Postlude
The members of the Kishi Colony lived fulfilling lives, leaving their legacy behind as Japanese Texans. Fuji Kishi was the first of the immediate Kishi family members to pass away in 1951, and Kichimatsu passed five years later. Taro Kishi carried on his father’s farming legacy as he farmed until 1969, before deciding to become a landscape architect. His sister, Toki, spent her time rearing six children with her husband, Tokuzo Hirasaki, who continued Kichimatsu Kishi’s farming legacy, farming rice on land formerly owned by Kishi. They are all buried in the Kishi Cemetery.
Hachitaro, Kichimatsu Kishi’s younger brother, and his family moved to the Harlingen area of the Lower Rio Grande Valley in 1931. Together with his wife Moto, he had seven children, two of whom unfortunately died soon after birth. Other Kishi family members including Norman Yoichi, George, and Jimmie served in the U.S. Arm. Fumi Kishi later moved to New York City for work where she met and married Henry Masuda on February 22, 1941. Her younger sister, Ai followed her in 1938. [2]
Junzo Nagai, Kishi’s personal secretary, and his wife, Hisa, raised two boys, Ken and Kanji who served in the U.S. Army during World War II and four girls, Fusa, Mutsu, Kiyo and Shige. Members of the family now live in Vidor, Houston, and Lampasas, Texas.
Sataro and Fumi Kondo moved with their large family to Maricopa County, Arizona. However, they soon came back to Orangefield and then Farnett, Texas in 1936. There, they raised four sons, Sakichi, Shunji, Kihei and Shohei, and five daughters, Mary, Minnie, Kiyo, Fuji and Taka. Kiyo unfortunately died at the young age of 11. Later on, Fuji and Taka returned to Japan for marriage. Kiyo, Fumi, and Sataro are buried in the Kishi Cemetery.
Minoru Okabayashi was a colony member who had migrated from California in the 1920s. Before long, he left for Houston and established his own farm and pursued truck farming. [2]
F. S. Otsuki and Kumazo Tanamachi lost two of their children, Harumi and Robert Christian, while still at Terry. Afterwards, the family decided to move to the Rio Grande Valley. Unfortunately, their son, who joined the 442nd Regiment during WW2 was killed in action and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. [2]
While the town of Terry no longer exists, it has left behind deep marks where it once was. The intersection of FM 1135 and the Southern Pacific Railroad track marks the place where the Terry train station laid. While landmarks such as the Kishi Church are now gone, old Terry buildings are littered around the Orangefield area and serve as memories of the once-thriving community. Memory of the Church is also not completely gone: after it was torn down in the mid-1940s, its bell and lumber were used to build the Saint Paul’s Methodist church in Bridge City. On October 3, 1982, the Kishi colonists were officially recognized with a dedicated Texas historical marker at the site of the old colony, which now lies at the intersection of FM 1135 and the still-flowing Kishi irrigation canal. [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.