Ebb And Flow, A Japanese American Family, an Oyster, and How They Influenced Pacific NW History follows 93 yr old Jerry (Eiichi) Yamashita recounting the family history to his son Patrick on their shellfish tidelands.
Relying on Jerry’s incredible memory and rare archival footage, a window is opened onto the Yamashita family’s journey beginning with his father Masahida’s arrival in Seattle in 1900. Son, Patrick, learns of the important role his family has played in modern West Coast history. In fact, his grandfather is now being recognized for his pivotal role in saving the West coast shellfish farming industry from complete collapse in the 1930’s by developing a reliable method of importing Japanese Oyster seed. Today, this immigrant oyster, now known as the Pacific Oyster, is considered the premier oyster by top chefs, is the largest shellfish industry in the US, and grown from Alaska to Baja.
The Yamashitas’ story is an inspiring one and at the same time, a cautionary tale about how a society can turn against its immigrants in challenging times, as relevant today as ever! Running time: 77 min.
A story about the making of Ebb and Flow aired both on NPR Seattle and nationally on the award winning, syndicated programing Here and Now which is distributed to 450 NPR stations to estimated 4.5 million weekly listeners.
NPR Story: http://kuow.org/post/how-seattle-family-brought-oysters-back-brink
Ebb and Flow is only available in BLU-RAY and for home use, not for public showings or institutional use.
For institutional copies contact: shellysol@olypen.com
Also available;
Fish for Jimmy
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
