the first-generation Japanese or the second-generation into
these vocational channels have been carefully analysed and
interpreted#
Since there has been a lack of comprehensive written
materials on the subject of the present report, in compiling
this study, the writer, has largely drawn on his own
observations during his stay in Los Angeles for tbe past
five years (1931-1936), and on his personal interviews with
the Japanese pioneers and those who would give him a vital
clue to the understanding of the whole aspect of the Japanese
activities in these vocational lines.
The writer is indebted to all those professors in
sociology at the Graduate School of the University of
Southern California under whose kind guidance it has been
possible for the writer to cultivate an insight and tech
niques to tackle with a social phenomenon scientifically#
Grateful recognition is particularly due those who
have been courteous enough to furnish him with the first
hand materials for this report* Without their sympathetic
understanding and co-operation for this project the report
might never have bemi compiled#
TABLE OF CONTEHTB
OBAPTBR PAGE
I. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE JAPANESE
IM LOS ANGELES . . I
Japanese population . . 1
Japanese social invasion in Los Angeles # . 4
Factors involved in the Japanese social
invasion »#** •• •••« « 7
Japanese omamunities in Los Angeles . . 10
II. VOCATIONS OF JAPANESE IN LOS ANGELES # . * B7
Types of vocations « « • « * • • * • 07
III# PmSONAL SERVICES 35
Japanese barber shops * • * « * * « « 35
Distribution of Japanese barber shops # . 39
Japanese women barbers ••••«#• 40
Cleaning and laundry business . . # . 40
Causative factors . . . . , # 42
Els© and growth of the business . . . 43
Ecological setting of the business * , * 46
Boarding and hotel business 48
Factors which iiav© lured the local Japanese
to boarding or hotel business # * # 48
Conditions requiring the establishment of
boarding houses. . . # . . 51
V
CHAPTER PAGE
Growth of boarding and rooming business . 50
Funotions of the Japanese boarding houses 53
Rise and development of the hotel business
of the Japanese in Los Angeles * . . 54
*Boom** period for the boarding and
hotel business # . . . . # . # 5 5
Present situations of boarding house and
hotel business of the Japanese . . 58
Japanese-atyle restaurants and cafes . . . 66
How the Japanes e-s tyle restaurant# and
cafe# have thrived among the local
Japanese in Los Angeles . . . . . . 06
Ecological distribution of tJi© cafes and
the Japanese-style restaurants .... 70
IV. AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS ............. 70
Japanese florists in Los Angeles . # . . * 72
Factors which have induced the Japanese in
Los Angeles and its environs to floral
industry . . . . . . . . . . . 70
The first Japanese flower grower in
southern California . . . . . . . . 75
The first Japanese flower shop In Los Angeles 77
Numerical growth of the retail floral shops
of the Japanese in Los Angeles .... 78
vi
OHAPTEa PAGE
The Southern California Floral Market * . 80
Retail floral business among the
Japanese in Los Angeles 86
Activities of the Japanese nurserymen
in Los Angeles » * . . # . . . 87
Rise and development of nursery Industry
among the local Japanese * * * • * 87
Types of the local Japanese imrserymmi # 91
Japanese gardeners 95
V* PRODUCE BUSINESS OF JAPANESE .*##.# 99
The City Market of Los Angeles # . * , . 99
The Japanese Farmers Association # . # 104
The Los Angeles Union Terminal Market * # 104
The Nippon-Galif omis Farmers Association 108
Japanese produce merchants #*..*# 109
Forces Wiich drive the second generation
Japanese to work in the fruit and
vegetable stands 11^
VI. MAJOR VOCATIONAL FIELDS OF THE SECOND
GENERATION JAPANESE ................ 114
VII. CONCLUSIONS .............. 118
Geographical distribution of the Japanese
in Los Angeles . . . . . . . . . 118
Types of the Japanese vocations • • « « 100
vil
PAGE
Vocational situations of the Japanese . , 101
Forces at work In drawing the JapEineae
Into these vocational fields . . , . 106
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................107
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I. Japanese Population in Los Angeles since 1893 . 2
II* Number of Telephones Installed by Japanese
in Sub-District A in the West 36th Street . .
Japanese District, 1935 01
III. Vocations of Japanese In Los Angeles, 1915 . . 08
IV* Number of Japanese engaged in Various Voca
tions in Los Angeles in 1928 and 1934 ... * ^
V* Number of the Japanese Barber Shops in
Los Angeles since 1929 to 1935 38
VI* Geographical Distribution of the Japanese
Establishments in Cleaning and Laundry
Business in Los Angeles, 1935 47
VII# Distribution of Japanese Hotels in Los Angeles
in 1935 *.#**.....##.#..### 64
VIII# Geographical Locations of the Japanese
Establishment in Cafe and Japanese-Style
Restaurant Business In Los Angeles, 1955 ♦ • 72
IX* Number of Japanese Retail Flower Shops in
Los Angeles, 1906-1955 79
X# Acreages for Principal Agricultural Products
Raised by the Japanese in 1934 in the Thirteen
Leading Japanese Districts in Nine Counties
in Southern California .... * # . . . . . 100
1%
TABLE PAGE
XI# Distribution of Shares Among Americans,
Chinese, and Japanese Shareholders When
the Ninth Street Market was %tahlishW
in 1909 # # # . # . . . # . # . # 101
XII* Distribution of Growers and Commission
Merchants #io Transacted Business in the
Ninth Street Market in 190# 1%
XIII. Racial Distribution of Individuals Engaged
in Various Types of Activities in the
Los Angeles Union Terminal Market, 1935 . . 107
XI?* Number of Japanese Wholesale Produce Merchants
in the Wholesale Terminal Market and the
City Market of Los Angeles ..#***## 110
XV. Numerical Ocmparison of the First-Generation
and the Second—Generation Japanese who were
Engaged or Ssployed in Various Vocations
in Los Angeles, 1934 113
MÀP8, GRAPHS, CHARTS
FIGURE PAGE
Graph Showing the Trend of the Jmp&nee# Population
in We Angel##, 1900 to 1935 .... . . • • . * . 3
Map Showing the Watritmtlon of th* Six Japan###
Dletriet# in W# Angel## 12
Chart Showing the Arrangeant of Table# in the
Southern California %oral Market in Ws Angel## # ^
CHAPTER I
OEOORAPaiCAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE JAPANESE
IN LOS ANGm,ES
JAPANESE POPULATION
At the time of the present survey (1936) the total
number of Japanese now residing in Los Angeles is estimated
at 20,000, of which fifty-three per cent consist of the
first-generation Japanese, and forty-seven per cent, of the
mecond-generation Japanese#^
Unfortunately there have been no correct data for the
Japanese population in Los Angeles, primarily due to the
difficulties of investigation involved* However, the sta
tistics which seem to give us a fairly correct picture of
the trend of Japanese population in this city are furnished
in Table I on the following page#
As is indicated in Table I the Japanese population in
Los Angeles, which began to increase steadily since the later
A personal interview with Mr* H. Seki, attache to
the Japanese Consulate in Los Angeles* The term first-
generation Japanese used throughout this thesis denotes
those Japanese who were born in Japan and have been staying
in this country for a considerable period of time, actually
engaging in various types of occupations; while that of
second-generation Japanese, the so-called Amerloan-bom
Japanese, those Japanese who hold American citizenship by
virtue of their birth in this country*
ÎABUil I
JAi-ANJiSE POPUL/ÆIOS IM LOS AKOELaS SIWCE 1893'
2
Total number
ÎB63 4Ï
1895
261
1897 600
1904 5,478
1906 4,060
1907 6,640
1908 6,750
1909 6,825
1910 6,080
1911 6,700
1912 7,460
1915 8,500
1914 8,950
1915 9,500
1916 10,200
1917 11,400
1919 11,982%
1920 11,618
1921 16,184%
1925 21,402
1924 21,989
1925 22,021
1926 22,752%
1950 21,091%%
1956 20 pOOO%%%^
^ The figures with this mark were secured from S.
Endo, Okayama-Xenjln In Southern California, p. 69*
The Report of the
AngelM, 19^; p:
Japanese Consulate in Los
■ îhhî- according to Mr. H. Sekl, attache to the Japan
ese Consulate In Los /mgelas, in a personal
Interview.
E. Uono,"The Factors Affecting the Geographical
Aggregation and Dispersion of the Japanese Residences In the
City of Los Angeles,” (unpublished Master’s thesis. Univer
sity of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1927), p. 21.
GRAPH I
THE TREND OF 1HE JAPANESE POPULATION
IN LOS ANGELES, 1900 TO 1935^
4 ooo
/900 /90JT / S / O / S t i O /SOS’ /SX /SST
^ Prepared by the writer based upon the data in Table I
4
nineties of the last oentury^ reached the 10,000 level in
1917 and passed the 20,000 mark in the neighborhood of 1922
or 1923* Arriving at its climax in 1926 with 22,752 Japanese
in total, the population has been declining* A recent
decrease of Japanese population in this city Is mainly due
to the enforcement of the Japanese Exclusion Law of 1924,
which prohibits the entry of Japanese immigrants to this
country, and to a gradual decrease of the first-generation
Japanese on account of their death or return to their native
country* It is interesting to note here that the loss of
Japanese population through the gradual decrease of the
first-generation has been kept rather small and insignif
icant largely due to a steady increase of the second-genera
tion Japanese*
JAPAmSSE SOCIAL INVASION IN LOS ANGSLBS
^ The history of Japanese invasion in Los Angeles may
advantageously be divided into three distinct periods ; (1)
the initial period (1865-1905); (2) the developmental period
(1906-1924); and (3) the stationary period (1925 to the
present time) * The initial period set in in 1885 with the
4
settlement of the first Japanese In this city and continued
^ E* Uono, ''The Factors Affecting the Geographical
Aggregation and Dispersion of the Japanese Residences in the
City of Los Angeles," (unpublished Master's thesis, Univer
sity of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1927), pp# 3-4*
up to 1905, with a gradual Inerease of Japanese population.
In 1904, which preceded the close of this period by
one year, the total number of Japanese In this city reached
3,478. A mmjorlty of these people, who were mostly young
vigorous male immigrants, were engaged in domestic service,
small businesses, and in unskilled labor in railroad main
tenance.^
The developmental stage of Japanese invasion, which
followed the initial period just described above, was
ushered In with the great earthquake in 8an Francisco in
1906, which caused a sudden migration of a large number of
Japanese in that city end its meIghborhood into southern
California. The outbreak of the World War in 1914, its
resultant business prosperity, and the rapid growth of Los
Angeles, all of which are well remembered among us, attracted
a great mass of Japanese to this city frmi other parts of
this country as well as from Japan. huge volume of
Japanese invasion, which had taken place in this city, cam#
to its stop with the enactment of the Jap@mes@ Exclusion Law
by the Congress in 1924. This law practically banned the
entry of Japanese labor force to this country# The Japanese
population which numbered 4,050 in 1906 passed the 1D,CKK>
5
Ibid*, p. 21*
level in 1916; and grew up to 21,989 in 1924, thus assuming
a sise 5*4 times that of the 1906 mark during the period of
less than twenty years.
For the student of any social problem which concerns
the Japanese in Los Angeles this period constitutes the most
Interesting and significant one* In this period most of the
Japanese communities as we see them at present sprang up
under various circumstances in different sections of the
city; a majority of different types of major social, eooncsnic,
and religious institutions of the group were set up; and
numerous entries were made into different occupational lines
horizontally as well as vertically by the members of the
group* In other words, the entire foundation of the Japanese
oonmmnitles and the activities of these people were laid down
in this period. And a careful study of the Japanese activi
ties in this period gives one a historical perspective,
which is immensely Important to a right understanding of any
social problem of the group.
The stationary period of invasion {1925 to the present
time) took a somewhat different aspect from that which we
have dealt with above. The first two periods were marked
In general by a constantly increasing entry of Japanese to
this city either as migrants from other sections of this
country, or as "direct® immigrants from Japan. This third
period was characterized by a slowing down of the process of
7
invasion, primarily due to the close of Japanese Immigration
to this country in 1924* Consequently, the Japanese popu
lation in this period has gradually been decreasing, al
though in the two years which immediately followed 1924 it
still continued to grow, and reached the climax in 1926
with the total figure, 22,732* When the Japanese Consulate
in Los Angeles made a survey of Japanese population in
southern California in 1930, the total number of Japanese
Including both the first and the second generation in Los
Angeles was counted at 21,081* At the time of the present
survey (1936) it was estimated that there were approximately
20,000 Japanese residing in this city, thus indicating a
7
.slight decrease from the total mimber of Japanese in 1950* ^
Factors involved in the Japanese social invasion*
rSo far we have presented a brief summary of the Japanese
invasion in Los Angeles# At this point it may seem quite
appropriate to speculate upon idmt factors have been working
to cause these people to migrate into this city* There are
several reasons why Japanese have come into Los Angeles*
Favorable climatic conditions in southern California, well
A Report of Japanese Consulate in Los
1930, p. 7.
7
A personal interview with Mr* H* Sekl, attache to
the Japanese Consulate in Los Angeles*
8
recognized throughout this country, constitutes one of the
forces which have induced many Japanese to move into this
city* The Japanese migration due to this force is similar
to that of the other Immigrant groups and the native Ameri
cans, so we shall not discuss it In detail here*
There are numerous educational institutions of high
standing in Los Angeles* The educational facilities furnish
ed by these schools have been a strong allurement to the
young Japanese or the parents who have children in schooll^
age* If anybody would ask a number of Japanese # 1 0 have
been residing in this city for more than fifteen, twenty,
or thirty years about their educational background, he
would find that most of them had attmidW some school,
college, or university, at one time or another*
The influence of friends or relatives who have found
Los Angeles as a good place to live is a third factor which
has induced some Japanese to move into this city* For those
who are interested in racial problems, it is quite conceiv
able that Japanese, who have migrated to a new country
entirely different from theirs, have a strong tendency to
move into the place which their friends or relatives have
already found as suitable place to reside#
The enactment of the California Alien Land Law of 1920
constitutes perhaps one of the most powerful reasons why
these Japanese have come to this city* Having been deprived
9
\
of their opportunity for engaging in agriculture, they hadUL
to find some occupational outlets in the cities. In this
connection states Tuthill thus:®
Since the leases on agricultural lands can no longer
he renewed toy the Japanese agriculturists, they are
having to move into the cities, and Los Angeles is
getting a larger proportion than many of the other
California cities, since other opportunities are more
attractive here than elsewhere*
Lastly and probably the most vital forces at work forT
I ’
the Japanese social invasion to Los Angeles are undoubtedly \
the economic opportunities which the city and its hinterland I
afford* The War-time "boom" and the phenomenal expansion of
the city, which created diverse sorts of business opportun!-^
ties to a multitude of incoming people, caused a large
number of Japanese to select Los Angeles as their place of
business enterprise, for as in the case of most of the other
immigrant groups, these people, in the final analysis, are
predominantly motivated by a philosophy of "get-rich-quiek*"
We have dealt with each factor for the Japanese social In
vasion separately# It must not be misunderstood, however,
that these forces have been working quite independently of
one another# We laust admit that in reality they have been
working together, and that in each case of Japanese migration
to this city, one or more factors working conspicuously than
the others# ;
® O* ^thill, "A study of the Japanese in the City of
Los Angeles," (unpublished Master's thesis, University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, 1924), Introduction 11.
10
JAPANESE COMMUNITIES IN LOS ANGELA
For the student of rseial problems the Investigation
of the formation of a racial area of any racial group is of
paramount importance, for it gives a basic clue to any prob
lem that may arise within the group or between the group and
other racial groups in a given oommmlty* From this point
of view let us note the Japanese commmities in Los Angeles.
At the time of the present survey (1935-1936) there are six
major Japanese areas in this city, where a high degree of
9
concentration of Japanese stands out conspicuously#
For the sake of convenience and clarity the writer
has designated them as follows:
1* Japanese Down-Town District
2. Boyle Heights and Evergreen Japanese District
3. West Tenth Street Japanese District
4# West 36th Street Japanese District
6. Madison Avenue Japanese District
6. Hollywood Japanese District
Of the preceding six Japanese districts five of them,
except the first, which is primarily the business center for
the group, are to be classified as residential districts.
Q
In his tliesis on "The Factws Affecting the Gwgra-
phieal Aggregation and Dispersion of the Japanese Residences
in the City of Los Angeles" Uono indicates that before 1927
these six Japanese districts had already been formed one
after another, although we must admit that these districts
have undergone certain changes, or have made some develop
ment from 1927 to the present time* Uono, op* cit.. Ohs*
II and IV.
11
Since there has been a considerable vagueness about the exact
location and size of these Japanese districts mainly due to
the difficulty of survey involved, an attempt has been made
by the writer to locate them through the process of checking
up the very spots, where Japanese reside, have their Insti
tutions, or open their shops or offices, as they are regis
tered in the Japanese Telephone and Business Directory of
southern California for 1935*^^ It must be added here that
the total number of telephones installed by Japanese has
been studied from a standpoint of discovering the extent of
congestion of the Japanese houses, stores, shops, hotels,
and Institutions in each district# The result of the in
vestigation just referred to has shown a distinct designation
of the Japanese districts in this city^ These districts
exist in the following areas
(1) The Japanese Down-town district# Hiis district
is a large area bounded by East First and Tenth Streets on
the north and the south, and by Main Street and Santa Fe
Avenue on the west and the east#
10
Ss. Tmlmphom. #ml Directory. ojL
Southern California^ Ho# 24 (1936), Los Angeles: aspire
Printing Company#
11
See the Social Research Map of Los Angeles on the
following page which show# the location of the Japanese
districts in this city.
12
SOCt^_RESEARCH MAP OF LOS ANGELES
4— 1.
r r c
Ü1VÜIÜN
DISTEIBUTIOMOFTHE.^IX JAPANESE
M T R IC T 5 IN LOS ANGELES
C om piLcd From The TeL. B Business
iiTcctoTy of So. C itif. No.
15
(2) The Boyle Heights and Evergreen Japanese dlatriét*
This Is the largest Japanese residential sone in tliis city,
and extends from Boyle Aveime to Downey Road, and from East
First to Bast Eighth Street, west to east, north to south#
(5) The West Tenth Street Japanese district# This
Japanese district is locate between West Tenth ar^ Pico
Street, and Vermont Avenue and Western Avenue#
(4) The West 56th Street Japanese district# This
area is composed of two suh-dlstriots: the larger one is
bounded by West Jefferson Street and West 57th Place, and
Vemnont and Western; and the smaller one, by West 28th Street
and Jefferson, and Western and Arlington#
(5) The Madison Avenue Japanese district# The Madi--
son Avenue Japanese District, located closer to Hollywood
than to the business center of the city, stretches from
Melrose Avenue to Beverly Boulevard, and Hoover Street to
Vermont Avenue*
(6) The Hollywood Japanese district* This Japanese
section, situated farthest from the down-town section of
Do® Angeles, is the second largest residential sone of
Japanese in this city# It spreads from Hollywood Boulevard
to Melrose Avenue, and Van less to Highland, covering an
area of approximately ten blocks square*
14
of the dletrletm# S© far we have
dSMBull; i N d l t d h L Iklie and Istie ]UBeat:l<)n ( o d T the
i&86 eeMM&lone jba IWbla eijfyv At: t%üL8 i>oiÆüb let iws txplejny
tBM&eet ]bOMP Jaya&rwN#e Iwave ecBBG t%> 84*tt]Ue and eatadbllxdb t&iesH*
< % 3 L # 1 t % r l e 1 k i * : f O % » I b G a a M c w p g k l i p e * # .
