HISTORY AND HERITAGE. Japanese Voices from the Northwest, an exhibit of photos, artifacts, and personal histories focused on the Japanese-American community that once thrived in the Lake Labish area of Salem, is on display through November 4. Pictured are farmers planting celery by hand in 1925. (Photo courtesy of the Sons of Lake Labish Historical Group)

From The Asian Reporter, V19, #37 (September 22, 2009), page 11.

Through November 4

World Beat Gallery, Reed Opera House, Second Floor

189 Liberty Street N.E., Salem, Oregon

(503) 581-2004, <www.salemmulticultural.org>

By Allison Voigts

The Japanese were standing in the rain. They were stolid and quiet. I spotted a young man I had known. He was Ko Yada, who in the summer of 1939 had been a player on the American Legion’s junior baseball team. Ko had been my catcher. He recognized me and smiled. I went over to talk to him. ‘Ko, first I want to know about your parents,’ I told him, ‘Are they here?’ ‘Yes, back there some- where. They won’t let us stay together … Mr. Grant, do you know where they’re taking us?’" said Salem newsman Ethan Grant in 1986, describing the day in 1942 when Salem’s Japanese-American citizens were forced from their homes to an internment camp.

Grant’s account, along with those of Salem’s notable issei (first generation) and nisei (second generation) Japanese immigrants and their Caucasian friends, paints a vivid picture of life for Japanese Americans in the Lake Labish area of Salem, Oregon in Japanese Voices from the Northwest, an exhibit at the Salem Multicultural Institute’s World Beat Gallery.

Using photographs, interviews, and newspaper clippings, the exhibit depicts the bucolic lifestyle of successful Japanese-American farmers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the hardship and discrimination they faced during and after World War II, and the continuing legacy of Japanese Americans in the region today.

According to the exhibit, the draining of swampy Lake Labish by Salem landowner and state legislator Madison L. Jones drew the first wave of Japanese immigrants to the area. Jones paired with issei farmer and railroad worker Roy K. Fukuda, leasing him 100 acres of the soil-rich land, which Fukuda leased in smaller parcels to his Japanese friends and neighbors.

The community thrived with farmers maximizing space and the growing season by building expert greenhouses. Fukuda developed a white variety of celery known as the "Golden Plume," which gained notoriety throughout the nation for its flavor and delicacy. Japanese immigrants opened shops, restaurants, and gas stations and formed social and religious organizations to preserve their heritage.

All this changed December 7, 1941 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Within weeks, Salem’s Japanese-American community — including many American citizens — was uprooted by the government and sent to a desert internment camp in Tule Lake, California. Allowed to bring only what they could carry, the internees were forced to abandon businesses, farms, houses, and a lifetime worth of belongings.

By the time Salem’s 244 internees were released in 1945, they had little to go back to. Their farms and businesses had mostly been taken over by new owners; strangers lived in their houses. Only five families chose to return, including the Fukudas.

Fortunately history does not end there. The families that returned were able to build successful businesses with the help of their grown children, who had married and brought families of their own to Salem. Many locals, like the Joneses, remained loyal friends to the Japanese.

Today, Salem’s Japanese community thrives in business, education, science, and the arts. As Japanese Voices points out, Salem has recognized the heritage and accomplishments of its Japanese-American residents in ways ranging from Willamette University’s sister-college relationship with Tokyo International University of America, a sister-city relationship with Kawagoe City, Japanese language courses in schools, and the establishment of Japanese corporations in Salem including SANYO.

Japanese Voices from the Northwest is on display at the World Beat Gallery on the second floor of the Reed Opera House, located at 189 Liberty Street N.E. in Salem, Oregon, through November 4. Hours are 10:00am to 2:00pm Tuesday though Friday and noon to 4:00pm on Saturday. Admission is free. To learn more, call the Salem Multicultural Institute at (503) 581-2004 or visit <www.salemmulticultural.org>.