Uncles Mike, Roy, and Harry (Murakami Brothers)

Three of the Murakami brothers. This photo was taken in front of the Wayside Nursery in Gardena, California, in 1955. Uncle Harry and Uncle Roy were gardeners with their own routes. 

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Murakami Brothers

Mike, Roy, and Harry Murakami in front of the Wayside Nursery in Gardena, California, 1955. It was not unusual for multiple members of a family to be involved in the gardening profession. Three of the Murakami brothers worked as full-time gardeners. Others worked as part-time gardeners or assisted their brothers with their routes. This was a gift to the Japanese American National Museum, from Harry Murakami. (2000.336.2)

This picture is part of the Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum, which will run from June 17, 2007 until October 21, 2007. To learn more about Landscaping America, please visit the exhibition Web site.

Copyright is held by the Japanese American National Museum. Short-term educational use with limited circulation is permitted. For all other uses, please contact the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (hnrc@janm.org)

Omoto brothers

There are gardeners on my mother’s side too. Her four brothers: Tak, Herb, Sam, and Mako Omoto are/were Kibei gardeners with their own routes. One uncle lives in Seattle. The other three had/have routes in the Los Angeles area.

My grandmother had eight children—four boys & four girls. Of the two girls, two of their husbands also worked in gardening, making six gardeners in the immediate family. If you look at any of their yards, although they’re all fairly neatly kept, none of them are very elaborate. My Uncle Mako said once that he worked hard all day caring for other people’s yards, so he’d rather spend his free time doing other things.
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Pictured are my mother’s four brothers: Tak, Herb, Sam, and Mako Omoto. All four are/were Kibei gardeners with their own routes. One uncle lives in Seattle. The other three had/have routes in the Los Angeles area. This photo looks like it’s probably from the early 1970s, probably in Los Angeles.

My grandmother had eight children—four boys & four girls. Of the two girls, two of their husbands also worked in gardening, making six gardeners in the immediate family. If you look at any of their yards, although they’re all fairly neatly kept, none of them are very elaborate. My Uncle Mako said once that he worked hard all day caring for other people’s yards, so he’d rather spend his free time doing other things.

- Vicky Murakami-Tsuda, Los Angeles, California

leaves (Leaves)

This was a print I made by hand as part of a silkscreen printmaking workshop in 1998. It was inspired by my family’s green thumbs (which I unfortunately did not inherit).

leaves, silkscreen print, July 1998
Vicky K. Murakami-Tsuda
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Leaves

This was a print I made by hand as part of a silkscreen printmaking workshop conducted by Miles Hamada in his studio in the Artist District of Downtown Los Angeles. I hand-cut the stencils to create the leaf and square background/border design.

leaves, silkscreen print, July 1998
Vicky K. Murakami-Tsuda

assorted tools in my parents' garage

This is a photo I took in my parents’ garage on March 3, 2007. The photo shows some of the gardening tools that my parents use to care for their yard. Included are various rakes, a pair of worn gloves, some clippers, a bulb chart taped with duct tape to the wall, hangers, and the top of a step ladder. There are assorted other things in there like a piece of PVC pipe, a mop, and some assorted wires.

My parents save just about everything and I’m always amazed how creative they are in finding new uses for even the most ordinary things that others would just throw away. Why buy something new if you can re-use something you already have? Of course, this thinking also leads to a house full of things!

I wrote about this in an article for Discover Nikkei: A Yonsei’s Reflections…on Unearthing My Family’s Values

Gardening tools (hoe leaning against fence)

hoe leaning against fence

This is a photograph I took of my Dad’s backyard vegetable garden on March 3, 2007. This hoe looks like most of the tools that my parents use—rusted metal with wooden handles. They’re still all very functional though.

My dad’s garden is a little overrun now. You can see assorted plants growing in the background including lettuce. I don't think he actually really plants them. They just grow. At the end of the season, he lets some grow out and flower. Then hangs them from the fence and dries them out. The seeds naturally fall below and lettuce grows again.

I wrote about this and other things for an article on Discover Nikkei: A Yonsei’s Reflections…on Unearthing My Family’s Values

glass bottles of assorted screws & washers

This is a photo I took in my parents’ garage on March 3, 2007. Their garage is carefully crammed full of LOTS of miscellaneous stuff. Most of it is very neatly organized into labeled boxes and containers.

Along the wall on one side is the tool area. There’s a lot of really old and rusty tools that I think may have belonged to my grandfather. Or, maybe it’s just what was collected along the years by my Uncle Paul who used to live with us, or my dad. In any case, there’s a lot of stuff there.

Near the window are two wooden shelves on which sit glass jars in assorted sizes and shapes. They’re covered with dust and cobwebs and hold various screws, washers, and other metal things sorted by type.

Next to the jars are some plastic tofu containers. I’ve seen these used throughout my life for various uses that didn’t include tofu. They are handy containers that can be used for many different applications in the kitchen, garage, gardening, with arts & crafts, and many other ways and places.

I wrote an article for Discover Nikkei that talks about my parents’ knack/tendency for finding new uses for things: A Yonsei’s Reflections…on Unearthing My Family’s Values

Garden bottle markers

This is a photograph I took from my Dad’s vegetable garden. They’re glass bottles (I think they’re probably beer bottles) that are upside down in the dirt. My father uses them as markers to divide the sections of the garden.