(1) The ^epam#»# doTO^town dletriot« About WOê^
e&e» the greet wrthqumke in Bm% Preneleeo fweed m large
number of Jmpeueee to migrate into Lee Angelee^ we find the! .
very heginming of the Jmimneee invmeiom on Seat First Street,
the funotionel oenter of thie dietrlet# Before that time a
email numhw of Japanese shops and boarding houses were found
mrotmd Alls© Street and Korth Alameda, and on Korth Sam
Pedro Street. The shifting of #me Japanese business ah%^
to Bast First Street was the outcome of the southwardly
BKMpeaMmt <%f t&we J*ypan4w*e elborew; on ]&oridb AJUBBedk* Stwreet# ]j*
eonnectlon with this prooese and its affect during the period
from 31X36 to 19314, fftatHW* Ikw&o;
A tM B & t 19(N 5 taie fdiops apM*dku&l]^r 3 j* 8 r % M & s < K l t&ieia* n K B B b e o p
3 L c t Ib&iis (ïjLa&tüPiloI;* i&iid i u 8 % 1 ; 3 L l b3ie ]uaap(se mmber <&f the
4f#k%MunwB%*e j a d b d ) i ) s i*e%*e jPotBmi iMUfeu* 3%kH8ure i N N a a r * * lalbout;
a d b a o g ) # : and I h w o s x a & a N » %&e$a#%Mm ] l ( ) 0 i a i a c i 300 I K k s w r t d b i :&#%&
I>4MabPO «0 1 * 1 adbosft awMnsnlsgr a d h w o g ) * ; 310C) and " 7 4 & 2 S IMosrWi
j l ] U B U Q d » d L « i i S I & K N N M & l ; # SübwBwa uuodSi3L 3193L0 more I B b w mi t half ( o d P tübe
#dbM8g&8 iBKUHMi osilt from 3*or4bli Alameda Street and In 1914k
adbout two#'thirds (%f the xNamalnijys (mes iseaM» awyt found
on that street* At the same time the numbw of shops
and %*CMOKajLryg i&cmaawkB Increaswl on 3&&%*t I ^ j U P N a t ; SI&ifewBis* * *
in 1908, gm Bast First SiHpeet of this district, there
were about eighty shops Including all kinds of business.^
%no, OP* cit#. Pm 43*
16
By 1916 Bast First Street in this district, which used to
be the Jewish business quarters, was transformed into the
Japanese business section#
The southward expansion of Japanese in this district
has been taking place since about the middle of the second
decade of this century# The primary forces associated with
that phenomenon were composed of (1) the introduction of
new types of industry for Japanese as those found in con
nection with the City Market of hoa Angeles, the Union Ter
minal Market, the Southern California Floral Market, and the
Union Floral Market in this area, has attracted many Japanese
to reside or start their business in this zone, and (2) the
physical deterioration of the residences caused by the
commercial and industrial expansion of the city has drawn
Japanese who cannot afford to pay high rent, or who prefer
to spend less for their house rent than for other types of
expenditures .
Since this district constitutes the only business
section of Japanese, as indicated before, the greatest degree
of concentration of the Japanese stores, offices, hotels, and
other types of Institutions intended to serve the needs of
Japanese stands out as its striking eharacteristlc* The
very nucleus of this district centers on ^Little Tokyo,"
an area which extends a few blocks in all directions from
the spot where East First end San Pedro Streets cross# Here
16
we find a clustering together of Japanese stores, offices,
hotels, hoarding houses, churches, and what not* Although
this whole district is essentially the business section of
Japanese, many Japanese are found residing in it# %# further
we go in any direction from "Little Tokyo.,** the more Japanese
residences are likely to be found in general* Owing to a
high degree of mobility of Japanese in this district as is
usual in any business center, it is almost Impossible to
secure the correct number of Japanese residences in this
area# The total number of telephones installed in the
Japanese stores, offices, hotels, residences, and other
institutions in this area in 1955 numbered 1,341, in which
East First street (between Main Street and Santa Fe Avenue)
led the other streets with 5T7 telephones installed#
(3) The Boyle Heights and Evergreen Japanese district.
The forerunner of Japanese invasion into this district, the
largest residential zone of Japanese within this city, was
a Buddhist minister,who founded a church In 1911 on South
Savannah Street, where Evergreen Municipal Playground stands
at present# A real aggregation of Japanese in this district,
however, did not take place until after 1930*^^ Since that
15 j* Isumida, present head minister of the
Buddhist Temple at 118 Morth Mott Street#
Uono, 0£. cit#* p* 153*
17
time a tremendous number of Japanese have settled In this
area, partly due to its proximity to the business section of
Japanese as well as that of the city, and partly of its
advantages as residential zone, such as freedom from the
noise and congestion in the business center, good air, cheap
rent, and the like* The total number of Japanese residing
in this area in March, 1956 is estimated at somewhere between
4,000 and 4,500*^ Approximately one thousand residences of
Japanese are estimated to be found here# It is interesting
to note that while the other Japanese districts, excepting
the Japanese Down-Town District, are predominantly inhabited
by Japanese gardeners and other manual laborers, this dis
trict is more or less a residential area for those Japanese
who are engaged in various trades or professions* These
residents are estimated eons 1 tuting nearly forty to fifty
per cent of the total number of Japanese in this district
(5) The West Tenth Street Japanese District. Several
Japanese who moved into this district about 1900 were the
pioneers of this residential area for the group# Regarding
those Japanese in these early days mentions Uono:
A personal interview with Mr# T* Kodani, who is a
chairman of the committee of Boyle heights and Evergreen
District of Japanese Association in Los Angeles#
16
Estimated by Mr# T# Kodani, referred to in the
preceding footnote.
18
About 1900 several Japanese came into this district#
They were found in shabby rooming houses# In early time,
as the district was In the low land, the district was
the undesirable population area, until the sewerage
was constructed.i"
Actual congestion of Japanese in this area is the
process which has been going on since 1980* Approximately
eighty per cent of Japanese residents who numbered a little
less than one thousand in 1927 had saovad into this district
since 1920»^^ At present a comparatively a large number of
Japanese residences are found on Hobart Street, Harvard
Boulevard, Fedora Street, and West Tenth Street within the
area, with 69 telephones installed out of the total of 110
19
telephones Installed by Japanese in the whole district*
According to Mr# M# Sato, who is on the West Tenth Street
Japanese District Committee of the Japanese Association of
Los Angeles, the number of Japanese residing in this district
in 1936 slightly exceeds three thousand, which would mean am
increase of nearly two thousand Japanese residents since
1927, when there were found about one thousand Japanese
having their residences# About 90 per cent of the adult
males of Japanese in this area is composed, of gardeners and
Homo, 0£* cit*. p# 129*
Ibid*. pp. 129-131.
19
ma. Japanasa Talaphona ^ Baalneas Pireotory s£.
aouthem California for 1935.
19
day laborers ; and the rest., of Japanese produce merchants
and their employees in this city. The occupational com
position of the Japanese adult males mentioned above almost
coincides with that in 1927, as observed by Uono;
From the first, the people In this district were
mainly day laborers, as in many other districts. Even
now the people in this district consists largely of
day laborers and gardeners
(4) The West 36th Street Japanese district. This
district consists, as mentioned before, of two sub-districts;
the larger one centering around West 36th Street, and the
smaller one in the adjoining area in the northwest of the
larger sub-district. Briefly they may be designated as
Sub-district A, and Sub-district B respectively. We shall
deal briefly with the formation and the present situation
of these areas in order# The first Japanese who came into
Sub-district A was a man named Kamada, who started a nursery
in 1902 or 1903 at the spot now occupied by the high school
in this region.The steady Increase of Japanese in this
area, however, began in the neighborhood of 1922 or 1923.
The tracing of the replacement of races idiich has taken place
in the area is interesting# About 1900 this region was
mostly inhabited by Italians. In the meantime, these Italians
20
ÜOÎIO, ££. cit.. p. 129
— —
Ibid.. p. 104.
20
moved out of the area chiefly for spéculâtlorn; then the
colored people came In since 1912 or 1913, invading the
area at Banker and West 55th Street; and finally Japanese
began to settle here since 1922 or 1923.^ At present this
area constitutes the largest area where the colored people
and Japanese live side by side or sometimes in the same
flats or apartments, with a comparatively small group of
white people residing in the outer sections of the area.
A marked degree of congestion of Japanese residences in this
area is revealed by the number of telephones Installed by
Japanese.
Table II on the following page indicates that;
(1) The highest degree of aggregation of Japanese
residences it to be located on West 37th Street, 36th Place,
56th Street, 35th Place, and South Normandie Avenue, where
127 telephones, or slightly more than half of the total
number of telephones (244), are installed by Japanese.
(2) On the street# which run from east to vest in
this area are found approximately twice as many Japanese
residences as those on the streets running from north to
south, since the total number of telephones Installed
Japanese on these two series of streets are 81 and 163
respectively.
Ibid*, pp* 104-125, esp. pp* 104-105, and p. 184.
21
TABLE II
OF TELEPHONES IH8TALLEL BY JAPANESE
IN SUB-DISTRIOT A IN THE #E8T 36t^8TREET
JAPM4E8E DISTRICT'; 1935"^
Street House numbers
MumGer oï
telephones
Grand
Total
west 37th St. 1,000-2,000 38 38
west 36th PI. 1,000-2,000 34 34
West 36th St. 1,000-2,000 31 31
Normandie Ave. 3,000-3,800 30 30
west 35th PI. 1,000-2,000 24 24
Western Ave. 3,000-3,800 19 19
west 37th PI, 1,000-2,000 16 16
west 35th Bt. 1,000-2,000 14 14
Harvard Blvd. 3,000-3,800 11 11
Haldale Ave. 3,000-3,800 6 6
W. Jefferson 1,000-2,000 6 6
La Salle Ave. 3,000-3,800 3 3
Danker Ave. 3,000-3,800 3 3
Vermont Ave. 3,000-3,800 3 3
Budlong Ave. 3,000-3,800 2 2
Dalton Ave. 3,000-3,800 1 1
Raymond Ave. 3,000-3,800 1 1
Van Buren PI. 3,000-3,800 1 1
Catalina St.
1
.. 1-- -
Totals 163 61 244
* E-V# and N-S signify the directions of street* The figures
under these headings are arranged according to the direction
of street on which the telephones are Installed by Japanese
residents,
p'Z
Compiled by the writer based upon the dah found in
In The Japanese Telephone and Business Directory of Southern
waji .i MUi i " I I I "M " ' ........ \ ' « n ptmmmmtnmmmmmmmmr n
Califomla , Ho7 E4 , 1935 #
82
It is estimated at present that approxImately 530
Japanese residences are found in this area; about half of
the Japanese adult male residents are engaged in gardening;
and that comparatively a large number of Japanese are pur
suing the nursery business.^
Sub-district B is a sort of outgrowth of Sub-district
Â, which we have described so far. Concerning this expending
process and its result as they appeared in 1927 Uono reports;
« • • the Japanese who have good economic standing
moved out into the adjutant region, to the northwest of
this district (♦Sub-district A')# In this district
there are about fifteen families# They are mainly
office men or business men* But these families scatter
all over tfe® region except one group of several
families*'^
The total number of Japanese residences in this area at
present is estimated at about 150. This figure indicate#
that during the ten years (1927 to 1936) the number of
Japanese houses have increased about ten times since 1926.
The vocational composition of the adult males in this
area 1# more or less similar to that in 1927* And a majority
of these people are composed of men like attaches to the
Japanese Consulate in Los Angeles, business men, and employees
A personal interview with Mr* T. Takada, president
of the Southwestem Japanese Association for 1936*
Uono, 0^# _c_it*, p* 125.
26
Estimated by Mr* T* Takada, president of the
Southwestern Japanese Association for 1936*
23
of the Los Angeles branches of Yokohama Specie Bank or
Sumitomo Bank* Thus the occupational make-up of the Japan
ese residents of this area is Indicative of a higher social
status of the group compared with that of the Japanese
found in Sub-district A#
(6) The Madison Avenue Japanese district. Although
several Japanese were found as early as before 1910, many
Japanese came into this district around 1914 or 1916, and a
large group of Japanese moved into this region since 1925.
At present the total number of Japanese residences is
estimated at 160, and nearly one thousand Japanese are
found residing in the area*^^ Most of the Japanese (adult
males) in this district are engaged in manual labor, such
as gardening or various forms of day work* A Japanese
student of sociology who lived in this district from 1930
to 1934 has observed;
This particular Japanese area is predominantly
inhabited by gardeners and day workers, and about forty
per cent of the total adult male Japanese are gardeners;
thirty per cent, day workers ; and the remaining thirty
per cent, in other miscellaneous vocations*
A concentration of Japanese houses is particularly
noticeable on Virgil Avenue, Madison Street, Westmoreland
27
Uono, ^* cit*. pp* 125-128*
A personal interview with Mr* 8* Ozawa, proprietor
of a boarding house in Madison Street Japanese District.
24
Avenue, and Gozmaonwea 1 th Avenue, which run from south to
north in this district.^ The area is on a low level of
land and the Japanese houses in the region are mostly small
and are not well taken care of in comparison with those in
other Japanese districts in the city.
(6) The Hollywood Japanese district. The settlement
of Japanese in this district starts somewhere between 1910
and 1912# As early as 1906, however, when a Japanese opened
a nursery on Bronson Avenue, about twenty Japanese were
found in Hollywood working for the white families#^ In the
spring of 1923, the Japanese who were crowded together on
Tamarind Avenue became the victims of anti-Japanese agitation
which flared up in the region# Although the agitation
ended fruitlessly, the Japanese in this district seem to
have scattered in a wide area rather evenly since that time#
And at present (193) the total number of Japanese residences
31
is estimated at about 280; yet we do not see any degree
of congestion of Japanese, which is worth while to mention
here# The number of Japanese families in this district has
^ The number of telephones installed in the Japanese
homes on these streets numbered 73 In 1935, which would con
stitute about two-thirds of the total number of telephones
Installed by Japanese (111) in the district#
30
uono, gg* cit». pp# 138-140.
S I
A personal interview with Mr. 8# Kaihatsu, a local
correspondent for the L.Â# Japanese Daily News, and who has
been residing in Hollywood more than twenty years#
25
increased from seventy-five (1927)®^ to two hundred and
eighty (1956), thus showing an increase of nearly two hundred
Japanese families within the last ten years in the area.
The Japanese people living in this district are mostly
gardeners, day workers, nurserymen, and retail florists.
Relatively a large number of Japanese are estimated working
for the white families in this region as well as in Beverly
Hills as cooks, chauffeurs, maids, school hoys or school
girls, and the like. The number of Japanese in this dis
trict and its surrounding zones is estimated in the neigh
borhood of 2,000 at present.^^
Briefly summarizing the geographical
distribution of the Japanese in this city, we find that a
majority of the Japanese including both the first-generation
and the second-generation could be located in the six well-
defined Japanese districts, namely, the Japanese Down-Town
District, The Boyle Heights and Evergreen District, The West
Tenth Street District, The 56th Street District, The Madison
Avenue District, and the Hollywood District. While the
Japanese Down-Town District is devoted primarily to various
foams of vocational activities of the people, the other five
32
Uono, 0£. cit.. p. 139.
S3
A personal Interview with My, 8. Kaihatsu,
36
districts constitute their residential sections in this
city*
The Japanese social invasion in Los Angeles, which
started as far back as 1886 with the first Japanese settler
here, went through its initial period (1805-1905), as well
as in the developmental period (1906-1924), and is in the
stationary period since 1925* The Japanese population,
which reached its peak in the neighborhood of 1925 or 1926,
has been declining due to the gradual decrease of the first-
generation Japanese» The total number of the Japanese
residents in Los Angeles was estimated at 20,000 in 1955#
CHAPTER II
VOCATIONS OF JAPANESE IN LOS ANGELES
TYPES OP VOCATIONS
The vocations of Japanese In Los Angeles may generally
fall into the following three categories : (1) those which
primarily deal with Japanese; (S) those Wiich deal extensively
with Americans and other races; and (3) those which deal with
both Japanese and non-Japanese as well. As we shall see in
the following chapters, the first two types of vocations have
been pursued by Japanese practically ever since the beginning
of Japanese social invasion in this city; while the third,
has apparently been the product of the changing social and
economic conditions, which have been taking place in the
last twenty or twenty-five years.
In the Telephone Directory of Japanese in Los Angeles,
1915, thirty-three different vocations with 603 stores and
offices were represented in the first type of vocations as
against eleven vocations with 276 stores in the second type.
The vocations and the number of business establishments of
Japanese in Los Angeles in 1915 are given in Table III on
the following page.
As indicated in Table III, the vocations of the first
type, which were called into existence to meet the essential
28
TABLE III
VOCATIONS OF JAPANESE LOS ANGELES, 1915^
A. THOSE WHICH DEALT WITH JAPANESE
Vocations
iumGer of '3fapemese
engaged
1. Ïîoteïs 133*
2. Japanese-style Mstaurants 52
3. Boarding houses and rooms for rent 48
4. Tailors and dressmakers 41
5# Transportation services 28
6. Physicians, surgeons, dentiste.
optometrists, and veterinarians 20
7. Mldwivee 20
8# Groceries (Japanese provisions) 20
9. Pool halls 19
10. Employment agencies 17
11. Ticket and other agencies 15
12. Masseurs and chiropractors 14
13. Legal interpreters 14
14. Barber shops 14
15. Carpenters 14
16. Watch repairers 13
17. Pii otogra phers ■ 11
18. Dry goods stores 11
19. C onfectionarlea 10
20. Painters and plumbers 10
21. Taxi cabs and garages 9
22. Shoe shops 8
23.
