California museum exhibit highlights agricultural legacy of Japanese Americans

The role of the Japanese immigrants who used John Deere tractors and antique farm equipment to harvest crops is highlighted.
The role of the Japanese immigrants who used John Deere tractors and antique farm equipment to harvest crops is highlighted.
The Japanese American Museum in San Jose, California, pays tribute to the agricultural legacy that immigrants from the island nation left in the region, according to the Silicon Valley Mercury News.

The news source reported that the outdoor display, which opened in January, is a glimpse back into the region's days before silicon and a time when people farmed the land for a living.

The role of the Japanese immigrants who used John Deere tractors and antique farm equipment to harvest crops is highlighted, and the impact of these individuals is traced through the pictures and artifacts in the exhibit, according to the Mercury News.

A majority of the artifacts came from the family farm of the late Eiichi Sakauye, and the exhibits at the museum are specific to the experience of Japanese Americans through the middle of the 20th century, the news source reported.

According to the museum's website, the Japanese American farmers were able to use innovative techniques that were brought over from Japan and combine them with the local knowledge to produce high yields.