10/3, Fresno: The Incredible History of Nikkei Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley
October 3, 2026 @ 2:00PM — 4:00PM Pacific Time (US & Canada) Add to Calendar
Fresno Betsuin Buddhist Temple: 2690 E Alluvial Ave Fresno, CA 93720 Get Directions
Search for your family farm record
Please join the Fresno Buddhist Temple, the United Japanese Christian Church, Vintage Gardens, Walk the Farm: Issei and Nisei Legacy Project, Fresno JACL, and the Kansha History Project to recognize the enormous contributions of Nikkei farmers and learn about the efforts of Kansha History volunteer-historians to restore this important history.
Prior to WWII, most California Nikkei worked in agriculture, especially in the San Joaquin Valley. Those farms (both rented and owned) were recorded by federal agents at the start of WWII. Come and learn what these records reveal about the enormous impact of Nikkei farmers and search for your own family record. If you pre-register, volunteer historians will search for your family record and email it to you prior to the event. This is an event to connect people to their family histories and appreciate the full contributions of Nikkei farmers.
A huge thanks to Fresno JACL for generously providing refreshments!
This event was made possible with the support of volunteers, donors, and the Japanese American Community Foundation.
Learn more about the host and cosponsors: Fresno Buddhist Temple, United Japanese Christian Church, Fresno JACL, Vintage Gardens and Walk the Farm.
PHOTO SOURCE
Photograph shows Maurice Tsutomu Shinmoto driving a tractor in a field on the farm managed by his mother's cousin, Harry Futamachi, in Terminus, California. Shinmoto was from Hiroshima, Japan, and worked at the farm when he was visiting relatives in Stockton, California. When war broke out, he was incarcerated at Rohwer, Arkansas, and Tule Lake, California, before returning to Japan afterwards. (Source: Rose Futamachi Sasaki and Steve Sasaki, relatives of Shinmoto, January 2022.) The photo was taken by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration in April 1942.