Sign-makers and sculptors 8
24. Druggists 3
25. Bath Houses 6
26. Insurance agents 6
27. Food imnufacturing 4
28. Book stores 4
29. Ferti11zer business 3
30. Tea importers 2
31. Sewing machine agents 2
32. Beauty shop 1
33. Shirt factory 1
* According to Mr. K# Asano, who has been in hotel as well
as boarding house business in this city since 1906, Japanese
hotelmen around 1915 mainly catered to Japanese in this city#
29
III (CONTINUED)
VOCATIONS 0# JAPANESE IN LOS AMOELES, 1915
B. THOSE miGH DEAIT WITH AMERICANB AND OTHER RACES
Vocations
Sumber of Japaxieae
engaged
1» Day workers 57
2. Nurseries 42
3. Cleaners and launderers 38
4. Cafes 36
6# Art goods stores 28
6# Produce merchant# 28
7. Groceries 17
8# Retail florists 9
9. Chop suay restaurants 8
10. Fruit stands 8
11. Tobacco stores 6
îotai' "27ë " ' '
Compiled by the writer based upon the data found
In the Japanese Telephone Directory In Los Angeles, 1915,
whioh TOs KÏn«âly' furnl'aEed'Gyir#'"E. ^oHïîiose#
30
n&@âB of Japanese, had far exceed^ those of the second type
both In number and profit-making# This trend had lasted
until about the time when Los Angeles experienced its epoch-
making expansion and business prosperity during the several
years after the World War* With the business prosperity
mentioned above, however, the foregoing tendency has been
reversed, that is, the number of the second type has steadily
been multiplied, while that of the first type has shown no
such trend, even to any noticeable degree#
Various factors could be enumerated for the interpre
tation of this significant phenomenon* These factors, how
ever, may be reduced to one dynamic factor, namely, the
very limited scope of the consuming power of Japanese in this
city. To elaborate the last statement, Japanese who were
keen enough to observe that their countrymen in their own
cmmmnities had already been accommodated with their primary
needs in the "boom" period on one hand, and that there was
an almost unlimited field of business expansion outside of
their own group, ventured to enter the lines of business, in
which a huge group of Americans and other races constituted
their prospective clientele. Motivated by the similar sort
of desire a large number of Japanese extended their scope of
business from their own group over to the other races in the
same period* This is particularly noticeable in the hotel
and barber shop business, which comprise the third type of
31
of vocations, mentioned at the beginning of the present
chapter. The major vocations of these three types and the
corresponding figures of Japanese establishments for each
vocation in 1928 and 1934 are presented in Table IV on pages
32 and 33*
of fable XV. The total number of
Japanese engaged in the vocations listed in fable IV A, did
not show any considerable amount of increase. Of the twenty-
one vocations listed those which had comparatively a large
number of Japanese participants In 1934 were doctors, dentists,
and pharmacists (74), Japanese-style restaurants (72), insur
ance agencies (55), and dry goods stores (43). Fourteen
vocations reveal an increase of Japanese participants rang
ing between 27 in insurance agency and 2 in tailors and
dressmakers; while seven vocations, a decrease varying from
13 in real estate business to 1 in the carpenter and plumbing
business#
The total number of Japanese engaged in the vocations
In fable IV B, In 1934 was 2,995 as against 2,234 in 1928,
thus indicating a marked increase of Japanese in the vocations
which deal with Americans and other races# The vocations in
idiich more than four hundred Japanese were found engaged in
1934 were gardening, fruit and vegetable retail business,
and groceries. It is interesting to note that with the
32
TABLE IV
NLTAmER OF JAPANESE m-îGAGED IN VARIOUS VOCATIONS
IN LOS ANGELES IN 1928 and 1934.
A. THOSE miCH DEALT %ITH JAPANESE
Vocations ■ Total ■ nuiker ïnoi^asé
TSSSRT l§34*^ or decrease
1. Doetora, dentists, and
pharzTia cists 81 74 -7
2# Japanese-style restaurants 65 72 7
3. Insuranc© eigeiicles 28 66 27
4. Tailors .and dressmakers 26 28 2
5. Real estate brokers 26 11 -16
6# Dry goods stores 23*** 46 22
7# liasseurs 21*** 19 —2
a. Midwives 2 !*•**
16 -6
9. Lawyers & legal interpretem 19 28 9
10. Garages & service stations 19 26 7
11. Carpenters, plumbers, and
architects 19 18 —1
12. Confectionaries 16 26 10
13. Seed & fertilizer dealers 16 13 -2
14. Jewellers & watch repairers 13 11 -2
15. fho t ogra phers 12 16 4
16. Book stores, statioimrias.
printing shops 10 15 6
17. Employment agencies 9 12 3
18. Fish and meat dealers 8 16 7
19. Notaries 5 16 11
20. Dealers in radios, musical
instruments, and sewing
machines 4 34 30
21. Beauty specialists 3 10 7
#otal 4M + 66
* Compiled by th© writer# Th© figures for 1928 were
obtained from W# T. Ilataoka, "Occupations of Japanese in Los
Aàgt^les»" Sociology and Social Research, ■ XIV (Sept.-Oct.,
1929) , 53 ff -----------------
** The figures for 1934 were based upon the report of the
Japanese Association of Los Angeles, 1935#
*** According to the survey mad© by the Los Angeles Japan-
American Lews, October, 1927.
33
TABLE IV (OülïTINUED
NUMBER OP JAPANESE El^GAGED I Z ^ V.IRIOUS V0(F.TI0N8
IN LOS ANGELES IN 1928 anl 1934
B. THOSE WHICH DEALT WITH /lMERIC;A^4S AiW O'lHEH RACES
Vooations
Total
1§§8
niimber
Ï9&4
Increase o)
decrease
1. ëar2* Groceries 292 470* 178
3. P'ruit & vegetable stands 203 343* 342
4. Produce merchants (wholesale) 38 48 10
5. Cafes & restaurants 108 83 -23
6. Gleaners & launderers 80 96 16
7. Retail florists 74 103 31
8. Nurseries 69 71 2
9. Chop suey restaurants 48 73 27
'TotaT . . tWi
* The figure ineluded the Japanese groceries in Los Angeles
as well as in jest Los i - ’ uigeles, San Fernando, Burbank, and
Norwalk.
** The Japanese fruit and vegetable stands in West Los Augeieg
San Fernando, Burbanlc, and Norwalk are included in this
figure #
T/iBLE IV (GOATIimED)
imFBER OF JAP/umSE m-iGAGED IN V/ŒI0U8 VOCATIONS
IN LOS AimELES IN 1928 AND 1934
C. TiUSE ,;HICH DEALT WITH BOTH JAPANESE AND NON-JAPANESE
fotal number ïnerease o3
Vocations . .... ' w m ' — i R g r decrease
1 . Sotéis
2 # Barber shoos 107 69 -38
total ^74 4- 4é
m
single exception of the cafe and restaurant business, all
the other vocations attracted some Japanese to enter between
1928 and 1934* The retail produce business has drawn more
Japanese than any other vocation listed here, with 342 new
entries in the period.
Within a period of six years (1928-1934) the total
number of Japanese hotels in Los Angeles Increased from 221
to 306 with a net Increase of eighty-four hotels; while that
of Japanese barber shops decreased from 107 to 69, with a
loss of thirty-eight barber shops* The reasons for this
situation are given in Chapter III, in which a full explana
tion of the Japanese barber shop business is presented.
CHAPTER III
PERSONAL SERVIC]^
The vocations known generally as personal services
have attracted a large number of Japanese In Los Angeles. At
present many Japanese are found operating barber shops,
laundries, cleaning shops, hotels, boarding houses, Japaneae-
atyle restaurants, and cafes in this city. In this chapter
we shall present why and how the first-generation Japanese
who came here as immigrants have entered Into these lines of
business, and have expanded up to where they are now in these
fields.
JAPANESE BARSmt SHOPS
The barber shop business is one of the vocations which
thrived among the immigrant Japanese in Los Angeles in the
past, and is undergoing a gradual decline at present. The
opening of the first Japanese barber shop in this city dates
back to 1899, when a barber shop was starts by a Japanese
by the name of K. Yanagi.^
In the four years which had followed the opening of
the first barber shop more than a dozen Japanese entered this
^ The Los Angeles Japanese Daily Hews, The Myriad.
1934, p. 80.
56
lin© of business# And in 1903, according to Mr* H. Eurokawa,^
the total number of these barber shops counted eighteen, of
which eight shops were found on North Alameda Street, and th©
rest of them, close to that section of this city.
Referring to a comparative easiness of opening a barber
shop in those days states Mr* H* Kurokawa, thus:
When I started a barber shop near Worth Alameda Street
in 1905, it was quite easy for anybody to open a barbw
shop* Ho license was required. Just a little bit of
technical training in this business guaryiteed anybody
for entering this field. Approximately #300 in cash
was sufficient to furnish a prospectiv@ barber with a
chair, a sink, a mirror, and other kinds of equipments
for a barber shop, leaving enough money for house rent.
Moreover, in case of a small barber shop, no tax was
levied on the operator* ^
When the Southern California Japanese Barbers * Associ
ation was organized by the Japanese barbers residing here
in 1909, there were forty-six barber shops, most of which
being found in this oity.^ Commenting on the business situ
ation of the Japanese barbers in Los Angeles in 1915 states
H. A* Millis, author of the Japanese Problems in the United
States:
o
Mr# H. Kurokawa has been in barber shop business in
Los Angeles these thirty-two years since 1905, and keeps his
shop at 116 Plaza Street in this city*
^ According to Mr. H. Kurokawa in a personal interview.
^ In a personal Interview with Mr. R# Tamura, President,
of the Southern California Japanese Barbers * Association for
1955#
m
* » # the barber shop# have expanded In some oases
from two to four chairs# . . . Taken as a whole, the
stores and shops look better than those of white men,
mostly foreign born, in the same section of the city#
This is especially true of the barber shops# All of
them appear to have recently been papered and repaired,
and are scrupulously clean#®
During the period of business prosperity since the
World War a considerable number of barber shops were opened
by the Japanese in this city, exceeding 100 in all in 1922
6
and 1925# The total number of Japanese barber shops in
7
this city in 1927 was counted at 107#
With the present depression, however, the number of
these barber shops has been declining year after year, except
in 1950 when it exceeded that of 1929 as shown in the follow
ing table.
Some of the basic factors contributing to the declin
ing trend in the barber shop business among the local Japan
ese are:
1# The present business depression has affected so
severely the economic life of cmmaon people that those who
used to patronise these barbershops have corns to have their
hair cut less frequently than before, and In ease of a large
^ H# A, Mlllis, The Japanese Problems in the United
States ( New York; Macmiïîan ' 'S'oiapany, ÏSTS"]",' pp.
6
Estimated by Mr# R. Tamura, who has been operating
a barber shop in Los Angeles for more than twenty years.
7
L# A. Japan-Amerlea Daily Nema October 31, 1927*
38
TABLE V
mmLR OF JAPANESE BARBER SHOPS IN
LOS AHGEmS FRüài 1929 to 1935^4-
Year
Humber of
Bstabllslments
1929 99
1930 108
1931 99
1932 89
1933 76
1934 69
1935
68-3^
xAooordlng to Mr. Okuda, a Japanese bar-
ber here, during the ahort period from
January to Deoember 1935, six of theee
barber ahopa were closed, tima bringing
the total number of the local Japanese
barber shops down to sixty-two*
59
family a simple machine for a îialr-ctit is often pnrehased
to save the mcpenses for hair out at barber shops. Business
inactivity thus created has affected the Japanese barbers
to such an extent that some of them were forced to close
9
their shops or to shift to some other vocational fields.
2m Present requirements for entering the business are
undoubtedly a dead-look to most of the local Japanese who
might otherwise start a barber shop# Technical training for
six months at a local barber college, acquisition of an
operator’s license through passing the local State examin
ation for barbers, a minimum of educational background of
American grammar school graduates, — all these prerequisites
for starting a barber shop present an almost insurmountable
difficulty to the Japanese, who would like to go into the
10
business#
Distribution of the Japanese barber shops# Of the
sixty-two Japanese barbershops in this city about two-thirds
of them are scattered all over the city, with nearly twenty
of them clustering in or near ^Little Tokyo," the business
9
The writer remmnbers numerous instances of the
advertisement of sale of Japanese barber shops in the local
Japanese press in recent years. Most of those advertise
ments showed that these barbers were intending to return to
Japan#
Generally speaking, the American-born Japanese do
not seem to be Interested in this line of business. Two of
them have been legally qualified to engage in the business*
Only one of them is actually practicing It at present*
40
center of Japanese In this city# Those in ^ ’ Little Tokyo"
area are patronized zminly by the Japanese, but the rest
of them are frequented by the customers of different races,
who vary according to the spots where these barber shops are
located. For Instance, a Japanese barber in Boyle Heights
admits that his shop is patronized by Japanese, Jews, and
Mexicans in that district; while another Japanese barber In
the Plaza, the old Mexican district in Los Angeles, reports
that Mexicans in the area comprise a majority of his clientele.
In general, the Japanese barber shops are operated on
a small scale, with two chairs in most cases
Japanese women barbers. Approximately two-thirds of
all the Japanese barber shops have women barbers, numbering
about forty in all.^^ And the majority of these women
barbers are housewives of the Japanese barbers, who are In
no small degree assisted by them financially. In some cases
these women operate their barber shops, and their husbands
11
One Japanese barber whom the writer is well
acquainted with has stated that in the period of business
prosperity some Japanese barber shops were equipped with six
or seven chairs, which have been reduced to four or three
chairs at present*
According to Mr. Okuda, a Japanese barber, in the
sixty-two barber shops of Japanese In this city two persons
are working per shop on an average, thus bringing the total
of all Japanese barbers up to 124. Ho correct data in this
regard are available, due to frequent change of the owners of
shops as well as the rapid decline in the number of these
shops in recent years#
go mit to work în other lines of business* A oasual tourist
from Japan Is often surprised to see a marked invasion of
the fair sex In this business, for very few Japanese women
operate or work in the barber shops in Japan# The situation
likewise may semstrange to American observers, since Ameri
can women seldom operate or work in the barber shop# Strange
as it may be, there are several reasons why so many Japanese
women have adopted this particular vocation* An economic
reason, that the woman barber could contribute to the income
of her household more advantageously than through working
in some other jobs, is perhaps the strongest factor for
driving Japanese women to this business# "When I could earn
only sixty or seventy dollars a month in other jobs at
maximum, " states one Japanese woman barber, "I could make
more money in working in our shop* Supposing we (husband
and wife) have an Income of #500 a month here in our shop,
at least one half of the sum is creditable to my service* "
Favorable reactions of customers to the Japanese
women barbers is seemingly another reason for inducing other
Japanese women to open a barber shop or help their husbands
in the shops# Several of these women barbers have revealed
indirectly that their customers often compliment them on
their fine service#
42
CLEANING AND LAUNDRY BUSINESS
Causative factors. At least several factors seem to
have caused the local Japanese to find their vocational
outlets in cleaning or laundry business* Of course the
direct or primary cause for choosing this field of business
may have differed in each case; but after final analysis the
following elements seem to have played significant parts in
their selection of this type of worki
1* Business boom after the World War, in which every
kind of business enjoyed prosperity#
2* Ease of starting the business, with a small amount
of capital and a short period of training or practice in the
business* In this regard one Japanese in cleaning and
pressing business has remarkW;
The business of cleaning and pressing could be started
with a small amount of capital. For example, for a small
cleaning and pressing shop some amount of money covering
the expenses for purchasing a pressing machine and an
ironing machizie would be quite enough for a person to
start business . . . ♦ And a short period of apprentice
ship at some good shop in this field would give him all
necessary background to run the business, although it
would take him some time to be a skillful presser.
5* The hardship which the Japanese immigrants have
encountered owing to their linguistic handicaps seem to have
forced some of them to select this type of business, in
which a small amount of English vocabularies for daily con
versation would suffice for them to get along in the business,
45
4# The fact that the average Japanese are endowed
with a skill in handling delicate handwork has also been a
dynamic factor for them In entering this field of business#
Rise and growth of the business. Chronologically
speaking the Japanese in Los Angeles entered the laundry
business first, and then took up cleaning and pressing work#
The first Japanese laundry in this city was the Sun Hand
Laundry, which was opened in 1808 on H^an Pedro Street between
IS
Seventh and Eighth Streets* In 1907 there were five
Japanese laundries in this city#^^
It is interesting to note in this connection that the
general fashion of dresses a ong the ladies in those day#
demanded that type of delicate work which could be done by
hand laundry rather than by the use of machines* One Japan
ese who has been in cleaning business since 1907 puts It,
thus:
In 1907 or thereabout the dresses worn by women were
mostly of linen cotton, and were much longer than those
which are in vogue among women in recent years* Further
more, they were so fancy that they could be better
washed, cleaned, and pressed by a laui^ry, especially
by hand laundry rather than by machines*
Attention must be called here to the appearance of
1
A personal interview with Mr. E. Yazaki, present
proprietor of Tacoma Gleaner and Dyer, who started a laundry
shop here in 1907*
Itold.
44
the first Japanese cleaner In this city# According to the
Survey of Les Angeles Dally Hews which was made in 1.934 with
reference to the Japanese pioneers in various business enter
prises in Los Angeles, the first cleaner in the local Japanese
Gommnity was opened by T# Kurakane, in 1904*^^
During the years which had preceded the outbreak of
the World War in 1914 very few Japanese in this city entered
this line of business, in spite of the fact that comparatively
a large number of that race had been engaged in it in the
large cities on the northern Pacific Coast, such as Sen
Franc1SCO or Seattle. According to the Japanese Telephone
Directory of Lputhem California. 1915, thirty-seven Japanese
were found running either cleaning shops or laundries in this
ig
city in that year*
Since practically a negligible number of Japanese were
engaged in this business in those days there never arose a
labor problem involving the white laundrymen on one side and
the Japanese on the other, as was the case in the northern
IS
The Myriad. Los Angeles Daily News, 1934, p* 81*
IS
Mr* 0. Furumura who has been engaged in cleaning
and dyeing business in this city since 1914 maintains that
there were only five or six cleaners here in 1914# In the
case of laundry Mr# A* Yasaki, whom we have mentioned else
where, contends that less than ten Japanese laundries were
found here even as late as 1919#
4$
cities on the Pacific Coast of this country
The post-War period of business prosperity in this
country ( 1919-?i*1922 ) gave an impetus to the Japanese activities
in this business here. During this period most of the local
Japanese in this line of business at present opened their
shops, entering in the main the field of retail cleaning and
pressing work* In 1927 the total number of the Japanese
cleaning and pressing shops in Do# Angeles was estimated at
seventy-one; while that of laundries, at fifteen* Thus the
combined figure (86) for the Japanese in cleaning and pressing
or laundry work in 1927 was more than twice as big as that
(37) in 1915. At the present time (1935) the total number
of the Japanese establishments in this line of personal
service in this city is 100, indicating a slight increase
over the figure for 1927* Of these 100 establishments, six
are in hand laundry work; two, in wholesale laundry and dye
19
work; and ninety-two, in retail cleaners and pressers.
The situations which gave rise to the formation of
"anti-Japanese Laundry League" in some northern cities on the
Pacific Coast are fully explained in H. A, Millis. The Japan
ese Problems In the United States, p* 67.
The estimate was made in October, 1927, by the L.A*
Japan-American Daily News* C. 8* Sndo, Okayama-Keniin In
SoutEern D'aXïl^TOÏa/ T3S5, p. 71*
The data was given by Mr* 8* Tanahashi, proprietor
of Ashi Dye Works, and president of the Laundry and Dry
Cleaners’ Association of Japanese*
46
jcoloKloal setting of the business« At present the
Japanese In laundry or cleaning and pressing business in
20
this city have spread out all over the city; due partly
to the type of work itself , in which service is extended to
all classes of people with no restriction as to differences
in race, economic or social scale of the clientele; and
partly due to the fact that the average customers in this
sort of work are likely to patronise the shops which offer
fine service, with no racial discrimination whatsoever#
A majority of the retail cleaners and pressers of the
Japanese in this city are on a small scale, equipped with
one or two pressing machines and ironing boards, and are
conducts mostly by the mmnbers of the family of the proprie
tors, with a few employees. In these shops only pressing ^
cleaning, and a little amount of mending and repairing
service are done, and the actual work of washing or dyeing
is taken care of by other wholesale laundries and dyers of
the Japanese or American, which give in turn commissions to
the retailers for the service.
