The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony Farm and the Creation of Japanese America

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Japanese became the largest ethnic Asian group in the United States for most of the twentieth century and played a critical role in the expansion of agriculture in California and elsewhere. The first Japanese settlement occurred in 1869 when refugees fleeing the devastation in their Aizu Domain of the 1868 Boshin Civil War traveled to California in 1869 where they established the Wakamatsu Tea & Silk Colony Farm. Led by German arms dealer and entrepreneur John Henry Schnell, the Colony succeeded in its initial attempts to produce tea and silk, but financial problems, a severe drought, and tainted irrigation water forced the closure of the Colony in June 1871.

While the Aizu colonists were unsuccessful in their endeavor, their departure from Japan as refugees, their goal of settling permanently in the United States, and their establishment of an agricultural colony was soon imitated by tens of thousands of Japanese immigrants.

The Wakamatsu Colony was largely forgotten after its closure, but Japanese American historians rediscovered it in the 1920s and soon recognized it as the birthplace of Japanese America. They focused their attention on a young female colonist, Okei Ito, who died there weeks after the Colony shut down and whose grave rests on the property to this day. These writers transformed Okei-san into a pure and virtuous symbol who sacrificed her life to establish a foothold for future Japanese pioneers in California. Today many Japanese Americans regard the Wakamatsu Farm as their Plymouth Rock or Jamestown and have made it a major pilgrimage site.

The American River Conservancy (ARC) purchased the Wakamatsu Farm property in 2010. ARC is restoring the sites historic farm house and is working to protect the Farms extensive natural and cultural history.

Reviews

There are books that I feel all members of the Japanese American community should have in their personal library. . . . Id recommend that people also add The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony Farm and the Creation of Japanese America to their libraries. . . The academic book is a carefully researched work that eliminates any romantic notions about the first Japanese agricultural colony in mainland United States, which was established in Gold Hill, California, in 1869. . . . Perhaps the biggest takeaway from reading Mtrauxs work is that we cant make broad generalizations of Japanese immigrant pioneers. As researchers dig deeper, we may discover surprises that challenge how we view ourselves and even our larger ethnic community. * Nichi Bei Weekly *
Originally conceived as a money making venture the rural agricultural experiment at the Wakamatsu Colony Farm eventually evolved into a conduit through which hundreds and, later thousands, of Japanese emigres took up residence in California. Eventually, these hardworking and dedicated individuals became citizens and solid contributors to the growth of the United States. Eventually, they became valued business persons, lawyers, doctors, educators, etc. Many fought and died heroically in several of their new nations wars. Dr. Metrauxs important work lays the foundation for the story of this group of Americans who migrated from Japan and became Americans. Indeed, it is a story of a tradition begun at the origins of the nation. One about a group of immigrants who continue, to this day, to contribute to the traditions enunciated on the base of the Statue of Liberty. Indeed, it is must read for those interested in both Asian immigration to California and for those interested the struggles and persecution they faced and overcame to become U.S. citizens. -- William P. Head, 78th Air Base Wing Office of History
The Japanese pioneers who came to Coloma, California, in the aftermath of the downfall of the Tokugawa shogun, created the beginnings of Japanese immigrant life in America. Daniel Metraux has painstakingly researched, written, and analyzed the fullest account of this fascinating episode in Japanese and American history with The Wakamatsu Tea & Silk Colony Farm and the Creation of Japanese America. This well-crafted book should be read by anyone interested in the history of American immigration, California history, and the beginnings of Japanese in America. -- John E. Van Sant, University of Alabama-Birmingham
Ive had the privilege of reading and learning from Dan Metrauxs publications for many years. Dans articles and books always attract me for three reasons: His selection of interesting topics; Dans careful attention to scholarship; and his crisp and lucid prose. If Dan hadnt become an academic, he could have enjoyed an equally successful career as a journalist. -- Lucien Ellington, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Professor Metraux brings to our attention the brief but significant attempt to establish a colony of Japanese in California, a forerunner of later ethnic migration from Japan to America. While the ill-conceived Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Company lasted only two years in Gold Rush country, Metraux skillfully provides us with the larger context of the destruction of the Aizu domain following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the larger pattern of later Japanese overseas migration, and the 20th century uses of the colony, both by the American-Japanese community and in Japan itself. -- Richard Rice, University of Tennessee Chattanooga

Author Bio

Daniel A. Mtraux is professor emeritus and adjunct professor of Asian studies at Mary Baldwin University.