Kamajiro Hotta (堀田 鎌次郎, Hotta Kamajiro, born October 26, 1876) was an influential Japanese immigrant farmer in the state of California during the early 20th century. His primary contributions to the California farming industry were in Walnut Grove. While he grew many different crops during his time in the United States, he is most commonly known for growing asparagus. Following his first major land acquisitions in 1904, Hotta's farming career boomed because of his unique land contracts that gave him more autonomy over business operations than other Japanese immigrant farmers at the time.
Due to Hotta's unprecedented financial success growing and selling asparagus, many Japanese immigrant farmers in the area attempted to follow in his footsteps. As a result of his local clout in the Japanese farming community, he was elected as president of the Japanese Producers Association, an interest group dedicated to securing fair land and cannery contracts for Japanese immigrant farmers. Following the passage of anti-Japanese legislation in California such as the Alien Land Law of 1913, the amendment to the Alien Land Law in 1920, and the 1923 United States Supreme Court case ruling against cropping contracts, Hotta stepped down as president of the Japanese Producers Association and returned to his hometown in Japan where he lived out the remainder of his life.
Early life
Kamajiro Hotta was born on October 26, 1876, in Saori, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882–1959. M1411. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1912. Microfilm, https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/2018681?mark=07479866ea47f517758b0418f03d70362e3364bc4464bce4ade2e44b9d2683f2 Hotta was raised by his father, Keimon, and his mother, Fuku, in Saori.United States, Selective Service System. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918. M1509. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1922. Microfilm, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CDDD-QLPZ Before emigrating, Hotta moved to Machikata-town in Asai City, Aichi Prefecture."Part 1: Invisible Chapter People of the Wakayama family: Meeting to convey Shigeo Ishioka's Will." April 22, 2013. https://www.shigeoishioka.com/new2.html.
Immigration documents mark Hotta as literate in Japanese. This implies that he received some sort of education in Japan; however, the extent of his education is unknown.
Hotta had at least one brother, Seiichi, who traveled with him to the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco in 1912.National Archives and Records Administration. California, customs passenger lists of vessels arriving at San Francisco, 1903–1918. M1410. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1912. Microfilm, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9T5-C39R?cc=3477658 Hotta's immigration was heavily influenced by his cousin, Kakuzaburo Wakayama. Wakayama was one of the main pioneers for immigration from Saori village to the United States.Ishida, Yasuhiro. "Aspects of the sending of immigrants to the United States: A Case Study of Saori Town, Kaifu District, Aichi Prefecture." Aichi Prefecture History Research, no. 7 (2003): 113–125. .
Immigration to the United States Following the establishment of the Treaty of Kanagawa, or Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity, the previously isolated Japanese nation opened its ports to trade with the United States. Consequently, direct shipping routes between San Francisco and Tokyo were established in 1855. This opened the path for passenger ships to set sail shortly after.
Japanese immigration to the United States was primarily triggered by economic stagnation, high unemployment rates, and poor living conditions because of the rapidly increasing population in Japan. From 1872 to 1903, Japan's population density increased from 1,335 to 1,885 persons per square kilometer, resulting in economic hardship for the Japanese lower class. Many Japanese individuals believed that immigrating to the United States would help them to achieve a better life. Japanese farmers especially felt this way due to the fact that the Japanese archipelago had limited land area for agricultural production despite fifty percent of the population being farmers. The rapidly increasing population density during this time resulted in fierce competition amongst farmers for land. Additionally, many working-class Japanese, convinced of the United States' promise of work and social mobility, were motivated to immigrate to the United States. This led many of the Japanese immigrants to come specifically to the United States. Further, the Japanese were not barred from immigration and agriculture like the Chinese were following legislation like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. These reasons caused a huge population increase of Japanese immigrants in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with over 127,000 individuals entering between 1901 and 1908.Daniels, Roger. The Politics of Prejudice: The Anti-Japanese Movement in California and the Struggle for Japanese Exclusion. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1999.
At the age of 16 years and 11 months, Kamajiro Hotta first arrived in San Francisco on September 23, 1893, on the ship named City of Rio de Janeiro.National Archives and Records Administration. California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893–1953. M1410. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1893. Microfilm, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95LD-6TH?cc=1916078&wc=M6B9-327%3A202078201 Hotta had come to San Francisco as an uncontracted merchant. At the time of his arrival, Hotta had no relatives in the United States to stay with.