20
There are five Japanese cleaners and dyers in
"Little Tokyo," the local Japanese business section on East
First and San Pedro Streets. Except these five establish
ments which are largely patronised by the Japanese, most of
the remaining shops in this field are primarily catering
to American and other nationalities in this city.
47
TABLE VI
OEOGRAPHIGAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE JAPAHESE
ESTABLISHMENTS CLEANING ^IND
BUSINESS IN LOS ANGELES, 1935'^''"
'ïlames ' of s ira© t s
'Knxber''o3f’ " '
m © tabli shment s
T
1
2
1
1
8
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
5
1
2
1
2
5
2
3
4
1
1
1
6
6
1
3
3
2
1
1
2
2
2
BeveFIyBouîe^
Broadway
Gahuenga Avenue
Central Avenue, South
Gloverdale Avenue
East First Street
East Fourth Street
East Twelfth Street
Flower Street
Georgia Street
Griffin Avenue
Hilton Court
Hoover Street, South
Jefferson Street, West
Melrose Avenue
Normandie Avenue, South
Pleo Street, test
Red Cllff Street
San Pedro Street, North
San Pedro Street, South
Santa Monica Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Temple Street, West
Vlrgil Avenue
West First Street
West Third Street
West Sixth Street
West Seventh Street
West Eighth Street
West Ninth Street
West Tenth Street
West Eleventh Street
West 37th Street
West 54th Street
Western Avenue, North
Western Avenue, South
Will t tier Boulevard
lira: w
The Japanese Telephone and Business Directory of
Southern California, I?o. 34, ÏÜ55, pp. 57-58.
48
BOARDING A?m HOTEL BUSINESS
Factors which have -allured the local Japanese to
boarding houge or hotel buglne##, several vital element#
geem to account for the comparatively large number of Japan##e
who have gone Into boarding house or hotel business here*
Linguistic difficulties which the Japanese immigrants have
met constitute one of these elaaents* It semas quite natuMl
that on choosing their vocations some of these Japanese have
selected a type of business in which their scanty English
vocabularies would not handicap them very much* The followii^
statement is illustrative of this point of view:
If we had possessed a sufficient knowledge of spoken
English on our arrival to Ws Angeles some thirty years
ago, we might have entered some other type of business
dealing with white customers* But we could not under
stand English at all; so we opened a boarding house in
which we could cater to J apanese labor ers who were
increasing by years that time*^
The increase of the Japanese population and the
phenomenal expansion of this city in the first twenty year#
is another factor for the Japanese entry into boarding house
as well as hotel business. As we have presented the situation
before we shall not deal with it in detail here*
That a boarding house or hotel of small siz.e could be
22
One Japanese woman who has been in boarding house
business these thirty years*
49
iimnaged rather eoonomloally by the members of the family la
a third factor# In fact most of the small Japanese boarding
houses or hotels in this city are largely taken care of by
^ ' 7
the members of families of their resp^tive proprietors# A
hotel keeper whom the writer knows well has mentioned;
If a hotel is accommodated with fifty rooms, or
thereabout, all kinds of odd jobs, such as changing
sheets, pillow cases, or towels, or keeping the roams
in good order, oonld easily be met by the members of
the family# Only once in a while some help is needed
from outside. Thus the owner could run the hotel
quite economically#
From the standpoint of labor the matter of running a
small hotel does not require hard work at all# An easy type
of work may explain the fourth element for the predominance
of Japanese in this particular business# A precaution for
the days of old age of an individual has affected the choice
of vocation# An elderly proprietor of a hotel has revealed
this attitude:
Daily jobs we have to do here are not very hard. Bven
when we become old, I am sure that we could make beds,
clean up rooms, and do other odd jobs, for our work is
not restricted by hours as in the case of grocery
business# And we would have plenty of time to do our
regular Jobs#
Steadiness of business constitutes the fifth element#
The fact that business depression does not affect those in
this business so quickly and so seriously as in the case of
those in other business enterprises seems to have conducive
features judging by the considerable entry of Japanese in
this field* In other words, the desire for seourlty has been
the predominant factor in the oho ice of this type of business*
The following etatment is given to illustrate this attitude :
Since my arrival to this country nearly thirty years
ago I have tried many different jobs, ami have been
engaged in several kinds of business* %en hotel busi
ness went into ^boom’ I bought the present hotel at
some $800, which X had saved up through hard labor#
Although I entered the business at its peak of prosperity
I started the business fully realising that it would
guarantee steady Income even though it would decline*
And in these days of depression our business is pretty
slow, but our steady customers pay us regularly, thus
enabling us to run our hotel*
The advantage of catering to a large group of white
clients rather than to a limited number of Japanese has
proved to be the sixth element which enticed many Japanese
to open hotels in the areas which are inhabited by the people
other than the members of their own race* A# illustration
of this situation is given below:
T*hen I kept a boarding house for the Japanese for
nearly ten years our business met its prosperity in the
post-war period, and I could save some amount of money*
Since many boarding houses and hotels were started by
Japanese here, and a pretty keen competition was waged
among us* I felt that I had to make some drastic change
in my business policy, or to enter some other new field#
I thought deliberately about it, and finally I made up
my mind to start a hotel for white customers rather
than for Japanese* ihen the present hotel was put on
sale I bought it at once# Since then I have been here
catering to the American and other nationalities*
Experiences in the hotel business in other sections of
this country, mostly in the northern parts on the Pacific
Coast, seem to have caused some of the Japanese migrants to
m
this city to open hotels# Aoeording to Mr# N# Murakem#,
Secretary of the Japanese Hotel Aseoelatlon of Los Angeles,
the majority of hotels run by Japaneee for the people other
than Japanese here are operated by those who have had some
eacperleneea in this business in the northern parts of the
Faeifio Coast on the continent# They have had a real
expwienee of the business in the big hotels run by the
Amerieans in 8an Fransisoo, Seattle, or other big eitiea
in the north#
We have listed several major fas tors entering into
the drawing of the looal Japanese into the boarding house
or hotel business* In this conneetiw it should be mentioned
that these faetors do not work eepswtely, but rather they
work together*
Condition# reoniring the ##tablis$mm%t of
ho##.##* When the Japanese immi^paata began to m%rat# into
Los Angeles before the elose of the minetwmth oentury there
were praetioally ms boarding house# in the eity operated by
the member# of their own rase* It was absolutely neoessary
for the## pwpl# to have the boarding plaoe# run by the
Japanese, for they had little or no knowledge of spWce#
Englii^ as well as the eustoms of the new oountry# Gone#*
quently, a# tb# old saying, "Neeessity if the mother of
invasion," goes, boarding houses for these ixnmigrant laborers
52
were opened by some members of their group, who had better
knowledge of English as well as Aimer loan customs. The
following illustration of this situation may be cited:
As the young vigorous Japanese immigrants flocked
together in the early years of their settlement here,
one of the immediate needs for them was to find some
places where they could room, eat their native meals
together, andgfeel quite easy in the midst of a new
environment •
Although it is not known who opened the first Japanese
boarding house In Los Angeles, several lodging places were
already opened by Japanese by 1897# In this connection Ubno
states:
About 1897 there were several poor lodging houses of
Japanese in the city, namely, one in the north side on
Aliso Street, just opposite the present Main Brewing
Company, one on Main Street between Temple Street and the
Plaza, one or two near Fourth and Maple Streets, and
one boarding place in the Japanese Congregational Church
on Olive Street near Sixth Street# The church accom
modated about one hundred people# Congestion was natural
as the church was not large; about one hundred people
were crowded in a few halls
Growth of boarding and rooming business# With a rapid
increase of the local Japanese population In the first two
A personal interview with Mr# T* &umanoto, one of
the pioneers in the local boarding house business of the
Japanese#
K# Uono, ’ The Factors Affecting the Geographical
Aggregation and Dispersion of the Japanese Residents in the
City of Los Angeles," (unpublished Master’a thesis. Univer
sity of Southern California, July 30, 1927), pp. 29-30.
65
decades of the present century, the number of these boarding
houses multiplied* Along with that a large number of rooms
were rented by the early Japanese settlers to meet the
pressing needs of a vast group of incoming laborers of their
own race* According to the Japanese Telephone Directory of
Los Angeles. 1915, there were seventy-nine boarding houses
and forty-eight rooms for rent in this city* The size of
these boarding houses varied from those which had an accom
modation for four or five persons to those for twenty or
thirty*
Functions of the Japanese boarding: houses* Th#
functions of the Japanese boarding houses in this city as
well as elsewhere in this country Imve been that of meeting
the vital needs of the Japanese Immigrant laborers who had
unimaginable difficulties in adjusting themselves to entirely
new situations in a foreign country* These Japanese boarding
houses have been serving their patrons mainly in three
different ways, namely, (1) they afford rooms and board to
their boarders; (2) they work as a sort of employment agency
sending out their guests to the American or Japanese bosses
of camps or farms in the neighborhood of Los Angeles ; and
(5) they constitute a kind of private bank and take care of
the hard-earned money of the boarders, who, because of their
lack of knowledge of spoken English and American customs in
64
general, feel more secure and convenient in depositing their
money that way than going to the local well-funded American
banks.
Rise and development of the hotel business of the
So far as the rise and growth
the hotel business of the local Japanese in the early years
of this century is concerned, it is unfortunate that there
is a considerable lack of written records, probably because
the Japanese pioneers in this field failed to recognise its
vital need, or because, even though some of them recognised
it, they were scattered in this city, busily engaged in their
daily business, and were not formed Into an organised body
to such an extent that they could hand down #written records of their business activities to their suc
cessors. Consequently, their is no way of ascertaining just
when and where the first Japanese hotel was opened in this
city.
In 1906, however, there were already several hotels
operated by the Japanese*^ In the period of nearly ten years
after 1906 it is noticeable that comparatively a rapid growth
took place in the business, primarily due to a large influx
A personal interview with Mr# K. Asano, proprietor
of the Mikado Hotel, who has been engaged in boarding
business in this city since 1906*
m
of Jmpanes# migrant# Into this city from other section# of
the country. And In 1915 seventy-four Japanese hotels were
found In Los Angeles.
Most of these hotels were located In the Japanese down
town section which cmnitered In those days on East First and
Alameda Streets of the city as well as in the area which
extended from West Third to Seventh and from Olive to Hope
in the city*^
"Boom" period for the hoarding and hotel hueineas#
For those Japanese who were either in the boarding house
or hotel business in Los Angeles a period of unprecedented
business prosperity was ushered In somewhere around 1915#
The peak of the "boom" was reached in 1919, kept its state
until 1920 or 1925, and then the business gradually slewed
down, hitting the bottom of depression In 1929, 1950, and
1951.
(a) Why the prosperity was brought about In this
business#
A number of reasons could be cited why the boarding
and hotel business of the local Japanese met its "boom" in
26
Japanese Telephone Directory of Southern California.
1915, pp#
Personal interview with Mr. E* Asano#
56
this period. Among these the most vital two reasons will he
presented. One Is the growth of the Japanese population
itself in this city* In 1906 it was estimated that there
were 4,050 Japanese in Los Angeles. And in 1916 the total
number of the Japanese here was estimated at 9,500, thus
more than doubling the corresponding figure in 1906. The
size of the local Japanese population reached its highest
peak in 1925 with 22,021, showing an increase twice as imch
as that in 1915, or four times as big as that in 1906#
The rapid increase in the number of Japanese in this
city necessitated an expansion of the boarding and hotel
business, which resulted in the most prosperous years of
business in this field.
Another reason, and perhaps the most important one, is
the phenomenal growth of the city of Los Angeles in this
period. The growth of business of Japanese in this line was
more or less parallel to that of the city of Los Angeles.
The War time prosperity and an extensive advertisement of the
city in the post-war period as an ideal place for business
enterprise, industrial as well as oomneroial, or as the most
suitable and recommendabl# city for residence or trip for
educational, recreational, and health facilities, attracted
practically tens of thousands of people from other parts of
the country.
The concentration of an enormous number of migrants
of all ranks and files In society to this city created a
situation which demanded the quickest possible accommodation
of boarding houses and hotels to meet the needs of these
people* Witnessing in reality a wonderful chance of business
in this field scores of Japanese, whether they had any
knowledge or experience of this type of business or not,
entered it* It should be mentioned at this point that up
to that time the majority of the Japanese hotels in this
city accommodated primarily for the local Japanese* But
from that time on they have been Invading with an increasing
force or eagerness some of the areas of hotel business, where
the Americans or other nationalities had been dominant before,
and have accordingly been catering to the clientele of var
ious nationalities according to where they operate their
hotels#
(b) Typical business situations of the "boom" period
of hotel business*
The business situations which prevailed in the peak
years of hotel business In the local great metropolis were
quite similar to tho# in any other line of business and were
exceptionally fascinating# In this period of "boom," numerous
hotels of varied size and rank were built in every part of
the city# Hot only that the old hotels w@3Pe remodeled and
many individuals fixed their houses so that they could rent
thma in whole or part to meet the needs of a large mass of
58
ne# comers. Nearly every Japanese who was bus Iness-1 Ike and
who had amassed some amount of capital went into hotel
business. The practice of baying one hotel and selling it
to another for a higher price was a very common situation*
Many Japanese are remembered as having made "big money" by
doing that type of business. The quotation below is illus
trative of the situation:
A hotel with about thirty rooms was bought by a
Japanese for #5,000 in 1922. Within the period of sixty
days which had followed his purchase the hotel was sold
to pother Japanese for #9^000, thus giving a profit
of #4,000 to the former. The price of the hotel wmit
up still higher and was #11,000 when it mg^sold to a
thl3i Japanese before the end of that year. ^
Information of this sort could emsily be gathered. It seems
quite appropriate to mention here that with the rapid growth
of hotel business in Los Angeles, which had brought about
modem equipment and better service to their guests, the
ordinary housing conditions also were marked by a great
degree of improvement.
Freeent situations of boarding house and hotel business
(a) How the present depression has been met by the
Japanese in this business.
The most typical way through which the Japanese in
28
A personal interview with a Japanese hotel
proprietor,
59
this line of business have been coping with the present
depression is that of economizing the expenses for necessary
labor by asking the members of the family to assist their
business* In the course of the field survey the writer has
found that practically in all boarding houses and hotels of
Japanese the members of the family or sometimes the relatives
were helping with the business* By way of comparison with
the Americans in hotel business one Japanese hotelman has
remarked:
With no regard to the size of their e#tablishment#
most of the Americans in this business employ a certain
number of people to do diverse forms of jobs in the
hotel# Even when the business became worse they still
semied to have been reluctant in cutting down the
expenses of that sort, and thus many of them had just
to close their business* The Japanese, on the other
hand, have been accustomed to help the business of their
family. %ey are quite willing to do odd jobs for the
sake of their families, especially at this time of poor
business. It seems that this family-center attitude
of them have been saving thsm a great deal in #iese
days of slow business*
(b) Modifications in the functions of the boarding
houses*
We have already presented the general functions of
the boarding houses. Since the present depression set in
years ago, however, a slight modification has been necessitated
in their functions# When the farming industry was still pros
perous prior to the depression the local Japanese agricultural
"bosses" used to ask the owners of these boarding houses to
supply labor from among their boaters. Adn these "bosses"
m
usually furnished transportation facilities for their workers
to the places. of work* But as soon as the depression hit the
farming industry, the local Japanese agriculturists suffered
from it as well# Eventually, there arose a great decline
in the demand for labor, which caused a loss of business as
well as a clmnge of business policy on the part of the owners
of these boarding houses* To meet a new crises they began
to advertise for camp workers. They sent their boarders to
various camps at the different places, thus indicating a
complete reversal in the process of labor transactions *
One of the most significant things which have been
initiated by some of these boarding houses Is the fact that
several labor camps have been opened by them in order to
help the jobless and unskilled Japanese laborers to meet
the depression* The first labor camp of this sort was
started in 1930 by Mr* H* Itano, who is the proprietor of a
boarding house and is one of the pioneers in the local
Japanese community* The camp is located at Rosemead, where
several hundred laborers, mostly Japanese, are being hired
in raising different kinds of berries*
(c) Cyclical migration of the patrons of boarding
houses*
A majority of the boarders of the local Japanese
boarding houses are unskilled laborers of middle age. They
migrate from the boarding houses to the places of work, or
61
vio® vers» by aeaaons, eonstilmtîng a sort of cyclical
migration# As a cold winter approaches end th# regular work
on camps or ranches comes to its close for the year, a large
number of these unskilled workers come back by twenties or
thirties to their boarding houses in Los Angeles, #iere they
could spend the winter rather economically and could get
chances for diverse forms of recreations, to which they
have been unable to get access in the preceding seasons of
hard labor out in the open country* With the coming of
spring they could usually obtain jobs on different ranches
and farms through the assistance of the boarding houses where
they have spent the winter* They are sent to different places
for various types of seasonal jobs. Some of these seasonal
work and the places of such jobs are: (1) raising and
harvesting of berries at EL Monte, Garden Grove, Lomita, and
other places (from March to August) (2) Raising and harvesting
of grapes at Delano, Fresno, and other places in central
California (from August to November)
(d) Decline of boarding house business as contrasted
with the numerical growth of hotel business#
As we have mentioned elsewhere there were in 1915
seventy-nine boarding houses of the Japanese In Los Angeles*
But the number of these establishments gradually declined,
particularly since 1925, being affected by the decrease of
the clientele* The decrease of their patrons is partly due
m
to the enaetment of the Japanese Exclusion Law of 1924,
which prae tioally banned the entry of Japanese laborers to
this country, and partly due to the steady rise of the local
Japanese residents from the rank of unskilled laborers to
that of skilled, or that of Independent entrepreneurs in
various lines of business# And when this survey was made the
total number of the Japanese boarding houses in this city
was eighteen*
A majority of these establishments are found in the
small area surrounded by Jackson and Turner Streets on the
north, East Second on the south, San Pedro Street on the
west, and by Qarey Street on the east* Thus even at present
these boarding houses are still located in the area where
the young Japanese immigrant laborers crowded together some
twenty or thirty years ago*
In marked contrast to the gradual withdrawal of
Japanese frnumber of the local Japanese have entered the hotel business*
According to the estimate of Mr* 1* Murakami, Secretary of
the Japanese Hotel Association of Los Angeles, the total
number of the hotels operated by Japanese in this city in
^ The figure shows the number of the members of the
local Japanese Association of Boarding House Business# There
are several boarding houses of Japanese, which do not belong
to the Association#
63
1036 is 306, showing an Increase of more than four times as
over against the number of Japanese hotels in 1916# A
majority of them are situated on the east side of Main Street
in this city# They are barred from the area west of Spring
where the value of land is in general higher than on the
east side# The distribution of these hotels is given in
the table on the following page.
1 Sam® of the significant points that are to be derlwl
from the preceding list are;
1# Of the 282 hotels of Japanese in Los Angeles 254,
or a little over 90 per cent of them, are found in the area,
which stretches eastward from Main Street* A high degree of
centralisation of these hotels is noticeable in this section
of the city, particularly on Main Street, East First, East
Second, East Third, East Fourth, Bast Fifth, East Sixth, East
Seventh, Wall Street, San Julian Street, San Pedro Street,
and Central Avenue* Nearly 69 per cent of the toatl number
of the Japanese hotels in this area of the city, or 176
hotels to be exact, are massed together in this particular
small section of the city*
2* In the area which extends westward from Spring
Street, where high valuation of land generally prevails, are
found only twenty-two Japanese hotels, or 7.08 per omit of
the total number of hotels of Japanese in Los Angeles*
3* Only six Japanese hotels are operated in the other
64
T/iBLE VII
DISIRIBUTIOH OF H
IN L08 AUGEI&S# 1935
:L8
Kbunas iSundoea* estÆïisiirftdnts
HoriH ÂîâSeSa Streei (BSl-5l§ -"-"Tir— .
