GROWING COMMUNITY. "Window on a Community: Nikkei Farmers of the Hood River Area," an exhibit on view at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center (ONLC) through January 6, gives a glimpse of what it was like for early Japanese settlers in the Hood River Valley. Pictured is Hood River’s Japanese Community Hall in 1929. (Photo courtesy of ONLC, gift of Carolyn Brady, Takagi Family Collection)

From The Asian Reporter, V17, #40 (October 2, 2007), page 9.

By Toni Tabora-Roberts

The fading sepia-toned photograph depicts a familiar image of the West — an old general store. What makes it special, though, is the name: Niguma Bros. Store. It was one of a handful of businesses that popped up in the Hood River area to support the burgeoning Japanese farming community in the early 1900s. An exhibit on view at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center (ONLC) through January 6, 2008, "Window on a Community: Nikkei Farmers of the Hood River Area," gives a glimpse of what it was like for early Japanese settlers in the Hood River Valley.

The earliest Japanese in Oregon worked either for the railroad or as laborers in lumber or farming. By 1900 there were 2,500 Japanese immigrants, or Issei, living in the state. In the Hood River Valley they settled in towns including Hood River, Dee, and Parkdale. Jitneys (shuttles) allowed travel for settlers up and down the valley, and also provided the means for goods to be shipped from Portland, including staples such as shoyu, rice, and sardines.

Issei first got their land through the back-breaking work of clearing land for farming. The exhibit notes, "As Issei laborers saved money and gained experience as farm hands, they were ready to lease or purchase their own tracts of land, alone or in partnership with other Issei. Sometimes land was acquired in exchange for labor as a contract."

As Nikkei (second generation) communities grew, other businesses and organizations emerged to support them by providing goods as well as a place for the community to gather. They included the Niguma Bros. Store, the Yasui Bros. Store, and the Hood River Japanese Community Hall. Families like the Nigumas and the Yasuis became community leaders. The exhibit includes a variety of photographs that reveal the close-knit bonds of an immigrant community.

By the 1920s, the Issei farmers had grown into a vital part of the farming community in the Hood River area, providing a large percentage of strawberries and asparagus for Eastern markets. In order to maximize the potential of selling their crops, Nikkei farmers joined and even formed their own farming associations such as the Mid-Columbia Vegetable Growers Association, Hood River Apple Growers Association, and the Japanese Farmer’s Association, or Nogyo Kyokai. By the 1940s, the Japanese Farmers of Hood River were thriving. "They produced 90 percent of the county’s asparagus, 80 percent of the strawberries, 30 percent of the peas, and 20 percent of the apples." In 1940 it was reported that 88 Japanese farmers were in operation, cultivating over 2,200 acres.

During World War II, things changed forever for the Nikkei community. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, ordering the forced internment of all individuals of Japanese descent. Approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned all along the West Coast. Hood River Japanese were mostly sent to Tule Lake, near the border of Oregon and California. Eventually Tule Lake became the camp designated for the "disloyals," and the "loyals" were then sent to Minidoka Camp in Hunt, Idaho.

Many of the non-Japanese farmers in the Hood River area were firmly anti-Japanese. However, a few were sympathetic, such as Nora and Roy Rumbaugh, and helped look over their neighbor’s farms. After the war, only about 40 percent of the Japanese returned to the Hood River Valley. Others were too traumatized or had nothing to return to and so sought a new beginning elsewhere. There are still Nikkei farms in the Hood River area today.

"Window on a Community: Nikkei Farmers of the Hood River Area" includes photographs (cleverly mounted on window frames), oral history, and community artifacts. The exhibit is on view through January 6 at ONLC, located at 121 N.W. Second Avenue in Portland’s Chinatown. Exhibit hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00am to 3:00pm, and Sunday from noon to 3:00pm. To learn more, call (503) 224-1458, e-mail <onlc@oregonnikkei.org>, or visit <www.oregonnikkei.org>.