To begin our exploration of Mary Uyematsu Kao's and Amy Uyematsu Contreras's parents’ story, the viewer may find this family tree of their maternal line, the Moritas, helpful.  

Mary and Amy's mother is Elsie Morita. While working as an administrative assistant at UCLA's Asian American Studies Center, Elsie enrolled in several classes offered by the center. In one of her courses, she wrote a history of her mother's family that described life in Japan and the United States. Years later, Mary discovered the document and was surprised by everything she had not known about her family. 

Elsie's great-grandfather was a major landowner in Katase, a province in Shizuoka, Japan. This province area has been known for years as a major producer of rice and tea.  The crops grown on the Morita’s farm were routinely transported to Tokyo in the three ships owned by the family.  Tragedy struck in the late 1890s or early 1900s when several of the ships were destroyed in a typhoon, resulting in the loss of crops and crew members. As was the way of life in Japan during this time, the Morita family took on the responsibility of financially caring for the families of the lost crew. The financial burden was overwhelming. 

To help ease the strain, Elsie’s great grandfather's son Totaro came to America and went to work for a large sugar broker. In Japan, Totaro left behind his wife and children, three sons and a daughter. According to Elsie, Totaro's second son, Jiro (pictured), "was known to be incorrigible." A particularly bad fight during which he reportedly cut off an ear of his rival resulted in his expulsion from school. Not knowing what else to do with him, the family sent Jiro to his father in America. He arrived in San Francisco at the age of 17 in 1909.

Jiro stayed in California’s bay area for two years, during which he attended school and learned English. In 1911, his life took another turn when his father decided to return to Japan. Fortunately for Jiro, his uncle Naonori lived in Pasadena and owned a Japanese grocery. Jiro settled in with his uncle and began attending Pasadena High School. It is speculated that he was likely the first person of Japanese ancestry to graduate from Pasadena High in 1915. He was 23 years old at the time. When not in school, Jiro worked as a houseboy. Here, he learned how to cook, claiming that cooking was very much like high school chemistry. Given that he could read recipes and most of the other Japanese houseboys could not, he was able to earn a higher salary than most. 

Caption: A young Jiro Morita 

Following high school, Jiro continued his education at Throop College, now CalTech, majoring in electrical engineering. Here too he was likely one of the first Japanese students at the college. World War I though interrupted college life in that all male students at Throop were drafted into the U.S. Army ROTC program. While his studies continued during the war, he was told by a counselor during his exit interview from the U.S. Army that to continue his education at Throop would be pointless. He was told, "You are Japanese, and no one wants to be supervised by you." Jiro quit school.

Caption: Jiro Morita in his WWI military uniform

Fortunately for Jiro, his uncle still owned the market, and not long after the war ended, Naonori decided to return to Japan, leaving the business to Jiro.  

In 1920, Reiko Yamamoto arrived in Seattle, where Jiro was there to meet her, his bride. As was the tradition in Japan, Jiro and Reiko’s marriage had been arranged by their families when they were just children. What had been a break with tradition was that Jiro, a second son who, unlike the first son, would not be considered an heir, married into a family without sons. In Japanese culture at the time, if a family had no sons, sometimes they would adopt, but also a common practice was that when a daughter married, her husband would take her family name, and in some cases, become the heir. It is assumed that after living in the United States, where there was more freedom and seemingly fewer family obligations, Jiro decided to keep his family's name rather than assuming that of his wife's family. 

Before joining her husband in the United States, Reiko had worked as a schoolteacher in Atami. She was born in 1898 in the village of Ita, about an hour north of Katase, the town where Jiro had been raised.

Caption: Jiro and Reiko Morita's 50th wedding anniversary luncheon which was held at the Brookside Clubhouse.  The 100 guests included Mayor and Mrs. Walter Benedict, former Mayor and Mrs. Lewis Edwards, Earl Messer of the Sister City Committee, Fire Chief William Heidner and his wife, as well as Reverend Dr. Donald Torumi and his wife.  

In 1921 the couple welcomed their first son, Bill (William Hideo) and a year later their second son, Dick (Richard Yukio). In 1925, the first of their two daughters, Elsie, was born, followed by Helen in 1927. The family made their home near Lamanda Park in East Pasadena in what has been described as similar to a motor court except with small bungalows. The family’s living room and kitchen were in one bungalow.  The bedrooms, as well as the storehouse for their market, were all in other bungalows. In 1930, the family and the business moved onto a leased property at 70 N. Pasadena Avenue. Connected to the storefront was a two-story house.