Aliso Street (215) 1
I&aruilry% 5ütr%M3t (5Boyle Avenue (105 N * Boyle Ave#, 151 B.) 2
]Boyd Street (215-884 2
Broadway, South 115^15*7) 3
Cahuenga Blvd*, North (1118-1431) 8
Central Ave. (125 North and 1217 South) 14
Geres Street (548-671) 4
Clay Avenue (South 501) 1
Commercial Street (117$) 1
Crocker Street (350-936&) 6
Denker Avenue (1217 and 3607) 8
l&ist :Flret Stwreet (lUHk-l/KSa) 31
Bast Second Street (103-619) 12
]%ast TRijLihd iSt,reet, (]LS;3H.4304:) 9
jSsisr t IfcMJurthL fStzK&et (jlSHSi-GJUSl) 7
l&ast FUftti StJfeedl (]U29.431fH&) 16
JBaed; EWLKtli (ZüL7-:L85f9) 8
East Seventh Street (411^-8004) 8
ISasI) a i i j g t i l W t i SHbjreeil» ( : i ; 5 < ) 5 ) ] [ 1
ISast ijjLntJb iSILi'eet ( : % S ! Z > . i ; 5 : 2 5 ) 3
j&Eist TCentdb jSHtzteiet ( ] L ] L 1 < & ) 1
East Twelfth Street (718-1180) 2
Elmyra Avenue, (west 105) 1
Fedra Street (1180) 1
2?jLgr&ei~o& iSlbreelb, (#(>1*121 4 & ] L 8 k ) 1
Flower Street, (North 253) 1
Fremont Avenue (North (300) 1
Garey Street (118) 1
Gladys Avenue (525-660) 1
Grand Avenue (South 1217) 1
Griffith Avenue (1417-1427) 2
Hewitt Street (South 106-303) 4
HjL]Ll (3ti»ee1; ( NoitlJi (53L7 ) 1
Jackson Street (255) 1
Kohler Street (615-746) 5
Los Angeles Street (North 102%, South 419%) 4
Main street (North 419%, South 508%) 20
* The figures in the parenthesis indicate the house numbers
between which the hotels are located*
66
(TABLE VII CONTINUED
DISTRIBUTION OF JAPANESE HOTELS
IN L08 ANGEIES, 1936
l&ies of streets ’ BWaBer of . #staBlishimnts
Maple Avenue (607-831) 4
Mariposa Street (South 992) 1
Mateo street (810) 1
^rchant Street (715-762) 2
Olive Street (south 268 & 1330) 2
Ord Street (312) 1
Pico Street (East 606) 1
Rose Street (112-136) 3
San Julian Street (518-921%) 11
San Pedro Street (229% North, 972 South) 22
Serrano Street (South 1103) 1
Spring Street (647 North, 326% South) 3
Stanford Avenue (416%648) 7
Temple Street (601%-1012) 3
Town© Avenue (520-941) 5
Turner Street (437) 1
Yfall Street (316-1116) 19
Weller Street (101%-11$) 3
West Second Street (113 & 319) 2
West Eleventh Street (1306) 1
West Fourteenth Place (116) 1
Winston Street (216-337) 3
fotaï
' ' ' - ' -
50
Arranged by the writer based upon the data found
in The Japanese Telephone and Business Directory of
s o u T O e rrtiiiï^ râ iâ riô r‘ 2 ir" i9 3 5 r^ ggi § ':" " ^ ' —
06
section# of the city, such as Hollywood, or Denker Avenue
in the southwestern part of the city*. I
JAPAKESE-STXLE RESTAÜSAWS AND CAPSS®^
How the Japaneae-style restaurant and cafe business
has thrived among Japanese in Los Angeles # The first cafe
of Japanese in this city was a 16-oemt meal restaurant
which was opened in 1885 on the west side of South Los Ange
les Street between East First and Second by "Jaclÿ' a sailor# *
cook, who came to this city through San Pedro*^
During the succeeding ten years more than a do#en
cafes were opened by Japanese* With references to the
situation in this regard in 1894 states Done:
. . * in 1894 the fourteen restaurant# were scatter^
all over the city* , . . At that time the customers of
the restaurants were only confined to the whites, largely
white laborers# As the restaurant was the main business
of the Japanese, most of the Japanese worked in their
restaurants, and only a small number of them worked for
white families# Bo when they increased their number
year by year, some of thmi were out of employemnt#
As to the origin of the first Japanese-style restau
rant in this city there are two views % one is that the
31
In order to differentiate from a Japanese-sty 1 e
restaurant the term cafe is used in this writing to denote
a restaurant where American meals are primarily served*
The Year Book published by the L#A# Japanese D&Hy
Hews, 1910#
33
Ubno, 0£* cit#. p# 28#
first Japànese-style restaurant was opened by B# Klmura #a
early as 1893, ^ and the other Is that the first restaurant
with Japanese-style cooking was started in 1896 on the i'est
55
side of Mew High Street,
Since the Japanese in Los Angeles numbered forty-one
in 1895, and two hundred and sixty-one in 1895, as we have
Indicated elseWiere, we may perhaps be right in asserting
that the first Japanese-style restaurant ws probably
opened in 1895, rather than in 1896#
With the growth of the local Japanese population in
the early years of the present century an increasing mmber
of cafes as well as Japanese—style restaurants were opened
by Japanese. In 1915 thirty-six cafes and fifty-two restau—
56
rants of Japanese meals were found in this city» indicating
that the J&p#n#se-style restaurants outnumbered the total
of the cafes for whits clientele# The rapid growth of the
population of this city and the general business prosperity
since the World War induced more Japanese to enter this
business, especially the cafe business in which a broader
The L# A, Japanese Daily Mews, Tbe Myriad. 1954,
p# 80.
55
Uono, Cit,. Pm 28*
56
Japanese Telephone Directory of Southern California.
1 9 1 6, pp* s s t p : — — ^------------------------------------------------ -
68
business opportunity was opened than in the case of restau
rants of Japanese meals #
According to Mr* K* Mastinaka, Secretary of L. A#
Japanese Restaurant Association, about sixty cafes of
Japanese existed here in 1925, catering primarily to white
customers# In case of Japanese—stylo restaurants there
37
were sixty-five est&bl 1 shments of this kind in 1925*
In the line of restaurant employees In American
restaurants in Los Angeles, Japanese labor along with that
of Chinese is highly regarded# The executive secretary of
the Dos Angeles Restaurant Association for 1928 is quoted
to have stated:
Qualifioation for membership in the Dos Angeles
Restaurant Association does not discriminate as to
race except the colored race with the exception that
all members must have been born in the United States
or have become naturalised* Our Association has
passed no resolutions or taken any action whatever with
reference to the exclusion of Orientals and no attempt
has been made by the Association to ascertain the
sentiment of restaurant men with regard to admitting
into the United States# If a poll were taken of our
members, however, we believe that for business reasons
there would be a strong sentiment in our midst in favor
of admitting Japanese and Chinese labor, particularly
because of the genwal Inefficiency of the haphazard
restaurant worker#^
The survey was made by D# A* Jspan-America Daily
News, 1927# See S# ^do, Okayama-Kenj in in Southern Califor
nia, 1932, p« 71*
^ E. G# ^
Pacific Coast, pp* 307-:
^ E# G# Hears, Resident Orientals on the American
69
/ At the time of the present survey (1936) the total
mmber of Japanese cafes in this city is seventyfourp^ while
that of Japanese-style restaurants, sixty
The preceding descriptions about the growth of cafe
and Japanese-style restaurant business of Japanese in Los
Angeles show that, numerically speaking, in the first stage
of development of these business the former thrived more
than the latter; while with the rapid growth of Japanese
population in the first two decades of the present century,
the Japan es e-s tyle restaurants outnumbered the total of these
cafes. The war-time prosperity, however. Induced more
Japanese to open cafes for white customers than to enter
the more or less fully developed and limited business area
of restaurants for the members of their own race, thus re
versing numerically the situation which had existed before
that time* And at present we observe that a very few
Japanese here are inclined to open a restaurant to cater to
a limited number of Japanese patrons, and that more cafes,
especially those laboring and poor classes of people are
to be es tablished .
The data was furnished by Mr. K* Masunaka, Secre
tary of L. A# Japanese Restaurant Association.
The data was given by Mr. U. Iwata, Secretary of
Hahka Nihonjin Inshokuten Association#
^3. From September to December, 1935, the writer has
noticed that two cafes were opened by Japanese in this city.
70
distribution of the cafes and
style restaurants» The area of expected groups of customers
is a principal conditioning factor for the distribution of
cafes or restaurants. Since the Japanese-style restaurants
primarily cater to the Japanese patrons they have naturally
thrived in the Japanese business section in this city* The
majority of these restaurants are found in the small area
surrounded by Los Angeles and Alameda Streets on the west
and east; and by Jackson and Bast Second Street on the
north and south* A high degree of concentration of these
establishments is particularly noticeable on Bast First
(between Los Angeles and Alameda) and Ban Pedro (from Jackson
to Bast Second), where thirty-four restaurants, or more than
half of the total number of the restaurants are staging a
situation which sociologists call ^^competitive-
eo-opwation*
The Japanese cafes, on the other hand, are distributed
over a broader area than in the case of the restaurants with
Japanese-style cooking, and most of them are found in the
zone which extends from Sunset Boulevard to Bast Twelfth
Street, and from Main to Alameda* With fifteen Japanese cafe
shops on it. East Fifth Street leads the other streets,
followed by Main Street (10), San Pedro Street (8) , and
See Table VIII on page 72 of this thesis*
71
South Central Street (7) in the order mentioned. It is
interesting to note that only six cafes are now open on
East First where, as we have indicated above, seventeen
Japanese—style restaurants are clustering.
See Table VIII on page 72 of this thesis.
CHAPTER IV
AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS
Like the Japanese farmers on the Pacific coast in
this country, the Japanese in this city have gone extensively
into agricultural pursuits* The priiaary considerations In
the present chapter center upon the vocational activities of
those Japanese who are engaged in floral industry, nursery
business, and gardening in Los Angeles, with special atten
tion to their rise and growth, and factors for their entry
in these fields, as well ms the ecological situations of
these vocations*
JAPANESE PL0RI8T8 IE I/)8 ANGELES
Factors which have induced the Japanese In Los
Angeles and its environs to floral industry. There are
several factors which have caused the Japanese to enter the
florleultural Industry in Los Angeles and its neighborhood*
They may be grouped under four headings, namely, geographical,
cultural, political, and economic factors*
It seems quite easy to conceive that the climatic
conditions in Southern Galifomia affords one of the finest
places for the floral Industry, for the climate in this part
of California is always moderate throughout the year* To
gether with a favorable climatic condition the land of this
VIII
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS OP" THE JAPANESE
ESTABLISHMENTS IN GAEL AND JAPANESE-8TYLE
iU^STAUILli4T BUSINESS IN LOS ANGELES, 1936"^
73
...— ..."mTêT----—
Number of
Areas establish*
Per
Cent
Japanese-8tyle restaurante
Number of Per
Areas establish* Gent
gan Pewb 5t* 19 37.2"
Main street 10 15.5 East First St* 17 35.3
San Pedro St. 8 10.8 East Second St. 7 13.7
S* Central'Av# 7 9.4 Weller street 6 9,8
East First St# 6 8.1 East Tenth St* 2 5*9
East Second St* 4 5.4 S* San Julian 1 1.9
East Seventh St* 4 5.4
S* San Julian 4 6.4
East Third St. 2 2.7
East Eighth St* 2 2,7
Wall Street 2
2.7
N. Alameda St*
East Ninth St*
East Tenth St*
East Twelfth St*
Las Palms Ave*
&Iaple Ave#, Ord
St#, Temple St*,
West First St#,
Wemt Sixth 8t#
Each
area
ha©
one
estab*
total-
Ing 10
^*oial Ÿ1 iôô.
r n , ,
^ Compiled by the writer baaed upon the data furnished
by Mr * K* lÆasunaIca for cafes, and by Mr# U # Iwata for Japanese
style restaurants*
74
are# is blessed with m high
whioh is a prermpilsite f w
during the last
©rested an
attimeted toe Jspsnwe
of fertility of soil»
of floral industry,
cf Los Angeles has
-five or thirty year# has
for flowers» toloh has eventual]
imve gradually massed together in
this region of California during tola period*
The nature-loving trait of the Japanese» toleh has
been ©ultlvated and handed down to them throo^ genwatlons
has been induolng the ItosI Japanese to the flwal business»
in toioh they ooold take ©are or handle various speelee of
flowers by raising» sorting» or arranging them for floral
deeorations.^
■ The enforeemM&t of to# California Alien Land Law sime
its enaotment in 1915 baa oaused the Japanese to find mmm
vooational outlets In the floral business» in which toey
©ould raise flowers in a oomparatively short time in a mmll^
portion of land» thw enabling them to imaoti## an internsive
method of cultivation and to avoid toe legal troubles in
toieh they ml#%t be involved*
The eeonomic factor in this problem is perhaps the
most important one* The floral business in Southern Califor
nia has supplied toe Japanese residents here with a businmms
^ A number of toe Japanese in floral business have
affirmed to the present writer toe validity of this factor#
76
opportunity which is wider than in seme other type# of
vocation#» for a majority of the prospective euetomer# are
not a limited group of the local Japanese residents» but
the great mass of white clientele in the great urban com-
mmities toich center around Loa Angeles# Another element
that deserve# our attention in this conneetion Is that the
floral IWuetry i# not affected so definitely as the cycle
of general business situation change# and that the Japanese
being sK)tlvated by a desire for security» seem to have been
attracted to this business# |
m s U m i s t - m s s i m m
According to Mr# J# Ikegmmw#» author of the
Southern California Florists * Association, the first Japanese
who ever raised flowers for cmmmscial purposes in southern
California was K# ihdo» who started a nurswy in 1892 on
West Jefferson Street near South Main Street in Los Angeles.
He raised principally various specie# of carnation#» which
he sold to hi# white customers through peddling# Two other
Japanese began to work for him zmrsery in 1893 and 1896
respectively# These three iWividual# constitute toe
pioneer# among the flower-growers of to# Japanese in Southern
California#
Referring to toe difficulties which these pioneer
groww# had to overcome J. Ikegami states;
76
. . • in these days carnations, cbrjsantheomms, and
violets were the principal flowers raised by the Japan
ese growers# Because of their lack of experience these
pioneers in this field had to meet various hardships
and were suffered from many a failure. It was really
a fruit of their untiring effort and experiment that
they could work out a technique of grafting. # .
As the news of discovery of a gold mine in the West
in the United States arose a tremendous interest in mining
business among the native Americans in the latter part of
the last century and tens of thousands of individuals
created a situation known as the Gold Rush to the West, so
seemed at least the story of the prospect for the floral
business which was reported by these pioneer growers,
although we have to admit that the Japanese response to this
news was not so enthusiastic as that manifested by the
Americans in their Gold Rush# It seems quite natural that
the other Japanese Immigrants, who possessed traditionally
a keen interest in gardening and in nature at large, followed
these pioneer growers# And in 1903 there were found thirteen
Japanese floral growers in this section of Gallfomla# It
is Interesting to note how these growers attempted to create
a demand for flowers among their customers# These people,
who had their flower gardens mostly within or in the out
skirts of this city, went to American homes from door to
door, selling the flowers which they had raised in their
^ J# Ikegaml, History of Southern California Florists ^
Association {Los Angeles: The Southern ' California Florists*
Association, 1933), p# 62*
77
gardens* By so doing they tried to create an Interest In
the Japanese horticulture and to find out the popular taste
of American patrons in this respect*
The first Japanese flower shop in Los Angeles# As
we have indicated above, there were in 1903 about 2 dozen
Japanese who were engaged in raising and peddling flowers
in this city# Curious enough, however, there was no
Japanese floral shop in these days in the city# It was as
late as in 1908, sixteen years later than the first appear
ance of the Japanese flower grower here, that the first
flower shop was opened by Mr# 8. Shlma, near Sixth Street
and Broadway# The store handled wholesale business, serving
the needs of the Japanese growers, and worked as a sort of
co-ordinating concern between the American retail florists
and the Japanese growers*
In this connection we should perhaps mention the rise
of retail f lower shops among the Japanese in Los Angeles *
Two retail flower shops, according to J# Ikegaml, were
opened by the local Japanese in 1906 for the first time,
preceding two years from the first Japanese wholesale floral
store in this city# lith reference to the growth of floral
business among the Japanese in Los Angeles Ikegaml declares:
* # # a majority of the present members of the
Southern California Florists* Association, opened their
stores, starting somewhere around 1912# And during the
78
three years from 1921 to 1923 there was a rapid inereaae
of the number of Japanese retail florists in Los Angeles,
which climaxed in 1922 with the formation of Southern
California Florists* Association, the central organizing
body for all Japanese retail flower dealers in Southern
Oalifomia*
Numerical growth of the retail floral shops of the
in Los Angeles# During the first ten years which
followed the first appearance of the Japanese retail florist
in Los Angeles in 1906, there sprang tip only thirteen retail
floral shops in this city. While the succeeding ten years,
that is, the period from 1916 to 1925, saw a great increase
in the figure with the total of forty-three floral shops,
an increase of more than three times as big as the corre
sponding figure for the first ten years of the business.
In 1932 there were sixty retail floral shops of Japanese
in this city, the largest figure ever reached# In the last
few years there has been a slight decrease in the number of
these establishments, and when the present survey was made
4
the total number of these retail florists was fifty-two.
The table on the following page shows the number of Japanese
retail flower shops in Los Angeles by years#
3
Ikegaml, 0£# cit#. p# 64#
4
The survey was made in the summer of 1935.
