Remembering the Issei: Adams State Memorial garden dedicated to Japanese settlers (05-17-2005)
Many of the Japanese-American farmers who settled in the San Luis Valley during the 1920s never dreamed their lives and work would one day be honored. The Issei, the first generation of Japanese settlers, moved to the valley from California, Oregon and other parts of Colorado with a dream - to farm on their own land.
"It was not by chance Japanese settlers came into the San Luis Valley, nor was the time of their arrival without historical significance," Dr. Morris C. Cohen noted in his 1968 mater's thesis, The Development and History of the Japanese Settlement in the San Luis Valley. "Significantly, the arrival of the first permanent Japanese families in the San Luis Valley coincides with legislation passed in the United States preventing further immigration from Japan, and more importantly, legislation which prevented the Japanese from owning property in California.
"On the one hand, there existed the availability of land and promoters eager to locate new sources of people willing to settle the land," Cohen wrote. "On the other hand, there existed a large number of excellent farmers living under conditions hostile to their well-being. ... All that remained was for the two elements to be brought together."
Ronald Inouye's father was one of the early settlers in the San Luis Valley.
"Only through stories did I learn about him," Inouye said of his grandfather who settled near La Jara. "He was trained as a lawyer, but there were very few opportunities, so he got a farm." Inouye said his grandfather was, for the most part, unsuccessful at farming, but was able to pass the farm to his son, Inouye's father.
Inouye was the guest speaker during the dedication ceremony May 7 for the San Luis Valley Japanese-American Memorial Garden at Adams State College. For Inouye, housing the garden at Adams State held a special significance. Inouye graduated from the college in 1968, and his aunt, Helen Iino, was the first Japanese-American woman to graduate from the college. Inouye's parents, Roy and Yoshiko, also received the Willis Fassett Jr. Award from the Adams State Foundation for a scholarship fund the couple established.
"For me, it was more of a music thing than anything else," said Inouye, who studied the piano. "It was fun to have lessons and go to concerts. There wasn't anyplace else to find that kind of thing. It was primarily the campus that attracted people who were interested in those kinds of things." Inouye received his bachelor's in science and master's in sociology-anthropology from Adams State.
Inouye said it's important people remember the history of the Issei, the first Japanese immigrants.
"As the number of people diminish, you become much more aware of the fact you have to somehow remember that history," Inouye said. "There never were a lot of Japanese in the Valley. Growing up, you realized you were the exception. A lot of things set you apart."
The Issei thrived in the San Luis Valley. Prior to their arrival, approximately 600 acres in the valley were used for vegetable farming. A few years later, in 1925 farmers grew vegetables on more than 4,000 acres. The increase, Cohen notes, was due to the Japanese farmers. "Perhaps the greatest attribute of early Japanese, or at least one that was very important to those who did business with them, was their honesty," Cohen wrote. "The Japanese were always trusted to manage their own affairs."
Ben Fujii said his father, Katsusaburo, who settled in the Valley in 1929, took pride in managing his own affairs.
"He wasn't afraid of hard work," Fujii said. "Actually, I think he liked it."
For years, Fujii, a retired groundskeeper for the college, thought about a garden on Adams State College's campus that would honor the lives of people like his father.
Fujii thought about the garden bed along the campus' main walkway and made sketches of his vision for a garden.
"He would have been surprised," Fujii said of his father who immigrated to the United States when he was 16. Katsusaburo lived in Conejos County where he grew crops after years of working with the railroad and canneries in California, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska.
Fujii began sharing his idea for a Japanese inspired garden with Adams State administrators. The idea turned into reality. An anonymous donor provided the funding to start the garden and pledged matching funds for contributions from the community.
"It seemed kind of unbelievable, actually," Fujii said. "I didn't think we would ever have anything like that on the Adams State campus."
When Fujii began designing the garden, he approached Dana Provence, an assistant professor in Adams State's art department, to create crane sculptures for the Zen garden.
Provence said agreeing to create the cranes was an easy choice.
"I thought it was a win-win situation, for the college to have someone do it in house, and the students to see the process transform before their eyes," he said. "I thought it would be worthwhile to stretch myself."
"I had fun doing it," Provence said. "It's hard work, and casting is one of the harder forms of media, but I like a good challenge." Provence said the process of creating sculpture energizes him.
"I like being physical as well as using my head," he said. "There's a lot of pseudo engineering going on."
Provence said he was pleased with the way the cranes worked with the rest of the garden.
"It all came together real nice," he said. "I heard a lot from students who were upset about the trees being gone (which were removed because they were dying). I thought somehow I was being guilty by association. Then I heard comments afterwards. When the landscape was done, there was a kind of turnaround in how the student body received it."
Inouye said he feels the cranes are symbolic of the relationship between the Issei and the San Luis Valley.
"The Japanese have a fondness for cranes," he said. "And cranes have a fondness for the San Luis Valley." In Japanese culture, cranes symbolize long life, peace and prosperity.
Inouye said he was pleased with the garden, and hopes it makes people reflect on the many people who lived in the Valley.
Today a small number of decedents of the early Japanese pioneers remain in the valley.
Fujii said although the number of Japanese-Americans in the valley has been decreasing, he hopes when people walk past the garden they will think about the contributions people like his father made to life in the Valley.
"I don't think people realize there were these pioneers," he said.
For a complementary copy of the Japanese-American Memorial Garden commemorative booklet, contact Bill Williams at 719-589-0631.
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