Historic Marker Honors Texas Japanese Farmers
Friday, March 28, 2008

Marker honoring Mayumi Family part of campaign to remove Jap Road.

In 2004, the residents of the Jefferson County decided
to remove this sign.

FANNET, Texas.—On March 12, a Historical Marker was placed near Tay­lor Bayou, located in the town of Hamp­shire-Fannet near the city of Beaumont, Texas, to honor two Japanese pioneer rice farmers, Yoshio and Yasuo Mayumi. They settled there in the early 1900’s to grow rice on 1,700 acres of land. In later years the residents of Hampshire-Fannet erected a road sign, Jap Road, to honor the Japanese farmers.

One day in 1992 a Texas school teacher, Sandra Tanamachi, and her fam­ily decided to have lunch at a popular seafood restaurant in Hampshire-Fan­net. As they approached the restaurant, they noticed it was located on Jap Road as displayed on street signs. Incensed, her family returned promptly home. Tanamachi, whose uncle was killed in action while serving with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in the Vosges Mountains of France while rescuing the Texas Battalion that was encircled by the enemy, was angry to see this promi­nently displayed racial slur and vowed to get it removed. That incident began a 12-year campaign.

Her initial attempt to get the Jefferson County Commissioners to approve the removal of the street sign failed after several years and her supporters gave up the effort. However, Tanamachi struggled on her own despite threats against her and her residence. The resi­dents and county commissioners stead­fastly resisted any change. In the later years, Thomas Kuwahara, a helicopter pilot from Lafayette, La., joined with Tanamachi and together they formed the “Committee to Change J-Road” (CCJR), consisting of five persons to lead a rejuvenated campaign. The other three CCJR members were Sharon Seymour of Kent, Wash.; Micki Kawakami of Po­catello, Idaho; and Dale Minami, of San Francisco. JAVA served as the coordina­tor of the veterans support group.

On July 19, 2004, the Jefferson County Commissioners of Texas voted, after hearing both sides, to remove the derisive road sign and ordered the residents to come up with a new street name. The commissioners decided to remove the street sign because they were reportedly embarrassed that their town had become a nation-wide issue. Com­missioners of two other Texas counties soon followed the Jefferson County example.

On Aug. 2, 2004 the residents of Hampshire-Fannet voted on a new street name to replace the offensive sign and agreed to place a historical marker honoring the early Japanese settlers. The CCJR, Linda Mayumi Klicker, great granddaughter of Yoshio Mayumi, Jodie Bernstein of the Anti-Defamation League, and Wayne and Polly Wright of Hampshire-Fannett began working on having a Texas Historical Marker created. A fund raising campaign easily reached its goal and the next step was the wording of the inscription.

The inscription of the Historical Marker which honors the Japanese pioneers who contributed to the de­velopment of Texas agriculture is as follows:

The Mayumi Legacy
The modern Texas rice industry was shaped by the Mayumi brothers, who arrived here from Japan in the early twentieth century. Rice had been grown in limited quantities in Jefferson County since the 1840s, but production remained relatively low for decades. Many believed that with improved agri­cultural practices the crop could become successful in the region.

In 1902, Japanese Consul General Sadatsuchi Uchinda attended a Beau­mont meeting of the Rice Growers Association of America who offered an open invitation to Japanese rice farmers. Yoshio Mayumi, a banker and landowner from Mie Prefecture on the main island of Honshu, visited this area in 1904 and returned the following year to purchase 1,700 acres near Taylor Bayou. Mayumi brought fifteen work­ers from his hometown, and the farming community included a three-story house for the Mayumi family, another building for the workmen and a community dance hall. Although Yoshio’s only crop was rice, he also owned and raised livestock, including hogs and cattle, and to help with farm work, mules and horses.

The agricultural experiment showed early promise, but several factors led to the eventual decline. Yoshio returned to Japan in 1915 and left the operation to the management of his brother Yasuo. Economic difficulties and repressive im­migration laws led the Mayumi family to sell the land in 1924. The Mayumi legacy, centered on a family fondly remembered for its many contributions to the rural community, is important because it pre­saged the success of the Texas rice indus­try, which is today an economic mainstay of the upper Texas Gulf coast.

On March 12, the Mayumi Historical Marker was placed in Jefferson County near Taylor Bayou where the Mayumi brothers settled.