ZABL& IX
79
N liM ^ i O i ; ' Jâi-isüiiSi FtüBüB aiürS
1: DO S /asGiiLtiS, -«nm c
1§# ....... .— ”"^W"'
1907
8
1908 8
1909 3
1910 8
1911 8
1919 9
1918 11
1914 18
1916
13
1918 15
1917 15
1918 le
1919 19
1990 81
1921 85
1922 89
1925
@8
1924
40
1926 43
48
1927 49
1928 51
1929 58
1950 58
1951 58
1932
1933 52®
D&ta
iamocl
lIÏSE, 1953 )» pp
Southezvi
Telephone & Buaineee D
Ter : "%C SPSS"
80
The southern California floral market in Los Angeles#
The situations which led up to the establishment of the
market, The Southern California Floral Market Incorporated,
736 Wall Street, Los Angeles, constitutes m central organi
zation for the Japanese activities in the floral industry
in Southern California# According to Mr# F* Adachi, one of
the Japanese who contributed a great deal to the establ sh-
ment of the market, a popular demand for violets was created
among the local American customers somewhere in 1911 or 1912#
Being induced by the prospective situation seme forty Japan
ese were found raising violets in 1912 mostly in Long Beach
and Venice# Approximately fifty acres of land were culti
vated by them for that purpose# In order to find some
solution for a growing cut-throat competition among them
selves about thirty-six of those growers met in Los Angeles
in the early spring of 1912# At the meeting a motion was
made for the formation of an association among the growers
to promote mutual benefit and co-operation# This fine pro-
7
jeot, however, was not materialized for some redson or other#
In the meantime, as association was formed in 1912
among the Japanese growers, who raised various kinds of
flowers in the suburbs of this city# The formation of the
7
Ikegaml, cit#. p. 66#
81
association as a sort of unifying center of their business
activities intensified the then existing situation, which
rapidly grew up during the course of the year to Its climax
with the opening of floral market at 425 Wall Street in
this city* In this connection states Ikegaml, thus :
. # » those members of the growers* association came
to realize a vital need for establishing a floral
market by their own hands. And in 1912 these growers,
114 in all, rented a store at 425 Wall Street, Los
Angeles, and opened a flower market* To finance the
market every one of these growers was asked to pay #5,
to which came an enthusiastic response# Although the
business of the market was exceedingly small compared
with that at present, all of these supporters were o
quite anxious to expand their activities in this field.
In 1913 an association known as Flower Market Associa#
tion was organized by the growers who were connected with
the market, which was incorporated as Southern California
Floral Market on February 16, 1914, being authorized by the
local State Government#
With a growing demand for flowers, which accompanied
the rapid increase of the population of Los Angeles and its
neighborhood during the last twenty years, the floral
market continued to enjoy an expansion of business# In 1925
it moved to its present site, 753 Wall Street, occupying
three lots of area with a lease term for fifty years* A
further extension of the market area was necessitated in
® Ibid,, p. 66.
88
1931 by adding two more lots, feiiu© oceupying at present
five lots of area on the west side of Wall Street of the
city*
The present situation of floral market* As previously
indicated, the Southern California Floral Market in Los
Angeles constitutes at present the vital central force for
the entire activity of the local Japanese in this line of
business. Hence, in order to clarify the Japanese activi
ties in this field it seems vitally necessary to mention
here the present business activities of the floral market,
with special reference to the organization, maintenance,
administrât ion, and business practices of the market.
The market is essentially a growers* market, and is
maintained by 158 members of the Flower Market Association,
who raise various kinds of flowers in the outskirts of Los
Angeles. Accordingly, the type of business in the market
is neither that of brokers, nor that of retail florists, but
exclusively wholesale conducted by the growers themselves*
In an interview with the secretary of the Flower Market
Association it was revealed that the total amount of business
in the market for the fiscal year of 1934, which ended in
January 1935, was estimated somewhere between #1,500,000 and
#2,000,000* And the aggregate acreage of land cultivate
by members of the association reached in 1935 2,000 acres.
83
out of which 400 acres are owned bj the growers themselves.
The preceding information shows that the total acre
age of land cultivated by the Japanese flower growers in
1935 is nearly four times as much as that in 1912, and that
the membership of the association has grown about 1.2 times
as big as that in 1912.^
The administration of the market is in the hands of a
board of directors, ccmposed of seventeen members elected In
the general meeting of the members of Floral Market Associa
tion in January every year. The actual business of operating
the market Is carried out by a group of officers, which con
sists of President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
These officers are elected at the first annual meeting of the
board of directors in January.
The actual cost of running the market Is being met
mostly by the income through the membership fees and table
rent8.II
^ Due to the prevailing restrictive policy of the
administration of the mrket, the membership has not grown
much in the last twenty-five years.
Besides the four officers mentioned above two other
individual® are elected for the position of auditors at the
meeting of the Board of Directors.
For membership fee every member of the association
is requested to pay #1 per month, or $12 annually. And for
table rents the monthly payment of $3 is charged per table.
84
(a) How the In®Id® of the market 1® arranged for
buelnesa traneaotlon®# Inside of the market building, on
the cemented floor are arranged 157 tables In two series,
as is shown in the aooompanying chart on the next page#
These tables on which flowers are displayed for
sale are divided into two divisions. A* and B., according
to the probable size of business* Biglity-three tables,
which are located close to the main entrance to the market
belong to the former; and the remsdnlng seventy-four tables
to the latter*
(b) Business hours* The market is open every morning
from six to nine o*clock except on Sunday and holidays.
During theme three hours is liandled a huge bulk of flowers,
which is later distributed by a large number of retail
florists all over Los Angeles and its suburban districts*
(c) How the prices of flowers are fixW in the market.
The prices of flowers are fixed at the market taking into
consideration the following variable elements :
1* House rents of the growers of a particular flower,
2* Rents for lease for land cultivated by the growers.
3. Cost of water.
4. Cost of fertilizers.
5. Cost of seeds,
S. Amount of crop.
At the animal general meeting of the members of
the Flower Market Association in January these tables are
sold to the members through bidding#
C r i . I HT I
THE
j : v IN
' -'i-^-* - i - t *»— V / J, ** • > . ■ . ' _ V . ' j t ■ ^ V- k.,:._. , fK . r J.-I . J •
13
i
i540e 6^7^
lSHie""X^ frÔnl
- x - i r lae arro^; Indicates the directio;i tov^ar.: v/hich the tables
are arran.:;ed iri an ascondlrt':: nunbor.
13
Prepared by the writer.
86
7. Amount of labor.
8# A reasonabl® mmoimt of profit, and the like.
Retail floral bu® ineas amoiu^ the Japanese in Loe
Angeles. The retail floral business has thrived consider
ably among the Japanese in this city, due to their organised
activity in thiclosely linked up with the Floral Market, and to the com
parative ease of entering the business as well as a rapid
increase of popular demand for flowers among the huge popu
lace in Los Angeles# At present we find fifty-five retail
flower shops being operated by the Japanese in Los Angeles*
These establishments, mostly small in size, are scattered
all over the city* A majority of these shops are found in
the outskirts of the city, along the highways, such as Los
Pelis Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard, Glendale Boulevard,
South Vermont Avenue, Sunset Boulevard, and South Western
Avenue* The primary reason for the prevailing situation is
simply that these florists have scattered over these areas
in order to cater more effectively to the white clientele,
which constitutes the major portion of their patrons* A
number of flower shops are opened on East First, in Boyle
Heights district, in the Broadway business center, as well
as near the Flower Market on Wall Street; and the rest of
them, in various parts of the city.
; It is interesting to not© that, racially speaking.
87
the customers of these floral shops vary according to the
spots where these shops are located, and that the nature of
demands for flowers differ as the customers vary racially.
For example, in the Japanese down town district, which centers
around last First and South San Pedro Streets, the Japanese
florists are patronized almost exclusively by the Japanese;
while those in Boyle Heights district cater about equally
to the Japanese in that area and to the Jewish and Mexican
inlmbitants there. In this connection one of the Japanese
florist® in Boyle Heights has stated:
About 60 per cent of our customers are Japanese, who
buy in most ease® floral gifts to the iimmtes of a
near-by Japanese hospital, or wreaths and bouquets for
marriage ceremonies, memorial services, or funeral
services# They usually prefer to buy various species
of * * greens,” such as palms and ferns, dahlias, roses,
and gladiolus in summer, and camélias, cyclamens and
roses in winter.
On the other hand, the Jewish end Mexican customers,
who constitute the rest of our clientele, have a
preference to buy sweet peas, zenlas, roses, asters,
and the other kinds of flowers#
In th metropolitan business center and other sections
of the city every Japanese flower shop is largely patronized
by the white clientele, with occasional patronage by a very
limited number of Japanese..
AGTIVITIB8 OP THE JAPANESE NTmsmYMEN
IN LOS ANGELES
Rise and development of nursery industry among the
88
local Japanese# The origin of the Japanese nursery business
in Southern California dates as far back as sometime in 1892,
when a Japanese raised flowers in his nursery near Jefferson
and South Main Street in this city# The Japanese expansion
in this line of industry in this region of California,
however, has been deterred considerably In comparison with
that in the floral business by their fellow residents here#
One of the chief reasons for that is probably traceable to
the fact that the Japanese in the floral business had be
come numerous and organized well enough before 1914 to
establish a floral market of their own as a center of their
activities, while in the case of the nursery business the
nurserymen were neither numerous nor well organized enough
to make a united effort for the development of their indue-
14
try until sometime later.
About 1915 there were found several Japanese engaged
in the nursery business in Los Angeles. Being largely
discouraged by an unprofitability of the business in those
days some of them had drifted to other lines of vocations,
which looked more profitable than theirs #
14
The Southern California Japanese Nurseryman*s
Association, Incorporate, which was formed in 1927, was
the first organization of the local nurserymen for pro
moting their mutual benefit and protection*
89
Among these nnrserymen seemB to have been eremted a
negative oecnpational attitude» One of th#a has stated^
thus :
I earns to Lea Angeles in 1910 and started a retail
nurser^r business, Our business* in the meantime* beeame
so bad that I eould not manage to run it any more.
Finally I decided to enter gardening work with an
intention of not taking up nursery business again»
Within a period of a little over ten years from 1914
to 1925 the local Japanese nursery business took a definite
forward step from its Infant stage to a fully developed one*
partly due to the unprecedented boom which had been created
by the World War* and partly due to a rapid growth of the
population of Los Angeles as well as that of the Japanese
in this city#^
Since the outbreak of the World War the expansion of
Los Angelas a situation arose which Intensified the estab
lishment of large hotels* apartments* and private homes*
necessitating an increasing supply of flowers* plants* shrubs*
and trees for inner and outer decoration and other purposes*
Allured by the favorable situation* scores of the local
Japanese rushed into the nursery business# The number of
15
The Japanese population in Los Angeles* which was
estimated at 8*0^ in 1914* grew rapidly In the succeeding
ten years* reaching its clhmix In 1925 when the total
number of the Japanese in this city was reported 22*021*
90
the Japanese retail nurserymen in this city became so large
tliat overproduction and cut-throat competition among them
selves arose# Eventually, starting from about 1926, some
of these nurserymen began to quit their retail business*
and to take up the wholesale nursery business. In which most
of them raised bedding plants# At the time when the present
survey was made nearly thirty Japanese were found engaged
in Los Angeles and its adjutant oommmlties raising bedding
plants, such as celery or tomatoes, for both the American
and the Japanese farmers in the outskirts of the city#^*^
In these nurseries are raised in most cases tomatoes
in winter, celery in the other seasons, and ferns of various
species throughout the year. Since tomatoes and celery
comprise the most vital nourishing foods of the people of
IT
Los Angeles and its suburban districts at present, #ie
bedding plants of these vegetables have been in an ever
increasing demand from farmers who are engaged in raising
these vegetables In the surrounding farming districts of
Los Angeles#
16
According to Mr# S* Yoehimura, who has been In
wholesale nursery business since 1925, most of these whole
sale nurseries were opened after 1925»
IT
Celery Is raised nearly three times a year in this
section of California» Usually it takes three months in
summer and four months in other seasons to crop celery*
91
■ Types of the loeal Japanese nurserymen# The Japanese
nurserymen In Los Angeles may be classified into two groups,
namely, (1) those who are engaged in wholesale-retail busi-
16
ness, and (2) those who are in wholesale business# The
second group of nurserymen involves three types of nursery
men as follows:
(a) Those who raise primarily the bedding plants
such as c elery and tomatoes to meet the demand of the
farmers in the surrounding regions of Los Angeles#
(b) Those who cultivate various kinds of bedding
plants, mostly flowers, to meet the needs of the retail
nurs ery-men#
(c) Those who raise chiefly shrubs and trees to
satisfy the dmnands of retail nursery-men and landscape
gardeners* A further explanation of each one of these
different groups of nurserymen is given below*
(l) Wholesale-retail nurserymen. To begin with,
there are practically no Japanese nurserymen in Los Angeles
who are exclusively engaged in the retail business. Almost
all of the local Japanese nurserymen, as indicated before.
^ In the Telephone Directory of Southern California
Japanese Huraerymen^s Association Incorporated, 1935, 76
Japanese nurseries are listed in Los Angeles, According to
Kr# M# Amemiya. Japanese nurserymen, these nurseries are
composed of : Cl) 86 wholesale nurseries, of which 6 are
devoted to the raising of bedding plapits of flowers, and 20
to that of shrubs and trees; (2) 49 Wholesale-retail nur
series; and (3) 1 retail nursery*
92
are engaged either in wholesale-retail or wholesale htxsinese#
The wholesale-retail nurserymen are doing a sort of combined
business of growers, wholesale merchants, and retailers at
the same time* Their primary job is of course that of
retailing, but simultaneously they are raising various
species of bedding plants, shrubs and trees on their lots*
One nurseryiaan has remarked that nearly one hundred kinds
of bedding plants are raised on his beds*
In order to meet the demand of customers these
nurserymen have on sale seeds, various kinds of manures,
pots of different shapes, sise, and taste, spray articles,
and even soil*
The choice of business place is particularly important
to the nurserymen of this group, for they have to eater
primarily to the Individual customers* Most of the nurseries
of this sort are located along the streets where a high
degree of fluidity generally prevails, such as W@gt Pico
Street, ^»est Jefferson Street, Western Avenue, Beverly
Boulevard, and Santa Monica Boulevard#
(2) Growers of the se^lingr, of tomato and celery*
The Japanese nurseryman who are raising tomatoes and celery
in their green houses are doing the quickest and the most
fascinating business among the local Japanese nurserymen*
Compared with the business in which other types of their
93
follow nuroerymon have to wait until the demand of customers
is created, their business is much quicker, for they operate
their business in the form of a contract with the local
farmers, and raise tomatoes or celery in a comparatively
short time. In this regard one nurseryman in this group
has mentioned:
The business is relatively quick for green house
operators. As soon as the seedlings of tomato or celery
are raised, they are sold out, thus bringing to them a
compensation for their labor.
Their work is also fascinating, for they may control the
growth of vegetables artificially and witness a rapid growth
of young vegetables#
(3) Growers of bedding plants. When this survey was
made in the summer of 1935, there were found six Japanese
nurseries, where various species of bedding plants of flower
were raised. It is interesting to note that most of these
bedding plant nurseries generally are operated by the
Japanese women residents as a sort of side business. Several
reasons might be cited to explain the situation. One of the
chief reasons is that, as we usually observe among various
groups of immigrants in this country, they are eager to work
or urged to work in order to contribute financially to their
families*
As most of women have a keen interest in flowers
irrespective of difference in races or nationalities, the
94
Japanese wcm&n have a marked degree of love for flowers,
largely cultivated through the social stress which has been
placed upon flower arrangement as one of the essential
requirements for married women in Japan* This intense love
for flowers gives another strong answer for their entry into
this line of business*
Moreover, to raise bedding plants does not require a
large area of land* It could be done on a small piece of
land such as we usually find in the front yard or the back
yard of a private home. It is quite conceivable that the
work which could be done near the home has attracted the
local Japanese housewives*
A majority of these nurseries are located In the
local Japanese residential districts, ©specially in the
southwest district of the city between Jefferson Street and
37th Place and Vermont Avenue and Western Avenue#
Numerous species of bedding plants are raised though-
out the year by these women growers# The most popular
bedding plants include the aster, sinnia, American marigold
{Oalandler), snapdragon, stock, and gladlolla in spring and
summer and delphinium, synolaria, daisies, and all kinds of
bulbs in fall and winter*
(4) Growers of shrubs and trees* As indicated before
there are nearly twenty Japanese wholesale nurseries in this
96
where various kinds of shrubs and trees are raised
for commercial purposes* Their customers are mostly composed
of wholesale-retail nurserymen and Individual landscapers.
It is interesting to observe that the Japanese who operate
these nurseries have grown out of retail nurserymen or
gardeners. Ahil© working as gardeners or retail nurserymen
they have collected and raised different species of shrubs
and trees, deliberately planning to start a wholesale nur
sery of this type. A typical illustration of this vocational
preparedness is given below;
liVhile I was working as gardener In Los Angeles after
the World War, I started to collect and raise all kinds
of shrubs and trees with an idea of entering wholesale
nursery business. Although it took me several years to
open a wholesale nursery, I was able to start my
present business rather economically, than throigh
any other way. Furthermore, I had already had some
vital informations and experiences about my business
when I actually stax*ted it.
JAPANESE GARDENERS
Of all the Japanese vocations which deal with Ameri
cans and other races gardening has attracted an immense
number of the first generation Japanese in Los Angeles.
A nmjority of these nurseries are found on t**©st
55th Place, 56th Street, and 56the Place between Vermont
and Western Avenues in this city*
See Table IV in Chapter II.
06
At present approximately 8,500 Japanese are found engaged
in taking care of gardens and lawn of residences in wealthy
residential zones of Los Angeles, such as in Beverly Hills,
Vernon Heights, and in the area which extends from West Pico
Street to West Adams street, and from Western Avenue to
Westwood.^^
With the exception of a rather negligible number of
Japanese gardeners who stay at millionaires* residences for
gardening work by monthly contract of payment, most of them,
in general, have their homes in the Japanese districts in
oo
this city, and work for their white clientele on the
basis of weekly contract* They are found taking care of
gardens and lawns of their customers one after another,
varying from once to thrice a week in most cases*
The monetary compensation received by these Japanese
gardeners for their work varies according to the skill,
number of customers, and contract* It is generally estiumted,
however, that they are earning from #6. to $7* a day on an
average, thus being assured of a steady income at this time
of general depression*j At this point let us ask what forces
81
A personal interview with Mr* K* Saigusa, who has
been in gardening business for nearly twenty years in
this city.
See Chapter I, the Japanese communities in Los
Angeles*
97
are working to attract so many first generation Japanese
into gardening in Los Angeles. One of the dominant forces
at work in this respect seems to be the vocational exper
iences they have had in their native country as well as in
the United States* Most of the Japanese gardeners, as in
the case of Japanese in other lines of vocations in this
city, have come from agricultural conmunities in Japan,
and have engaged in farming, railroad maintenance, or other
forms of manual labor in this country at one time or another.
Migrating into Los Angeles for various reasons, they entered
miscellaneous lines of jobs or vocations, which they could
find in this modern great city* After all, however, they
have had to choose some vocations which they could enter
advantageously with what they had as their vocational back
ground thus far* Gardening, or "clty-farming" as it might
be called, has given them the very type of work in their
vocational search.
Another strong force at play in drawing the first
generation Japanese into gardening is perhaps an economic
one. Although we could not say that they are receiving a
great amount of monetary compensation for their work, they
are guaranteed at least by a steady income even whon the
general depression prevails as at present, for their
customers are those who belong mostly to wealthy classes in -
this city* 'This steadiness of income must have played a
98
rather strong part In their choice of vocation. A recent
Increase of Japanese gardeners in Los Angeles has been
accounted for by the fact that the Japanese farmers, who
have unfortunately failed to cope with the present depression
in their business, have moved into this city, and have
started gardening, in which they might be assured of a steady
income and meet the hard times rather wisely, j
A strong love for nature socially cultivated among
the Japanese is a third vital force which enters into the
vocational selection of the Japanese gardeners* The writer
has. frequently been assured that they have entered the
gardening business in order to enjoy the beauty of nature,
pure air, abundant sunshine, and what not.