Morito’s market provided local produce to white and Japanese families, but that was not their primary business. Instead, the bulk of their business was servicing the Japanese farming families in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond, bringing them food deliveries. Once a week Jiro would go to Little Tokyo for fish, vegetables, Japanese foodstuff, and dry goods. The rest of the week he would deliver the goods to his Japanese customers. While her husband was out making deliveries, Reiko ran the store. On Sundays, she would do the bookkeeping, and this of course was in addition to preparing meals, caring for children, laundry, cleaning, and sewing all of the family’s clothes.

In his off-hours, Jiro sat on the Board of Directors for the Japanese language school in town, was president of the YMCA, and was a Boy Scout scoutmaster (1937-1938). From early on as a resident of Pasadena, he was always interested in the city.

Caption: Elsie and Helen Morita at home on the piano bench.  Their mother Reiko had made the pink taffeta dresses they wore.  

Due to Jiro’s status as a member of the military during WWI and changes in the laws regarding naturalization for veterans, in 1936, Jiro became an American citizen. Elsie reported that her father was so proud of his change in status that “he posted his citizenship papers on the middle pillar of the store…” Citizenship made it possible for the family to purchase their store, home, and car. What citizenship did not do was protect the family from being interned during WWII.

Leaving all of their household goods stored in the basement of their home and arranging with a neighbor to run the store during the family’s absence, the Morita family was first sent to the Tulare Assembly Center in the San Joaquin Valley. While he was no doubt shocked and disappointed that he and his family had been interned, it appears that Jiro tried to make the best of the situation. His first act was to start an exercise class at the camp. Beginning with six Issei, early in the morning, the group exercised. Jiro's calisthenics class had filled the entire field by the time the family was moved to the Gila River camp. The camp at Gila River was on an Indian reservation in Arizona which at its peak, was home to 13,000 Japanese, primarily from California. Here, too, Jiro led calisthenics classes, but he expanded his activities when he joined camp administration and became the truant officer for the camp high school.

The American Friends Service Committee Resettlement was a term used by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) to describe the movement of "loyal" Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans from concentration camps during World War II beginning in 1942. The Morita family, along with others, were able to leave the camps before 1945 to pursue education, employment, and permanent residence in the interior of the country. Jiro’s two sons were accepted at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and his daughter Elsie began her college career at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. Jiro, Reiko, and Helen were also relocated to Lincoln where Jiro worked as a gardener and Reiko and Helen worked as housekeepers. 

Caption: The Morita family standing in front of their building at 70 N. Pasadena Avenue on the day before they left for internment.  Beginning from the left are: Reiko, Helen, Richard, Elsie, William and Jiro.

On February 1, 1943, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was activated, composed almost entirely of second-generation American soldiers of Japanese ancestry (Nisei). Both Bill and Dick joined up. During their incarceration, the mortgage payments continued to come due each month for the property at 70 N. Pasadena Avenue. After six months, the neighbor who had agreed to run Morita’s store abandoned the business. To help keep the mortgage from going into arrears, Bill sent his father money each month from his military pay. 

While in Nebraska, daughter Elsie married Francis Uyematsu, a classmate of her brother’s from Montebello. Francis had been accepted into the Syracuse School of Law; however, before he could attend, he was drafted and sent to language school at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis. Elsie followed him there, staying until the end of the war.

When the war finally ended on September 2, 1945, the family returned to Pasadena. They were disappointed to discover that all their belongings had been stolen from the basement and that the store stood abandoned. Chain markets and supermarkets spread quickly as the 1950s approached and men returned from war. Jiro decided not to try to reopen his business, believing that the competition would be insurmountable. Instead, at age 53, he took on gardening jobs while Reiko cleaned houses. 

When Elsie and Francis returned, they made their home in Sierra Madre. Francis went to work for his father’s Star Nursery.  For her part, Elsie raised their two daughters, Mary and Amy, and worked part-time until 1969, when the UCLA Asian American Studies Center hired her as their administrative assistant. Elsie was undoubtedly familiar with the campus as her daughters were students there. She worked for the AASC for 22 years, retiring in 1991. Elsie’s daughter, Mary Uyematsu Kao, was also part of the staff for three decades, working in graphic design at AASC, retiring in 2018.

Caption: Bill, Jiro and Dick Morita.  The brothers came to visit before going overseas with the 442nd RCTI Company during WWII.  

While Jiro’s plans for Morita’s Market did not survive, he was not done. Katase, where Jiro had been born, was about ten miles south of the city of Mishima. In 1957, Eisenhower’s policy to secure Japan as a U.S. partner in Asia led to many sister city relationships. Pasadena and Mishima became sister cities. Jiro and Reiko became heavily involved in the effort as Jiro served as the chair of the sister city committee from 1964-1967. Fluent in both Japanese and English, he believed that he could be a conduit between people.

Caption: Left to right: Sada Morita (Bill Morita's wife), Helen Morita Matsunaga, Consul General's wife, Elsie Morita Uyematsu, Reiko and Jiro Morita, Japanese Consul General.  Jiro and Reiko frequently host Japanese dignitaries who visit the city.

