Seeking Opportunity in America
After much contemplation, Kishi announced to his father that he was immigrating to the United States to farm rice on what was otherwise a regular day in 1906. His father, Ukichi Kishi, welcomed the decision with full support and although he wouldn’t be able to financially support Kichimatsu’s decision, he pointed him towards others who would be able to invest into his project. After Kishi found multiple people who promised to invest in his farming project, he left Japan, along with agricultural adviser Gentaroy Hagiya, for the US to investigate potential farming sites. [1]
Kishi and Hagiya’s first destination was California, however, they deemed the hilly country they found there unsuited for farming. To farm rice, level land was preferred as it was easier to irrigate. Their next destinations were farmlands near Houston. Places they visited included Erin, Webster, and Eagle Lake. Kishi visited a farm in Erin, now called Mykawa in memory of Shinpei Maekawa who died in a farming accident, Kishi’s classmate at the Tokyo High School of Commerce (now Hitotsubashi University), at the request of Maekawa’s widow. In his vist of Eagle Lake, Kishi met Saburo Arai with whom Kishi later joined in starting a nursery business in Alvin. Following the farms near Houston, Kishi and Hagiya continued to southern Louisiana. Although they found a considerable amount of suitable land for farming Rice, they decided against starting a farm there due to Louisiana’s restrictive state laws on foreign investments. [1]
Kishi and Hagiya next decided to explore the Carolinas, the birthplace of the US rice farming industry starting in the 17th century. But, unsatisfied with what they saw, the two Japanese returned the way that they had come reviewing any sites they passed on their way back. On their way back they stopped by a piece of land adjacent to railroad tracks in Jackson, Mississippi but quickly moved on after hearing that Tornados frequently passed through the area.[1]
After traveling west across Louisiana, Kishi and Hagiya made a stop just below the Texas border in Orange County where they found a flat piece of land. Their worries over irrigation were extinguished by the nearby water source, the Cow Bayou and the fact that the area received frequent rainfall. Also important to the two Japanese was the local reception of immigrant Japanese farmers as their new neighbors. To their fortune, many expressed enthusiasm over the possibility of a new rice colony, bringing business and jobs to the area. [1,3]
Beautifully outlining the land Kishi wanted was a forest of Pines. Kichimatsu, whose first name means “Fortunate Pine” might have felt that the piece of land bordering such forest was a good omen of things to come. Whatever the reason, Kishi decided to settle his colony in Terry, Texas [1].
References
1. Walls, Thomas K. (1987) The Japanese Texans, San Antonio: University of Texas, Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio, 1996.
2. Orii, K. (1983) Kichimatsu Kishi’s Japanese Colony at Terry, Texas, Department of History, University of Pennsylvania.
3. Wingate, G. (1974) “The Kishi Colony,” in The Folklore of Texan Cultures, Abernethy, F. E., ed. The Encino Press, Austin.