Finally it must be added that all of these forces
mentioned above as well as other forces have been working
together in enticing the Japanese into gardening*
CHAPTER V
PRODUCE BUSINESS OB' JAPANESE
' The activity of the Japanese in the produce business
in Los Angeles has been, and is closely interwoven with that
of their countrymen in agricultural pursuits, particularly
in vegetable raising in southern California. The distribu
tion of the bulk of vegetable products raised by the Japanese
farmers In the Southland^ is being handled largely by the
Japanese produce merchants in the two gigantic wholesale
terminals in Los Angeles, namely, the Union Wholesale Terminal
Market and the City Market of Los Angeles, j In order to under
stand what the Japanese in the produce business have been
doing, it is essential to have a fair grasp of the growth
and the present situation of these two markets, with part
icular reference to the Japanese involvW. A number of
following pages are devoted for this purpose.
The City market of Los Angeles* The City Market of
Los Angeles,^ which is popularly called the Ninth Street
^ See Table X on page 100*
^ The market is operated by the Los Angeles City
Market Company, Inc., and the company loans its buildings and
marketing area to those who deal with farm produces in the
market. The present members on the board of directors of the
company are as follows: E. J. Fleming, president; H. Vsong and
2. Yamada, vice-presidents; and M* Rosenberg, treasurer.
(According to My. A. Bîanabe, secretary of the «Japanese Farmers
Association, 950& S* San Julian Street).
100
TAmS I
ACREAGES FOR PRIBCIEAl AGRIOUITURAL PRODOCTS RAISED BT IRE JARANE8E
m 1934 IN THE THIRTEEN LEADIHD JAPANESE AGRIGHLTDRAL DISTRICTS
IN NINE COUNTIES IN SCKMCRERN OAUFQRBIâS
Districts
Crops
Moneta
Valley*
Venice Garden-
Grove
Hunting
ton
Beach
San
Gabriel
Braw-
ley
m
Centro
San
Diego
San Diie
Obispo
^nta
Barbara
Guade
loupe Lan Park
Ventura
& Oxnard
Total
Acreage
for each
crop
8t2%wberries 100 mo Î 0 0 510 80 50 3 12 1,655
lŒmtoee 2,300 650 500 150 1,100 700 500 278 6,178.
Celery 500 60 600 135 1,195
Beans 2, 0W 600**** 600 50 3,250_
Cauliflower 2,000**
■
970 220 1,000 317 150 4,657
Carrots 1,000*** 630 200 580 2,000 4,410
lattuce 4,000 3,500 1,525 3,250 453 250 12,978 ^
C^nWloups 11,000 4,200 120 15,320 ^
Peppers 1,000 2,200 3,200
Balcam 300 300
Cabbages 180 180
Plowers 1,000 250 1,250
Potatoes 170 170
Spinach 220 220
Peas 500 1,455 337 2, 2#
Squâi^ 100 100
Cucumbers 100 270 370
Asparagus 130 260 390
I^LsceUaneous 1,100 1,200 1,000 1,425 100 986 200 70 250
200 10 6,541
Total Acreage 10,000 1,154 3,000 4,610 4,225 16,630 8,690 3,196 4,560 420 7,000 1,445 880 65,810
No. of Qromra^
families
1,000 146 120 75 215 4&) 143 152 97 18 55 33 32 2,563
* Mane te Valley, neationed here, includes ssvea districts, namely: Gerdmm, CoE^toa, Terrance, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Redon#) Beach and EL ^gundo,
*♦ %e figure includes acreage for both cauliflower and cabbage.
*** The figure includes acreage for carrots, 8#na<#, and melons.
**** The fig we includes acreage for beans and sugar beets.
® Data from the Los Angeles Japanese Daily News, The Myriad, pp. 85-27.
101
Market, was established with a capital of f200,000 on Jim©
22, 1909, at Ninth and San Pedro Streets, through a united
effort of three different races. Including Americana, Chinese,
and Japanese.^
Table XI shows that approxlmately 82 per cent of the
total number of shares were possessed by Americans and
Chinese; while only 18 per cent, by ninety-four Japanese,
thus revealing that the Japanese financial contribution to
the opening of the market was rather small in comparison with
that of Americans or Chinese*
TABLE XI
DISTRIBUTION OF SHARES AMONG AMERICANS, CHINESE AND
JAPANESE SHAREHOLDERS WHETf THE NINTH STREET
MARKET WAS BSTABLISHSD IH 19096
Races
%s&er oi
shareholders
Total number
of shares %
Americans 45 81,900 40,95
Chinese 573 81,850 40,92
Japanese 94 36.360 18,13
Total 200,000 ïoô,5ô
4
American side .was represented by F* Simpson; Chinese
side, by L* Gwan, and Japanese side, by S* Wada and 8* Shi-
buy a* See S* #ada. The Histoy of the Japanese Farmers
Assocation (Los Angeles: Japan©se Farmers' Assoc1ation,
, PP# 73—88#
6
Wada, o£. Git,, p. 85*
102
TABLE XII
DISTRIBOTIOH OF GROWERS AMD COMiaiSSIOH MEHCHASTS
WHO TRAKSACTED 8TJSISESS IH THE NINTH STREET MARKET
IN 19096
Races
Number of
growers
EumSer of com
mission merchants
Americans
20 20
Chinese 40 20
Japanese 120 4
Total 180 44
In Table XII we find that the total number of Japanese
growers who brought their products to the mark et just doubled
the combined figure of both American and Chineee growers, and
that there were only four Japanese commission merchants when
American and Chinese commission merchants counted twenty
respectively* In comparing the precWing two tables we may
perhaps be right in surmising that the financial conditions
of the Japanese growers as well as commission merchants in
this connection was probably not so good as that of either
Chinese or Americans#
With a rapid growth of the population of Los Angeles
in the past twenty years the consumption of vegetables and
fruits by this huge group of Inhabitants in and around Los
Angeles has increased by leaps and bounds* Consequently the
6 Ibid.. p. 86.
103
Ninth Street Market which deals with vegetables and fruits
has also grown in keeping pace with the increase of the
consuming power of the people* In 1924 the business situa
tion of the market was such as to necessitate an Increase
of its capital from #200,000 to #500,00, and to extend its
marketing area over to Twelfth Street on South San Pedro
Street, which It occupies at present. The growth of the
market has been accompanied by an increase in the number of
Japanese growers and produce merchants* According to the
te Guide to Southern Gallfornia* 1926. more than five
hundred Japanese vegetable growers did business with the
market, amounting to #6,000,000 in 1926**^ Even in the
period of general depression since 1929, the total amount
of business transactions of the market in the fiscal years
of 1950 and 1954 was estimated at $50,000,000 and $60,000,
000 respectively; and those of the Japanese in the market,
#16,000,000 and #26,000,000*^ The last statement IWicates
that the total amount of the business transacted by the
Japanese in the market in 1930 as well as 1934 was approxi
mately one half of that of the market itself#
7
The Japanese Guide to Southern Oallforaia ( Los
Angeles: fh© Los Angeles Japanese Daily S e w s ), p# 76»
Û
A Report of the Japanese Consulate in Los Angeles,
1930, p. 19.
® A Report of the •Japanese Consulate in I*oa Angeles,
1934, p. 10.
104
The Japanese farmers association# The Japanese
10
Farmers Association, or Nanka Nogyo Kumiai as it is called
in Japanese, is acting as a vital agency for the promotion
of mutual interest of the Japanese growers as well as whole
sale produce merchants who transact business in the city
Market of Los Angeles# The total number of members of the
Association at present (1935) is 400, inclusive of twenty-
11
one wholesale produce merchants and forty-five yard dealers#
In 1954 the total acreage of the Japanese farmers who held
their membership ii, the Association \;cis estimated at 10,000
acres, with the gross amount of annual output of #6,000,000
for that year#^®
The Los Angeles Union Terminal Company. Incorporâted#
The Los Angeles Union Terminal Company, Incorporated which
is popularly known as the Wholesale Terminal Market or the
Seventh street Market, constitutes the largest marketing
center of fruits and vegetables in Los Angeles, and claims
itself to be one of the greatest markets of its kind in
this country west of Chicago# According to an available
The formation of the Association dates back to
1907. See the Japanese Daily News, The Myriad. 1934, p* 27*
11
A personal interview with Mr, A. Manabe, secretary
of the Japanese Farmers Association#
12
The Los Angeles Japanese Daily Hews, The Myriad.
1934, p# 26#
106
information approximately sixty-five per cent of all vege
tables and fruits which were unloaded in Los Angeles in
1930 or 1951 was handled in this market,which fact shows
what an important role it plays in the matter of supplying
millions of people in this locality with fruits end vege-
14
tables.
Unlike the case of the City Market of Los Angeles,
which came into existence and has been managed as a co
operative enterprise of Americans, Chinese, and Japanese,
this market was established in 1903 exclusively through an
investment of a dozen Americans
A broad area which covers the whole district bounded
by Alameda Street and Central Avenue on east and west, and
A personal interview with Mr* G. H« Slake, super
intendent of the L. A. Union Terminal Company, Incorporated.
1^ Total unloads of fruits and vegetables at Los
Angeles for calendar years 1931 to 1935, including carlot
unloads and boat express and motor truck receipts reduced to
carlot equivalents, were as follows: 62266 (1951), 61980 (1932)
57548 (1933), 64871 (1934), and 68798 (1936). See Federal-State
Market News Service, Annual Summary of Unloadau^n;its and
Vegetables at Los Angeïesl' '1 " " pp#"^-6.
Since the time of its establishment In 1903 the
market has changed its place and name^two times before it
occupied its present site, naming; itself the Los Angeles
Union Terminai Market# At its birth the market was called
the Los Angeles Market and was located on Third and Central
Avenue# In 1913 it moved to Alameda Street at Sixth with a
changed name, the Los Angeles Public Market; and finally in
1918 it moved again to its present spot on Seventh and Cen
tral Avenue. See the L. A. Japanese Daily News, The Myriad.
1934, p. 28*
106
and Seventh and Eighth Streets on north and south respectively,
constitutes the entire property of the company, inclusive of
forty acres of land for buildings, twenty-three acres for
market yard, and five acres devoted to fruit and vegetable
market ing
The total amount of business transacted in the market
in 1954 was estimated somewhere around #70,000,000, of which
about #10,000,000 or one-seventh of the entire business
transaction of the market, was attributable to the Japanese
Who dealt with the market in that year# In this connection
let us note precisely the Japanese aspect involved in the
the whole business of the market. Quite contrary to the
fact that the Japanese in the City Market of Los Angeles
play a significant role, participating in the management of
the market, the Japanese in this market have nothing to do
with the management of the market* They are composed of
those who are called stall holders,” farmers, mostly vege
table growers, haulers, and ”yard dealers” who buy and sell
the incoming commodities right within the market.
16
A personal interview with Mr. Y. Kubota, secretary
of the Hippon-California Farmers Association#
17
A Report of the Japanese Consulate of Los Angeles,
1935, p# 10.
107
TABLE XIII
RACIAL DISTRI3OTI0W OP IlffilVICUALS EKGAGSD IH
VARIOUS TYPES OP ACTIVITIES IN THE L.A. ÜHIOH TERMINAL
MARîaST, 193618
Races "Stall holders" Farmers Haulers "Yard dealers"
Japanese 120 42 78 20
Chinese 10 6 14
All other
nationalities — 25 20 10
ïotàï ’ ÏS6 w Ï54 44
The preceding table indicates that there are 120
Japanese inside "stall holders;" that the number of Japanese
farmers is slightly larger than the combined figures of
Chinese and other nationalities in the same category; and
that the total number of Japanese haulers far exceeds the
figures of Chinese and all other nationalities in hauling
business put together* It is also shown that the number of
the Japanese "yard dealers" constitutes nearly half as big
as that of the total number of "yard dealers” in the market*
According to Mr* Y* Kubota, secretary of the Nippon-
California Farmers Association, there are approximately
Japanese employed in the "inside stalls" operated by the
18
A personal interview with Mr* C. H, Jlake, superin
tendent of the Wholesale Terminal Co*, Los Angeles. Aocoi^-
ing to him the table does not include the number of citrus
fruit dealers, which counted thirty in all*
108
Japanese commission merchants and wholesale producers within
the market, and in the "outside stalls” of Japanese, the
Japanese employees totaling somewhere between 600 and 600
are working, of which nearly seventy per cent are second
generation Japanese* So far we have presented the numerical
aspect of the Japanese who are engaged in various lines of
activities in the market* At this point it seems quite
appropriate to describe the nature and function® of the
Hlppon-Callfornla Farmers Association, which assumes a
significant part in the whole activities of the Japanese
in the market #
The Bippon-Galifornia farmers association* The
Nippon-Califomia Farmers Association, or the Nlkka Hyogyo
Kumiat was formed in July, 1909, by the Japanese farmers
and merchants who then dealt with the Wholesale Terminal
Market* The main purpose of the Association is to promote
the interest of its members through creating co-operation
among the members* At present {1935) the membership of the
association Is 400. It is stated that on account of the
formation of Japanese farmers association in various local
ities in southern California in these two or three years
an Increasing number of Japanese farmers has been withdrawing
from the association*^^
According to Mr* Y. Kubota, secretary of the Nippon
California Farmers Association, in a personal interview.
109
® produce merchants* The term Japanese pro-
duce merehart as used here applies to a Japanese merchant
who is engaged in dealing with various kinds of agricultural
produce either in wholesale or retail business* 'the primary
business transactions of the Japanese wholesale produce
merchants are being conducted mostly in the Wholesale Ter
minal Market and the City Market of Los Angeles; while those
of the Japanese retail produce merchants, at hundreds of
different place® in Los Angeles.
The wholesale produce merchants are composed of three
different groups of individuals, which include (1) the
commission merchant, who usually invest in the farming
business of Japanese agriculturists outside of the city, and
sell in the "inside stalls" on the market the fruits and
vegetables which the farmer® bring in to them; (2) the whole
sale producers, who have only to do with buying and selling
the farm produce in the "inside stalls"; and (5) the "yard
dealers," who buy and sell agricultural products right in
the sections called "outside stalls" in the market*
Table XIV indicates that the total number of Japanese
wholesale produce merchants in the City Market of Los Angeles
in 1936 is twice as big as that of the Japanese in the same
business in the Wholesale Terminal Market, revealing a
greater expansion of the Japanese wholesale business in the
former than in the latter*
110
TABLE XIV
NUrmER OP JAPANESE WHOLESALE PRODUCE ME3tCRANTS IN
THE WHOLESALE TERMINAL mHEET AND THE CITY
MARKET OP LOS ANGELES, 1936^
Mmaber of Japanese wholesale
produce merchants
lÉarket Commission
merchants
Wholesale
producers
Yard
dealers
Total
wholesale
Terminal
Market 8 5 20 33
City Market of
Los Angeles 13 8 45 56
iFrom the standpoint of the employment situation it is
surprising to know that an Immensely large number of Japanese
are finding various sorts of jobs in these two markets#
Although it is impossible to get the exact number of these
employees due to the difficulty of the investigation involved,
there are approximately 500 Japanese employed by the Japanese
wholesale produce merchants, and haulers in the Wholesale
Terminal Market as against 700 Japanese who are employed by
the Japanese "bosses" in the City Market of Los Angeles# It
has been revealed that nearly 70 to 80 per cent of the total
20
Compiled by the writer based upon the data furnished
by Mr# G, H# Blake, superintendent of the Wholesale Terminal
Company, and by Mr# A# Manabe, secretary of the Japanese
Farmers Association#
Ill
number of Japanese employees in these two markets consists
of the second generation Japanese, thus leaving a rather
small percentage for that of the first generation Japanese#
The main factors associated with this situation are as
follows:®®
1# The scope of marketing business is wide enough to
give variety of jobs to a large number of second—generation
Japanese#
2# Linguistic advantages possessed by the second
generation over the first generation give better chances of
being employed in this type of business which demands a
certain amount of ability of speaking the Ehglish language#
3# That the second generation is willing to work for
a
less wages than the first generation, with an intention of
learning the business in general or entering the marketing
business In future#
Of all the retail businesses In which the Japanese
are found engaged in Los Angeles the retail produce business
constitutes the most significant vocation, for it has drawn
increasing numbers of Japanese in recent years, and partic
ularly a huge number of the second generation Japanese have
been found at work in the Japanese fruit and vegetable
21 According to Mr* Y# Kubota, secretary of the Nippon-
California Farmers Association, and Mr# A# Manabe, secretary
of the Japanese Farmers Association#
See Chapter VI for further discussion in this regard
1X2
stands* In a personal Interview Mr* H* Morimoto, secretary
of the Southern California Retail Produce Dealers Associa
tion of Japanese, has stated that the total number of
Japanese who operate fruit and vegetable stands in Los
Angeles in 1935, 1934, and 1935 are 300, 465, and 500 re-
spectlvely, and that in August, 1935, there were approxi
mately twenty-four hundred second generation Japanese being
miployed in these Japanese fruit and vegetable stands.
• ' Force# which drive the second generation Japanese to
work in the fruit and vegetable stands* As a majority of
young people tend to prefer city jobs to farming or other
manual labor in the open country from various reasons, a
large number of second-generation Japanese have a remark
able tendency to choose city jobs than farming in the
country* Now the question to be asked in this connection is
what forces are at work to drive such an enoamous number of
the second generation to work at the fruit and vegetable
stands as indicated before? First of all, we must admit
that the entire force, which the city of Los Angeles is
manifesting in drawing thousands of people from other parts
23
These figures indicate the number of Japanese
retail produce dealers who held their membership with the
Southern California Retail Produce Dealers Association, 1057
South San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, in 1935, 1934, and 1935-
According to Mr* H* Morimoto, about 90 per cent of the
members of the Association have their stores in Los Angeles*
113
of the country, la also working in this regard* However,
the specific reasons why the second generation Japanese have
been finding Jobs in retail produce stores Involve several
distinctive elements* As we have shown in Chapter II that
chances for employment in the various vocations which are
primarily intended to the Japanese customers in this city
have been exceedingly small to give any amount of vocational
outlets to an increasing number of second generation Japan
ese who are eager to find Jobs* And even though some
positions are offered to them by the stores and offices in
this field, the first requirement for an applicant la usually
whether he has an adequate knowledge of speaking Japanese*
Unfortunately a majority of second generation Japanese who
are in the age group, say between 20 and 30, at present have
had very little experience in attending the local Japanese
language schools in the past* Consequently, because of their
linguistic disadvantage most of them have almost no chances
of being employed in these stores or offices; thus being
compelled to seek another type of business where they could
secure jobs and take advantage of education which they have
received in American schools* The retail produce stores of
Japanese constitute the very type of fields in which this
huge group of second generation Japanese could find jobs and
put Into practice what they Iiave learned in schools^]
CHAPTER VI
MAJOR VOCATIONAL FIELDS OF
THE SECOND GENmATION JAPANESE
With an Inereaalng number of second generation Japan
ese reaching later adolescence and early adulthood In recent
years! the problem of the type of vocations they might enter
in the near future has been assuming a paramount importance
not only among themselves but also among their first-genera
tion parents*
In this chapter let us limit the scope of the subject
to the presentation of the employment situation of the
second generation Japanese as It Is observable In Los Angeles
at present# As me look over Table XV we notice that of
4p451 second generation Japanese who were engaged or employed
In various forms of vocations In Los Angeles In 1934, 3,110,
or approximately seventy per cent of the total number of tho
second generation Japanese employed or engaged, were found
working In retail fruit and vegetable stands and wholesale
! According to a Report of the «fapanese Consulate In
Los Aii^eles, 1930, there were 2,371 second generation Japanese
In the age group between 16 and 25 In Los Angeles County
(1,383 males and 988 females)j while the tentative report of
the census drive held by the Japanese Consulate in Los Ange
les in December, 1935, reveal^ that the total number of the
second generation In the same age group In Los Angeles County
was 4,608, of which 2,569 weiB males and 2,049 were females.
