Mary Tsukamoto, mentioned above, has played an even larger role in documenting the history of Florin’s Japanese. She is the coauthor with Elizabeth Pinkerton of We the People: A Story of Internment in America and author of an autobiographical narrative in Dignity: Lower Income Women Tell of Their Lives and Struggles compiled by Fran Leeper Buss. Together they provide a vivid portrait of growing up on a strawberry farm in Florin, evacuation, internment, and return to Florin. I highly recommend both to any interested readers, and to the late Mrs. Tsukamoto I offer my kansha—my gratitude and appreciation—for her work.
Other useful sources were Japanese Legacy by Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y. Okihiro; Changing Dreams and Treasured Memories: A Story of Japanese Americans in the Sacramento Region by Wayne Maeda; “Florin Is Naturally Adapted to Strawberry Culture” (Sacramento Union, January 9, 1909); “Japan in California” by Peter Clark Macfarlane (Collier’s, June 6, 1913); New World-Sun Year Book 1939; “The Strawberry Fields of Florin … Remember?” by Elizabeth Pinkerton (Sacramento Union, May 28, 1978); “A Brief History of the Florin Area” by Dave Reingold (Focus Florin, October 1997); “New Vision for Florin” by Bill Lindelof (Sacramento Bee, February 13, 2002); and “Florin Links to Farms Lingers” by Art German (Sacramento Bee, July 18, 2002).
My thanks to Amanda G. DeWilde of the Sacramento Room at the Sacramento Public Library and to Barbara Reiswig at the Elk Grove High School Library for allowing me access to the 1933 school yearbook, The Elk. Erin Herzog of the San Jose Public Library located Sanborn Insurance Maps of the city for 1948 and recommended books, including San Jose Japantown: A Journey by Curt Fukuda and Ralph M. Pearce, which informed my walking tour of the city’s nihonmachi, one of only a handful still extant.
For details of life at Kapi'olani Home and other Catholic institutions: Janine M. Richardson’s “‘None of Them Came for Me’: The Kapi'olani Home for Girls, 1885–1938” (Hawaiian Journal of History, Vol. 42, 2008) and her dissertation, “Keiki o Ka 'Aina: Institutional Care for Hawai'i’s Dependent Children, 1865–1938” (University of Hawai'i); Hazel Myoko Ikenega’s thesis, “A Study of the Care of Children Under the Jurisdiction of the Territorial Board of Hospitals and Settlement” (University of Hawai'i); “Corridors: Memories of a Catholic Convent” by Madrienne C. McDonough (Historical New Hampshire, Fall 1978); and Mercy With Love by Francis X. Markley.
Melissa Shimonishi at the Hawai'i State Archives assisted me with maps of the Kalihi Valley in the 1900s and Territorial Board of Health correspondence pertaining to Kapi'olani Home.
Viola Yee of the Maui Historical Society gave me access to maps and photographs of Lahaina and Kā'anapali in the 1950s and 1960s.
Particularly valuable for the Hawai'i-set chapters were “Rick Carroll Travels to the Remote Maui Village of Kahakuloa” by Rick Carroll (mauitime.com, July 4, 2013), The Japanese in Hawai'i by Okage Sama De, The Heart of Being Hawaiian by Sally-Jo Keala-o-ānuenue Bowman, and On Being Hawaiian by John Dominis Holt.
Details about the lives of real people used in this story were confirmed through Ancestry.com, surely the greatest boon to historical novelists ever.
For other research assistance I am grateful to Jack Pearce, Carol Comparsi, Nora Steinbergs, and my wife, Paulette Claus, as always my “in-house editor.” Special thanks to my indefatigable agent, Molly Friedrich, who suggested that I tell Ruth’s story and who held fast to her faith in that story; and to my wonderful editors, Hope Dellon and Elisabeth Dyssegaard, for the insight, diligence, and editorial acumen that has made this a better book.
I encourage readers interested in Manzanar or Moloka'i to take the time to visit. The Manzanar National Historic Site, nestled at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, is a place of beauty and heartbreak as well as a living museum in which much more can be learned about the internment and the people who lived through it; see the website at https://www.nps.gov/manz/index.htm. The island of Moloka'i is a lovely, often-overlooked corner of Hawai'i, especially for travelers who appreciate a more natural and less touristy environment. Kalaupapa is also a place of both beauty and heartbreak, accessible only via guided tours, but I highly recommend the experience. Visit Damien Tours online at http://www.damientoursllc.com/tour-info.html.
Author’s photo by David Wells taken, with kind permission, at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden at California State University, Long Beach.