For his efforts, Morita received the Order of the Rising Sun.

On May 3, 1974, two years after Jiro Morita's death, a plaque honoring his contributions to improving Japanese-American relationships was added to the newly dedicated Mishima Plaza in Pasadena. 

Elsie's family was with her during the presentation at Mishima Plaza.  Left to right:  Dr. Ron Matsunaga (Helen's husband), Bill Morita, Mark Matsunaga (Helen's son), Helen Morita Matsunaga, Reiko Morita, behind is Marsha Matsunaga (Helen's daughter), Laura Matsunaga (Helen's daughter), Jed Matsunaga (Helen's son), Amy Uyematsu Tachiki (Elsie's daughter), Chris Tachiki (Amy's son), Elsie Morita Uyematsu.

Next we will explore the history of Amy and Mary's father's line.  As shown, their father Francis Genichrio Uyematsu's father was Francis Miyosaku Uyematsu.  

According to Mary Uyematsu Kao, her grandfather, Francis Miyosaku Uyematsu, came to the United States in 1904 when he was just 23 years old.  His uncle, an army surgeon, had encouraged him to leave Japan.  F.M. suffered from poor health, and his uncle was likely trying to help him avoid his participation in the Russo-Japan War.  After spending two years in Salinas, California, he moved to Los Angeles, where he went to school to learn English and worked as a houseboy.  

In 1908, Ichisuke Saima approached F.M. to join him in opening a nursery.  Figueroa Street Nursery rekindled his memories of his childhood in Numazu. The view from his window, cherry blossoms, and the magnificent Mt. Fuji comforted him when he was ill.  As his granddaughter writes, "It was this memory that inspired him to bring cherry trees and camellias to the U.S. to share the beauty that Japanese enjoy..."  Figueroa Street Nursery was successful, which made it possible for F.M. to sell out to Saima and launch Star Nursery on five acres in Montebello.  The accompanying image is the house F.M. lived in on the nursery property. 

While F.M. was busy building Star Nursery, his parents in Japan decided it was time for him to marry.   Miyoko Fukasawa, his bride, joined him in the United States, and in 1912, their daughter Sonoko was born.  Unfortunately, the couple's marriage did not survive, and Miyoko returned to Japan, leaving behind three-year-old Sonoko to be raised by her father.    Finally, in 1918, with the business now a successful venture, F.M. decided it was time to marry.  He returned to Japan and wed Kuniko Watanable (pictured) there.   

Between 1921 and 1933, Kuni gave birth to the couple's five children: Francis, Alice, Star, Marian, and Sam. In the photo, Kuni, on the far left, is holding Marian. Alice is sitting on the couch in a kimono. Standing behind the couch in a kimono is Sonoko, the daughter of Francis' first wife. Francis Uyematsu is holding baby Starr. Standing next to his father is Francis Genichrio.  

F.M.'s business savvy and horticultural knowledge are what led to him being titled the "Camellia King."  With an embargo of all foreign plants looming around 1915-1916, F.M. rushed to import top-ranking camellias, certain that there would be shortages and price increases for the prized plants.  His decision was a wise one, resulting in his nursery being the top-ranked supplier at the time.   Then, not ten years later, he developed a system using refrigeration that would send plants into dormancy so that they could be successfully cultivated in the U.S.  
  

As F.M.'s family was growing during the 20s and early 30s, so was his nursery business.  In 1930, he purchased 10 acres in Sierra Madre and, with a special permit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, imported and planted 500 of 113 different varieties of camellias on the property.  He followed this up in 1938 with the purchase of 120 acres in Manhattan Beach.  By 1941, his land was full of camellias, azaleas, plum, and cherry trees.  And then, World War II happened.  

The Uyematsus ended up at Manzanar, the internment camp in California's Owens Valley.  Before their departure, F.M. made arrangements both for the management of Star Nursery and the sale of bulk of his camellias to E. Manchester Boddy, the owner of the Rancho del Descanso.  Research from Professor Wendy Cheng and Mary Uyematsu shows that Boddy likely took advantage of F.M. in the sale of the nursery stock and then attempted to run Star Nursery out of business during the war.  Despite all the challenges the nursery faced during the war, when the Uyematsu family returned in 1945, they still owned Montebello, Sierra Madre, and a significantly reduced Manhattan Beach property.  

While F.M. retired from Star Nursery in 1951, he generously donated his time, expertise, and plants to the community. In 1953 and again in 1956, he donated and oversaw the planting of Japanese cherry trees in Griffith Park. Later, he gifted 80 varieties of roses to the Jindai Botanical Garden in Tokyo and grafted 17 Mt. Fuji cherry trees onto American rootstock that were planted in the Exposition Park Rose Garden in Los Angeles.