The Issei of the Salinas Valley

The Issei of the Salinas Valley: Japanese Pioneer Families 

By Mae Sakasegawa and Lynn Sakasegawa. With contributions by Caroline T. Haskell. This book is dedicated to the Issei, the first generation of Japanese to come to the United States. These Issei trace their Salinas origins to the 19th century. They came to find peace in 1900s Japan in economic and social turmoil. They came to find the American Dream which they believed they could achieve through their values of hard work, family, and community. The men came first to Salinas to work for the Spreckels sugar company. Later, alongside the Chinese, due to the racial prejudice they encountered, they formed their own community, beginning with boarding houses, grocery stores, and other businesses. As a result of the World War II incarceration of the Japanese Americans, they left these businesses, homes, and property that they had spent decades building. Family heirlooms were thrown away in irrigation ditches that they had helped to develop for Salinas agriculture. What remained are the stories collected here to preserve the memories of these early Japanese immigrants to Salinas. 

Hardbound: 366 pp.

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