Hotta returned to Japan in 1897 to lead 109 people from Japan (35 of them from Aichi Prefecture) to California to become farm laborers.Tsutsui, Tadashi. "Aichi North American Immigrant Studies (II): One Walnut Grove 'North America's Aichi Village J.'" Nagoya University Press, vol. 23, no. 23, 2003, pp. 1–13. https://nagoya.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/21026/files/31-1.pdf Hotta and his peers, including Masayoshi Ota, were leading proponents in increasing the number of Japanese immigrants in Concord County and Walnut Grove.
In 1922, Hotta went to Japan and returned to the United States with his wife, Ichi Hotta. Previous immigration records indicate that the couple had likely been apart from one another since at least 1912. Ichi, born in Nakayasu Village, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, was 29 years old when she left Aichi Prefecture to live with her husband in Walnut Grove.National Archives and Records Administration. California, Index to San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893–1934. M1389. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1922. Microfilm, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CDDD-QLPZ (accessed February 17, 2023). Ichi lived with her mother-in-law while in Japan. Immigration records reveal that she had $50 in her possession upon arrival, was literate in Japanese, listed her occupation as “wife,” and was born in Nakayasu Village, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. This was the last time that Hotta entered the United States.
Early career Following his first immigration to the United States at age 17, Kamajiro Hotta quickly obtained work at a local nursery in Acampo, California to cover his newfound living expenses as an independent. For the next two years, he remained at this site of employment in an honest effort to get financially grounded as a new immigrant. Despite his honest, best efforts, he saw no improvement in his financial situation at this time in his life. In 1895, Hotta quit his job at the nursery in Acampo and ventured into the neighboring town of Walnut Grove to seek out new work opportunities.Shortly after his arrival in the new community, he was hired as a farm laborer in the fields of that area. His primary responsibilities were picking crops and taking care of the land for rich, white landowners. After working in the fields for several months, Hotta realized that obtaining a piece of land and farming it was his path out of abject poverty. Although he believed that farming would be a highly lucrative career and that he had the work ethic to pull it off, he initially lacked the necessary up front capital to lease his own plot of land. From 1895 to 1904, Hotta worked tirelessly at a number of different jobs trying to save up enough money to finance his farming ambitions. During this period of time, it is known that he worked as a general farm laborer, a labor contractor, an operator of a boardinghouse in Sacramento, and a Japanese noodle shop owner. In 1904, Hotta finally had enough financial capital saved up to abandon his multiple places of employment and begin his full time career as a landowning farmer. At this time, he and three other Aichi-born Japanese immigrants pooled their money together and purchased three farms as cash tenants in the area surrounding Walnut Grove. These farms included 230 acres of land on Victoria Island, 100 acres of land on Bradford Island, and 250 acres of land on Tyler Island. This was a monumental milestone in Hotta's journey to a new kind of life in the United States and position of influence within the farming community of California in the early 20th century.
A few short weeks after his joint purchases of the Victoria Island, Bradford Island, and Tyler Island farms in 1904, Hotta's dreams of leaving American poverty in the past were forcefully shaken by a destructive flood. From February 15 to March 31, 1904, the most devastating flood up until this point in Sacramento history wreaked havoc on the land. Within a few short weeks, the damages were being felt by property owners all along the Sacramento River and related distributary rivers. One area in particular that was greatly affected by the flood was the area surrounding Walnut Grove known as the San Joaquin River Delta because of its susceptibility to stagnating water. As a result of the 1904 flood, Hotta's Victoria Island and Bradford Island farms were utterly ruined. It would be years before the land would be adequate for farming again. Despite his tragic losses from the 1904 flood on the Victoria Island and Bradford Island farms, Hotta was able to keep the Tyler Island farm running during this time and make ends meet.
Late career and farming in Walnut Grove Although the Sacramento River flood of 1904 was a major setback for the beginning of Kamajiro Hotta's farming career, his monumental leasing agreements of 1904 opened up a host of career opportunities for him that had not been previously afforded to Japanese immigrant tenant farmers. Unlike the vast majority of leasing agreements of the time period, Hotta's legally binding contract did not include any clauses restricting how to operate his farms. For example, his contract on the Tyler Island farm was only limited to paying an annual rent of $2,250 for the 250 acres of land over a period of five years. As a result of his nearly complete autonomy over farming operations, Hotta was free to grow any crop that interested him on his plots of land. This allowed him to begin planting asparagus, a crop that had not been previously cultivated in the Walnut Grove area extensively.