The garden is a little overgrown right now. I think those plants are actually some sort of flower plant (iris?).

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This is a photograph I took from my Dad’s vegetable garden on March 3, 2007. They’re glass bottles (I think they’re probably beer bottles) that are upside down in the dirt. My father uses them as markers to divide the sections of the garden.

The garden is a little overgrown right now. I think those plants are actually some sort of flower plant (iris?). I also took a photo of some of the bottles close up.

This photo reminds of one of the phrases I heard a LOT growing up…“Mottanai”. Finding ways to maximize the use of things. I love this very creative use of what most people would consider trash.

I wrote about this mottanai mentality in a piece I wrote for Discover Nikkei: A Yonsei’s Reflections…on Unearthing My Family’s Values

Garden bottle dividers close up (Garden bottle dividers close-up)

Garden bottle dividers close-up

This is a photograph I took from my Dad’s vegetable garden on March 3, 2007. They’re glass bottles (I think they’re probably beer bottles) that are upside down in the dirt. My father uses them as markers to divide the sections of the garden.

It’s the very creative, outside-the-box thinking that I think characterizes a lot of JA gardeners and farmers. Visually appealing and very practical. It’s a different approach to recycling.

Gardening truck (back of my Dad's gardening truck)

When my uncle died, he left everything to my father. My dad tried to retire entirely, but he still has one customer who begged him to remain their gardener. So, my dad works once a week. Every Friday, he works at one house. When he goes over, she invites him in for coffee & cake. Then he works, and then she calls him in for another coffee break. It sounds so strange to me, particularly since my father is so hard of hearing and doesn’t really talk much.
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back of my Dad's gardening truck

This is a photo I took of the back of my Dad’s gardening truck on March 3, 2007. It’s actually parked inside of his garage which is very tightly packed (although fairly well organized) full of all kinds of things. My parents never throw anything away! I guess it comes from growing up in poor farming families who went through WWII and the camps, and then living in Japan just after the war.

The truck itself is a red Toyota truck that used to be my Uncle Paul’s truck. I can’t remember what whether it’s from the late 1980s or 1990s. When my uncle passed away, my father took over his route until he was able to stop, but he still has one customer who begged him to keep working for them. So, now he just has one customer every Friday. Otherwise, he’s retired.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see that there’s actually a desk at the front just next to the cab area. The lawnmower fits just perfectly in the space where a chair should go. The rake, shovel, broom, and other long tools lie across the top of the desk along with the garden hose. The step ladder sits nicely next to the lawnmower, and other smaller supplies are stored in the desk drawers.

It’s a testament to the ingenuity, efficiency, and outside-the-box thinking that seems to characterize most JA gardeners.

Daddy (Fred posing with lawnmower)

This is my father. This photo was taken about 9 years before he got married, and 10 years before I was born.

My father is the ninth of sixteen children.
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Fred posing with lawnmower

This is a black & white photo of my father from I think January 1961. He appears to be posing next to an old-style lawnmower. I think it’s the same lawnmower as in another similar photo. On that one, it says “KOHLER” on the other side of it.

In this photo, my Dad is about 28 years old, about ten years before I was born. This was taken somewhere in Southern California and is part of a roll of really great photos I found among my Uncle Paul’s old photos of my Dad & Uncle Paul posing for some reason with their lawnmower and other gardening tools.

Little Tokyo sakura tree

Uncle Harry also helped take care of the sakura trees on Central Ave. in Little Tokyo when the Southern California Gardeners Federation was responsible for establishing the trees when they were first planted.
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Sakura tree in bloom taken on March 3, 2007. This tree is one of a row planted along Central Avenue in Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles, California.

Backyard stone lantern ( (Backyard stone lantern))

(Backyard stone lantern)

I took this photograph in my parents’ backyard. If you look carefully, you can see some potted plants on the side (aloe plant) and in the back.

The rest of the yard doesn’t actually look like this. Their yard has a bunch of different areas.

My Dad & Uncle Paul

My father never had his own gardening route until he took over my Uncle Paul’s route when he became unable to work any longer. He worked as a maintenance landscaper for the Metropolitan Water District for many years taking care of their planted areas around their buildings and off-site locations. On Saturdays, he would help Uncle Paul with his route. Sometimes, he would help my Uncle Roy with his work on the occasional Sunday.
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This is a great photo of my Dad & my Uncle Paul with my uncle’s gardening truck. The top of the photo says Jan 1961. I’m guessing that was when the film was processed and the photo printed. Not sure exactly when the actual photograph was taken. It’s from a whole roll of really great images I found among my uncle’s old photos of my Dad & my uncle posing with garden tools like their lawnmower.

*added 8/9/07 - According to my dad, the truck was light green.

me & Uncle Paul (Me and Uncle Paul)

This is my Uncle Paul and I when I was probably about 1 years old. I asked my parents whose house we’re in front of, but they don’t remember. All they know is that it’s likely somewhere in Southern California.

Uncle Paul was the second of the Murakami children. When I was five, my parents and Uncle Paul bought a house together. My parents are still at that same house.
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Me and Uncle Paul

This photo is of me and my Uncle Paul. I’m not sure exactly of the date, but has to be in the early 1970s, most likely in Southern California somewhere.