Born in 1919, Hiroshi Shikuma was Nisei, meaning first generation Japanese-American. He and his family grew strawberries in the Pajaro Valley alongside other Japanese families. Because of birthright citizenship, he and his brothers played an important role in purchasing land for his father to farm. Nisei-owned land would benefit the larger community who would then supply the labor to farm it. Hirsoshi recalls, “at first there was an older Nisei who was born here who was able to rent or lease a parcel of ground; the whole group would farm it. When my brother became old enough, why then he was able to lease ground. That’s when we finally purchased our first property in Corralitos. It was under my brother’s name.” Like many Japanese-Americans and immigrants, he and his family were temporarily “relocated” to an internment camp during WWII. His family would become prominent independent local farmers. Hiroshi tells the history of his family’s immigration and early experiences in the Pajaro Valley.

© Regents of the University of California. Courtesy Special Collections, University Library, University of California Santa Cruz. Audio detail from the Regional History Project Collection, Strawberry Growing in the Pajaro Valley. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1725s351.