Regional History Project Oral Histories

Mr. Shikuma is a prominent Nisei strawberry grower in the Pajaro Valley. In this volume he describes family life in the Japanese-American community in the Pajaro Valley during the first decades of the twentieth century. He conveys the texture of everyday family life, recalling details of housing, food preparation, education, religion, and his childhood responsibilities in a farming family.

The second part of the volume describes the growth and development of strawberries as an important specialty crop in Pajaro Valley agriculture. Mr. Shikuma describes strawberry cultivation as it was carried out during the 1920s and 1930s. He traces his father's advancement from farm laborer to sharecropper to independent grower and his contributions to the founding of Naturipe Berry Growers, one of the leading marketing firms in the strawberry industry.