Three Brothers

Heijiro Shiozawa1881 - 1975

Kaichi Shiozawa1884 - 1960(No photo available)

Chiyomatsu Shiozawa1888 - 1969

Three Brothers in America

Nancy Shiozawa

Heijiro Shiozawa was born in 1881 in Shizuoka, Japan. He and his two younger brothers, Kaichi and Chiyomatsu, grew up on a farm where they raised tea and cultured silkworms. When he was 18, Heijiro signed a contract and left Japan to clear lava rocks from sugar cane plantations in Hawaii. In 1905 he boarded the “Enterprise” and sailed from Hawaii to San Francisco, then worked his way to Idaho on railroad gangs and various farms. In August 1911 Heijiro married Kane Fukura, a picture bride. The couple settled in Rigby, Idaho, where they leased a small farm and raised their family.[1]

When Kaichi and Chiyomatsu read Heijiro’s accounts of the opportunities and the money to be made, they decided to follow their brother to America. Kaichi, three years younger than Heijiro, emigrated in December 1907 at age 23. He married and had two children. The family settled in Twin Falls, Idaho.[2]

The youngest brother, Chiyomatsu (known as George in America), emigrated in 1917. Kane, Heijiro’s wife, died in early 1926 and Chiyomatsu, a single man, moved to Rigby to help Heijiro on the farm. After a few years he left to work in the copper mines in Utah.[3]

Japanese immigrant laborers began emigrating to America in the late 1800s. Their drive, work ethic, and adaptability led them to success, notably on the rich farmlands of California. Unfortunately, this created resentment among the white citizens who feared the Japanese would take their jobs and their farmland. As a consequence, laws were adopted which used race as an excuse to limit the rights of the Japanese and even exclude them from the country. Two of those laws were the 1908 “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” which stopped further immigration of Japanese laborers, and California’s Alien Land Law of 1913, which limited the length of Japanese farm leases and made it illegal for Japanese immigrants to buy farmland.[4]

Anti-Japanese sentiment climaxed with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924. This Act was designed to control the racial composition of America through a quota system which heavily favored western European countries. The Act prohibited admission of any “alien ineligible to citizenship.” This clause included all Asians, but was aimed primarily at the Japanese. All Japanese immigration was abruptly terminated.[5]

Shiozawa family history records an interesting story relating to the Immigration Act of 1924. The Act was signed on May 26, 1924, and would become effective on July 1. In the intervening five weeks, many Japanese men sent for their families, and bachelors who could afford it hurried to Japan to find wives.[6] The latter group included Heijiro’s brother Chiyomatsu (George), who found a bride and got married.

As the July 1 deadline approached, passenger ship berths became limited. When he and his bride attempted to board the last ship for America, only one berth was available. Chiyomatsu, who had been living in America, was accepted as the last passenger. His new wife was left standing forlornly on the pier as the ship put out to sea. Their marriage was later dissolved.[7]

It was not until 1952 that immigration rights for Japanese were restored and citizenship through naturalization was made available with passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, also known as the McCarran-Walter Act.[8]

About 1945, Heijiro and Chiyomatsu joined forces to sharecrop a farm in Layton, Utah. In 1954 the brothers purchased a home together in Clearfield, Utah. It was the first home either of them had ever owned.[9]

Heijiro received his citizenship on April 13, 1955; he died in June 1975 at the age of 94. Kaichi became an American citizen in November 1955; he died in 1960, and Chiyomatsu died in February 1969 at the age of 80.[10]

Between 1952 and 1965, more than 40,000 first-generation Japanese became U.S. citizens. Naturalization ceremonies were held all around the country. One such ceremony was held May 5, 1954, in Pocatello, Idaho. Forty-two first-generation Japanese became American citizens that day. See program, below.

[1] George Shiozawa, “Heijiro Shiozawa,” 1991, unpublished personal history in author's collection, 1.[2] FamilySearch. Accessed April 24, 2020. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/.[3] George Shiozawa, "Heijiro Shiozawa," 10-11.[4] Yuji Ichioka, The Issei. The World of the First Generation Japanese Immigrants, 1885-1924 (New York: The Free Press, 1988).[5] Ichioka, The Issei.[6] Ichioka, The Issei[7] George Shiozawa, "Heijiro Shiozawa," 10.[8] Ichioka, The Issei, 244.[9] George Shiozawa, "Heijiro Shiozawa," 14.[10] FamilySearch. Accessed April 25, 2020. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/.

Issei Citizenship Program

May 5, 1954

IsseiCitizenshipProgram_1954 (1).pdf

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