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Kichimatsu Kishi (岸 吉松 ''Kishi Kichimatsu'', ? - 1956) was a Japanese immigrant to the United States who worked as a farmer and businessman. Along with fellow immigrants from Japan, his impact on rice farming in the southern United States would change the agricultural industry of the region. Kishi would establish an agricultural colony in Southeast Texas and would own an oil company. Born as one of eight children to a Japanese banker, he attended Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, Japan, but was taken from his studies in 1904 to fight in the Russo-Japanese War.〔(The Japanese Texans )〕 He was eventually sent to Manchuria on the mainland of China where he remained until the Japanese victory in 1905. He considered remaining there, but the high cost of land and lawlessness prompted him to return to his homeland. Years earlier, Sadatsuchi Uchida (Japan’s consul to the United States) toured the southern United States in 1902. Uchida reported back to Japan with promising news that the rice farming was underdeveloped and showed potential for large profit.〔(The Japanese Texans )〕 At the time, the dense population of Japan and limited workable land meant that many rice farmers would never own their own land. This sparked Kishi’s interest in migrating to the United States in 1906. ==Travel to the United States== He looked for suitable land, starting in California and moving on to the Carolinas, and finally discovering the area near the town of Terry in central Orange County, Texas ideal. Located as one of the stops of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, Terry was a lumber and agricultural town with nearby bayous that could be tapped for irrigation.〔(Handbook of Texas Online - TERRY, TX )〕 It was here that Kishi would establish what is now known as the Kishi Colony. He purchased a land tract of approximately with borrowed money in 1907, and by the following year, his family would reside there with the first rice crop established.〔"(Kishi Colony, Texas )" Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved on 2009-03-30.〕 Later, when the Sabine River was dredged for ships nearby, the saltwater of the nearby gulf was allowed to flow into the bayou used to irrigate the rice field, destroying the crop.〔 Kishi then diversified his farm to grow other vegetables such as cotton, corn, and cabbage. The Kishi Colony attracted other Japanese immigrants from states like California that at the time, prohibited people such as Japanese and other foreigners from owning land there.〔(Japanese Rice Colonies on the Gulf Coast )〕 It was also not uncommon to see people of different heritages such as Mexicans, Cajuns, and African-Americans working within the colony. After the passage of the California Alien Land Law of 1913, many more Japanese would begin to migrate to Texas. The hostility would begin to grow against these people moving in, even though initially they were welcomed. The Texas Legislature passed a similar law, but many of the Japanese-Texans had enough political influence to weaken it, while still maintaining their land ownership.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kichimatsu Kishi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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