Thus, during a five year period from 1930 to 1935 the total
number of second generation Japanese in the age group between
16 and 25 In Los Angeles County was nearly doubled# See
L.A* Dally News, The Myriad. January 19, 1956, p#
115
TABLE XV
NTTTTERICAL COMPARIfCN OF THE FIRST-C'CNERATION A3m
THE SECOND-OmERATION ON JAPAEl'SE wr.n Vv'ERE ENGAGET^ OR
EFPLOYED IN VARIOUS VOCATIONS N LOS ANCKLES, 1934 2
Number of persons
Vocations or employed
F#
1. Retail fruit &
*^760 vegetable stands 900
2. Wholesale produce*»# 141 203
3. Retail produce^f***
(chain markets) 66 " 167
4* Gleaning and laundry 270 80
6. Nurseries 210 60
6. Groceries 440 ^48
7# Chop suey houses 200 36
8. Garages 28 32
9* Gardeners A^l,600 20
10# Dentists 11 15
11. Restaurants 160 15
12. go t els 305 10
13. Beauty shops 10 10
14. Insurance agencies 43 7
15. Attorneys 0 6
16. Drug stores 9 5
17. Retail flower shops 105 5
18. Physicians & surgeons 26 3
19. Barber shops 162 1
Total TlWë.. ..
F. G* stands for the first generation.
iHf S. G* represents the aeuond generation.
figures for wholesale produce Indicate the number of
Japanese engaged or employed in 47 Japanese stores in the
City and the Terminal Wholesale Produce Markets in August, 1935
The figures for retail produce chain markets show the
number of Japanese engaged or employed In 31 Japanese chain
markets In August, 1935#
2 Japanese Chamber of Commerce Report for 1934, Los
Angeles* ( I3y courtesy of Rev# K. UnourR) #
116
as well as retail produce business, and only thirty per cent
of the second generation investigated, or 1,141 to be exact.
In other sixteen miscellaneous forms of vocations. In
comparing the figures of the second generation Japanese in
these vocations with the corres ponding figures for the first
generation Japanese, we find that more second generation
Japanese were engaged or employed than the first generation
In retail fruit and vegetable stands, produce business,
garages, and In dentistry# On the other hand. It Is shown
that in nine different types of vocations an exceedingly small
number of second generation Japanese were engaged or employed
compared with the figures for the first generation In these
lines* These vocations Include: barber shop, gardening,
hotel, retail flower shop, restaurant, grocery, chop-suey
house, nursery, and cleaning and laundry# It Is Interesting
to note that the number of second generation (fwiale members)
who were engaged or employed In beauty shop business hap
pened to be the same with that of the first-generation In
the same vocation, and that attorneys were wholly represented
by the second generation Japanese, who, unlike their elders,
are entitled to practise law by virtue of their American
citizenship#
How what are the probable Implications of these trends
In vocational selection of the second generation Japanese as
they arc revealed In figures In Table XV on page 115? In
117
answering this question, two vital elements that merit
attention are, #ie nature of vocation and the probable
extent of being employed in It# All of the vocations In
which a reimrkable small number of second generation Japan
ese are engaged or employed In comparison with the first
generation are in the line of personal services, trade, and
agriculture# These vocations Involve the types of work
which demand usually a considerable amount of physical labor
and constant attention* And the f Ir s t-gener at Ion who have
had no other ways than entering these lines of vocations
have always been held In a rather low status within the
new country to which they have emigrated. It Is quite
conceivable that the young aspiring group of second genera
tion Japanese, who are American citizens by birth, and who
are thoroughly Americanized, tend to strive toward a higher
status In society through climbing up from the lower status
in which their immigrant elders have been held. Furthermore,
these vocational fields In which the first generation Japan
ese still have their dominant role, are not broad enough to
demand the entry of the second generation at present. Con
sequently, it seems that the second generation has gone Into
the vocations where a large number of them could find voca
tional outlets and have chances for attaining a higher level
of social status in future than In the vocations where the
first generation Japanese are dominant at present#
GHAPTBR VII
G0NGLUBI0N8
GeographloaX distribution of the Japanese in Los
* The Japanese now residing in Los Angeles are
estimated at approximately 20,000, of which fifty-three
per cent consisting of the first generation, and forty-
seven per cent, of the second generation. In the history
of the Japanese social invasion In this city there have
been three rather distinctive periods, namely, the initial
period (1885-1905}, the developmental period {1906-1924),
and the stationary period (1925 to the present time). In
the Initial period the Japanese population in this city
increased gradually, and nuaibered in 1905 about 4,000, or
one-fifth of the total number of the Japanese in Los Angeles
at present. The great earthquake which broke out In San
Francisco in 19(M, the unprecedented business prosperity In
the second decade of this century, and the phenomenal growth
of Los Angeles in the post-war period— all these natural,
economic, and social forces were at work in bringing here
the bulk of Japanese from other sections in this country as
well as from Japan. The Japanese population which counted
about 4,000 in 1905 reached the 10,000 level In 1916, and
numbered approximately 22,000 in 1924, or a slight excess
over its present size#
119
was signifieant about this developmental porloà
of social invasion of Japanese is that most of the present
Japanese commmltles in this city were formed during the
period and the Japanese made their definite entries Into
various lines of vocational fields.
With the enactment of the Japanese Exclusion Law in
1924, which prohibited the Japanese emigration to this
country, the Japanese social invasion entered In Its sta
tionary period. Although there has been a continual migra
tion of Japanese Into this city from other regions of this
country, and the second generations have been Increasing,
the Japanese population in this city has been gradually
declining, primarily due to the decrease on the part of the
first-generations#
In tracing the Japanese migration Into this city
several dynamic forces are shown as working together# They
are briefly stated, (1) The great earthquake of San Francisco
in 1906, (2) Favorable climatic conditions in Los Angeles
and its nel^borhood, (3) The educational facilities which
Los Angeles is provided with, (4) Influences of friends or
relatives, (5) The economic opportunities found in this
great metropolitan center on the Pacific coast In this
country, and (6) The enactment of the California Allen Land
Law of 1920#
Although some Japanese are found In practically every
part of this city, the majority of them are residing or
engaged in various vocations in six major sections in the
city, which include the Japanese Down-Town District, the
Boyle Heights and Evergreen Japanese District, the West
Tenth Street Japanese District, the West 36th Street Japanese
District, the Madison Avenue Japanese District, and the
Hollywood Japanese District*^ Except the case of the Japan
ese Down-Town District centering about '^Little Tokyo** which
is devoted to the business section of the people, the re
maining districts are primarily their residential zones, in
which we find them living side by side, but with less con
tact with other races, thus constituting groups of **nigh-
dwellers#
if2
Types of the Japanese vocations # Vocationally speaking,
the Japanese in Dos Angeles are found engaged in three dif
ferent fields: (1) Those Which mainly deal with Japanese,
(2) Tiiose which deal extensively with Americans and other
races, and (3) Those which deal with both Japanese and non-
Japanese as well#
In the first two periods of their social invasion
^ See the Social Survey Map of Dos Angeles on page 12#
2
Bessie A# MoClenshan, •pie Changing Urban Meighbor-
hood (Dos Angeles ; University oF Southern ualiFornia Press.
]3g3), p. 3#
(1886-1924) they made a great advance In the first type of
vocations, primarily due to the vital needs they had to
meet for the sake of their own groups who steadily increased
in these periods*
When the vocational outlet in the first type of voca
tions had reached its point of saturation rather in the
developmental period, they started to enter the second type
of vocations, which afforded them a wider scope of vocational
activity. Along with that many of them expanded their ext mit
of business from their own groups over to the others, thus
catering to both Japanese and other people in this city. The
vocations of the first type, in which a comparatively large
number of Japanese were engaged in 1934 are: doctors, den
tists, and phanaacists (74), Japanese-atyle restaurants (72),
insurance agencies (68), and dry goods stores (45)* In the
second type of vocations gardening, groceries, retail produce
dealers, and retail flower shops are most conspicuous with
numerous Japanese entries, such as 1500 in gardening, 545 in
retail produce dealing, 470 in grocery, and 105 in retail
floral business# With respect to the third type of vocations
we have seen that an increasing number of Japanese entered
hotel business, while the Japanese barbers have been decreas
ing in recent years#
Vocational situations of the Japanese# (a) In the
im
vocations which may be called personal services the Japanese
have entered practically ever since the beginning of this
century# The major vocations in this field are those con
nected with barber shop, laundry, cleaning and pressing,
boarding and hotel business, and Jap&nese-style restaurant
and cafe. The definite forward step In these lines of
vocations, however, was made by them in the period of
business prosperity after the World War, thriving in all of
these fields# With the exception of Japanese barber shops,
boarding houses, and Japanese-style restaurants, the Japanese
establishments in other lines of personal service have
gradually been increasing in recent years, chiefly due to
the fact that the former are intended to serve the needs of
a limited group of Japanese residents, while the latter, to
eater to the vast group of clientele composed of American
and other races# It must be added here that most of these
Japanese establishments are still small and have a few
employees, assisted mostly by the members of families of
the propri etors *
With regard to the distribution of the Japanese estab
lishments In these lines we find them clustering in the
regions where they could cater to their prospective eustmore effectively. Nearly all of the Japanese boarding houses,
the J&panes @-@tyle restaurants and about one-third of the
Japanese barber shops are found centralized in the Japanese
183
Down-town District# On the other hand, more than ninety
per cent of the total number of Japanese hotels are found
in the zone east of Main Street, being barred from the
district in the west of Spring Street, where high value of
land prevails in general. The Japanese cafes are mostly
opened in a zone of transition and deterioration, which
extends from Sunset Boulevard to East Twelfth Btreat, and
Main Street to Alameda, catering to the transient groups of
people on Main Street and groups of unskilled and semi
skilled laborers in other spots in the zone* The Japanese
laundries and cleaning shops are found widely distributed
in the city.
(b) As an immense number of the first-generation
Japanese are found engaged in farming in southern California,
so a considerable number of Japanese are finding vocational
outlets in Dos Angeles in agricultural pursuits such as
floral business, nursery, and gardening. While the former
have gone into farming business Intensively as well as
extensively, the latter have entered these fields rather
extensively, but not intensively enough to cause any friction
or conflict between them and the native or other racial
groups in these fields. Numerically speaking, the Japanese
gardeners who number É500 in this city lead the nurserymen
and retail florists of Japanese, who count sixty-five, and
fifty-five respectively* All of these people are fotmd
124
working or keeping their shops more or less independently
from others at different spots in this city, thus catering
to different groups of patrons# Hence, it does not seem
that any anti-Japanese labor would be created in these
fields*
(o) The Japanese in Los Angeles have entered into
the produce business more extensively and intensively com
pared with their fellow countrymen engaged in other lines
of vocation® which we have dealt with so far* %is is
primarily due to the fact that, the latter are found, in
general, pursuing their vocations rather independently from
other groups of Japanese, and have to dmil with more or
less certain groups of clientele, the former have to deal
with a huge amount of a^icultural products raised by the
Japanese farmers in southern California, and to distribute
them to million® of people in the rank and file of society
in Los Angeles and its hinterland* The two vital centers
where these Japanese produce merchants actually take part
with other nationalities in a gigantic task of distributing
fruits and vegetables are the Los Angeles Union Terminal
Market and the City Market of Los Angeles, of which the
latter market is more significant on account of its being
managed by three different racial groups. Including Ameri
cans, Chinese, and Japanese*
126
Approximately one hundred Japanese are engaged In
wholesale produce business in these two marketing centers,
and the total number of Japanese employed by these merchants
is estimated at 1200, seventy to eighty per cent of which,
consisting of the second generation Japanese# There are
found five hundred Japanese fruit and vegetable stands
distributed all over the city. Practically in every large
retail produce market in Los Angeles we find a Japanese
fruit and vegetable stand# What is vitally interesting and
significant in this connection is the increasing entry of
the second generation Into this field in recent years.
Although the managerial positions in these retail produce
stores are still held by the first generation, nearly twenty-
four hundred second generation Japanese are being toployed
as salesmen, saleswomen, and the like#
(d) With the very small group of the second génération
Japanese in Los Angeles who are finding vocational outlets
in professional lines as doctors, dentists, or attoimeys,
the majority of them are found employed in produce stores,
particularly In fruit and vegetable stands. This is mainly
due to the fact that, although they are free from the legal
restrictions imposed upon their parents, unf or tuna t @ly they
are still victims of social discriminations against them,
and it is almost impossible for thmm to find any other voca
tional line than this, no matter how earnest in their desire
126
and how capable they may be.
Forces at work in drawing the Japaneee into these
fields. In the case of the first generation Japanese their
cultural background, particularly their vocational exper
iences in their home country as well as in the United States
has been a dynamic force in determining their vocational
choice in personal service, agricultural pursuit, and pro
duce business in this city. The primary forces associate
with their advancement in these lines of vocations are com
posed of I (1) an increase of the Japanese population, (2)
the general business prosperity which prevailed for several
years in the post-War period, (3) the rapid expansion of Los
Angeles in the second and third decades of this century,
(4) the firm determination and desperate effort on their
part to go forward in the vocational lines which they have
been permitted to pursue in this city.
The social handicap imposed upon the second generation
Japanese in choosing their vocations is a vital conditioning
factor for their entry into the produce business in recent
years. The matter of removing this sort of handicap would
require a long period of painstaking work of Americanization
on the part of the second generation Japanese and their
descendants as well as the native Americans. Though gloomy
and discouraging as their vocational outlook may appear at
127
present, a sincere and definite attempt for oontrIbutIon
toward Amer loan life marks the attitude of the though tf'ul
and eons aient ÎOUS group of the second f^eneration as Ir
expressed by one of tîielr leaders:
J© don’t Intend to succumb to our ©nvlromaent. We
believe that our duty is to stay here and make a dis
tinctive contribution to American life just as other
national groups have contributed to American life In
the past* But in order to make this contribution wo
must be given the opportunity to develop ourselves
normally*
Our immediate outlook Is of course very dark* But
our policy is to get the best education we can, and to
keep ever before us the vision of what we might
accomplish, even though for a while we cannot find
vocations befitting our abilities* Then we shall be
so dissatisfied with the existing conditions that we
shall work continuously to change them. Only by such
continuous hammering away will any change come about*
Of course its going to be hard on the individual who
will have to plug away at an Inferior position when he
is really capable of something better* But this seems
to be the only course, which will bring any ultimate
improvement. And so the credit of the Amerlcan-bom
Japanese, many of them are following this policy, and
a few of them are beginning to find their places in
society*^
K. Kawai, ’ ’ The ■Three Roads and None Easy,” Survey.
LvI 11926), 166-66* Quoted by E. K. Strong in %e Second-
Generation Japanese Problem (Palo Alto: St.anfor3Tl!nIvSrsTty
T à T T i m ) , FC-'is.---------

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Bogardu-s, Emory 8*, Essentia Is of Amerloanl zatlon# Los
Ange le s : iMlvor sl tÿ W ' ^uÈ5e%% " Press , 1920 *
Indo, Shlro, oteyaay-Ksnjiy in Southern OaIJUfornia. Los |
Angeles ;“ TSeŒaymiâaW©r©©as As soc iaCion,''’ ''ÎÜSS • ^ ■ ■ ■
Pry, G. L*, The Teohnlgue of Social Investigation. New York:
Harper aS3 Sroffiers',
Ikegaml, Junlohl, The History of Southern California Florists " \
Association* ' Ks’ ’ "Àhgéles ; T5e âoutSern SaïiforrÆa'' " " :
Florins'" Ass ociat ion, 1953.
McGlenahan, Bessie A», The Ganging Urha^ Neighborhood * Los
Angeles; Hnlvarsity of""&<^hë3^"73allf6rn3^ 1929,
Mears, E. G., Resident Orientels on tto Americ^ Pacific
CoastI Thëlr"%e^l andT ^ S&lcagbY Qnl- , —
verslty oF' Qhïc^go Bf^sï,’ "ï92Ë'I
Mills, H* A., The Japanese Problems in the United states *
New XorkîTEe ' lÊcmillan "CKpaBy, 19IB,
Strong, E# K#, The Seoond-Qenaration Japanese Problems# Palo
Alto, California; "Btandfbrd' 'tSïversity 'Fre'ss', 1934.
loulHeFn California, Los Angeles, 1924,
Uono, Kiyoshl, The Faotors Affectif the Geographlca 1 _
;ation and ' Dispersion of tEe" Japanese iGTtSe
^y oF"I38*^Ân^éle's~ tMpiKXiiSeH' #isteF*'s ''tEesis, uSfL
varsity of" Soot&eîm California, Los Angeles, 1927,
Wada, Shinsaku, The Hlstoj^ of the Japanese Farmers Associa-
ti on. Los Angela s; 5e"Thpanese ^Ëwm6rs As soc iat ioni
PERIODICAL ARTICLES
Kataoka, i, T,, ”occupations of Japanese in Los Angeles
t t
130
Sociology and Social Research, XIV {September-October,
GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
Kingsbury, W*, and R# N* Pearce, ”Annual Unload Sumxary:
Fruits and Vegetables, 1935,’ * P^deml-State Market Mews
Service, 300 Wholesale TerminaIlKtdg,AngoXis',
The Report of the
------
Consulate in Los Angeles, 1931
PUBLICATIONS OF BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS
Japanese Ameriean Year Books for the years 1929 to 1935
gan #^n3XscoûT' %eJapan-Amerlcan News.
Guide to Southern California. Los Angeles : The
'Eos Angeles jEpanêsë''"ï)ai'ïy' ' "Mews, 1926..
Japanese Telephone Directory of southern California for 1915#
l$^eiilT 1^E u5tH H o7 X S ’ lBI
nose Telephone and Business Directory Southern Calif or*
hia , Ko* 2% T l533 ) T^^lEeSnghgele^ %
Bcmpany, 1935.
Telephone Directory of Southern California Japanese Nursery-
nwr.l ii i i iii i i i I IWIIII■flrinii um.niwi i i iwwiiy i r w N# i gmnMN i i r, i , M " I i n r f i i . i i i i i p i i i w*| Bii >. mi i. i i i | ) iwiMii*liaii i i w>#mi w* i i i i ji i i n i i > i i i i i i i i i l i i l i > r w^fi

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Asset Metadata

Creator Nodera, Isamu (author)

Core Title Survey of the vocational activities of the Japanese in the city of Los Angeles

School Department of Sociology

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Sociology

Degree Conferral Date 1936-05

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,social sciences

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c39-340182

Unique identifier UC11313766

Identifier EP65579.pdf (filename),usctheses-c39-340182 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier EP65579.pdf

Dmrecord 340182

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Nodera, Isamu

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA