DIGS is the premiere luxury real estate lifestyle magazine serving the most affluent neighborhoods in the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, California.
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20 DIGS.NET | 7.29.2022 JULY 29, 2022 | ISSUE 282 TO OUR READERS South Bay DIGS welcomes your feedback and encourages reader response to our editorial features. Please send your letters to the Publisher at 722 1st Street, Unit D, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254 or via email to WDOW@southbaydigs.com. Please include your name and contact information. Letters may be published and we reserve the right to edit. ADVERTISING For inquiries, please contact Publisher Warren Dow at 310.373.0142. EDITORIAL For editorial inquiries, please email Editorial@SouthBayDIGS.com On The Cover PRESENTED BY LAUREN FORBES OF LAUREN FORBES GROUP | COMPASS LIST PRICE $7,999,999 FEATURED ON PAGE 62 1923 Picture of some of the 40 Japanese families cultivating the Palos Verdes Peninsula (courtesy of Palos Verdes Library District) 722 1st Street, Unit D, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254 Office: 310.373.0142 South Bay Digs Magazine is published every other Friday by m3 Media, LLC. Reproduction in any form or by any means is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent from m3 Media LLC. The Publisher and advertisers are not responsible or liable for misinformation, misprints, or typographical errors. All advertised properties are subject to prior sale or withdrawal without notice. Real estate advertised in this publication is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act. M3 Media will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis. Any and all submissions to this publication become the property of m3 Media, LLC and may be used in any media. CREATIVE SERVICES & AD DESIGN/ORIGINAL ARTWORK PROVIDED EXCLUSIVELY BY SOUTH BAY DIGS. © 2022 Micro Market Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Founder & CEO / Publisher President & COO Chief Growth Officer Digital Media Director Video Editor Senior Graphic Designer Senior Graphic Designer Contributing Writers Senior Staff Photographer Warren J. Dow Bud Moore Kyle Coats Kieron McKay Matt Polizzi Jim Alba Rufus Agbede Jenn Thornton Constance Dunn Karine Monié Joclene Davey Abigail Stone Paul Jonason CO N N E C T W I T H U S Listen & subscribe on iTunes, digs.net or your favorite podcast provider. The Titans of Real Estate INFLUENCERS PODCAST .net S O U T H B A Y History Tidbits DRE#: 01368971 Maureen Megowan 310.541.6416 mdmegowan@gmail.com PALOS VERDES AND SOUTH BAY JAPANESE FARMERS When land values dictated that Peninsula property could no longer be used for only cattle grazing, George Bixby leased the land to Japanese farmers to cultivate fruits and vegetables. Land was leased for approx. ten dollars an acre, and in the early 1900's, approx. 40 Japanese families were cultivating crops on the Peninsula. The Ishibashi family was one of the first Japanese families to farm the Peninsula. Kumekichi Ishibashi came to San Francisco in 1895, and walked to Los Angeles. He worked as a houseboy for many years, but in 1906 leased his first farm from Bixby in 1906 at the site of the present day Trump National Golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes. In 1910, Kumekichi brought his younger brother, Tomizo, to join him at the farm. The Ishibashi family used to get water once a week for their house, which they built themselves, from a well in the Portuguese Bend area, and this took the better part of a day. The family farmed by the "dry farming" method with no irrigation, and grew beans, cucumbers, peas and tomatoes. Early electricity was obtained by a boat generator, and auto batteries. When World War II began, however, the Japanese families who were farming the Rancho Palos Verdes area were interned for the duration of the war; many were relocated to the internment camp at Manzanar, California. On February 1, 1942, Kumekuchi Ishibashi and his wife Take were taken to a detention camp for Japanese in Bismarck, North Dakota. In July, 1942, Kumekuchi's family including his son Mas, Mas' wife, Miye, along with their son Satoshi, who was seven years old at the time, and Mas' brothers, George and Aki were interned at Poston, Arizona. In a little over one year, Kumekichi was able to reunite with his family in Poston. They then moved to Utah to farm for the duration of the war. Mas' brother, George and Kay, served in the 442nd Regimental Infantry Combat Unit. This unit received more citations than any other outfit [of its size]. Miye Ishibashi sold strawberries on the side of the road and Mas farmed Rancho Palos Verdes for over 50 years, with the exception of the internment years. Their son Satoshi continued working with his father to farm rolling acres of barley and garbanzo beans for many of those years as well. Tomizo, Kumekichi's brother, had four farming sons: Ichiro, James, Tom and Daniel and two daughters, Yukiko and Naomi. James Ishibashi's farm was located next to the entrance to Portuguese Bend and he also farmed land on the current Trump National golf course. His wife Annie sold vegetables at "Annie's stand," serving the community for forty years. James died in 2002 and his family home and farm in Portuguese Bend was sold in 2011.Tom Ishibashi, who farmed on city-owned property next to Torrance Municipal Airport since the early 1960's died in May 2011 at the age of 82, and the family farm closed in March 2012. The above is an excerpt from my book "Historic Tales of Palos Verdes and the South Bay". For more info see http://www.southbayhistory.com.