Early Japanese Settlement of Glendale

“Japantowns” are the term for the first major Japanese communities outside of Japan, many of which were established in California during the late 1800s [6]. 

Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles and Japantown in the Sawtelle neighborhood are the two last remaining “Japantowns” in Los Angeles County [6]. In addition to these, only three other original Japantowns still exist in the United States (being in San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle) [6]. 

California alone was once home to over 40 Japantowns, with one of these original settlements being the community of Tropico, which was eventually annexed into Glendale [6].

According to the AsAmNews’ article California’s 1st community of Japanese farmers no longer exists which sites Survey LA, the Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey, Tropico is one of the first places where Japanese worked on farms in the Los Angeles area [7]. 

History of Tropico as a Japantown

While Tropico was initially settled by white farmers in 1887, a Chinese community eventually established itself with an 1890 Los Angeles Times article citing that “Chinamen are the principal farmers of this land at present” [8]. The Chinese farmers began cultivating primarily strawberries and vegetables here, which would become the staple crops of the region [7]. 

By 1900, Japanese farmers became the predominant community in Tropico [7]. According to the 1911 report, Immigrants in Industries (In Twenty-Five Parts) “Japanese were paid $3.15 per day for picking, the wage paid to Chinese and Mexicans, but less than that paid to white men, for the same work. In 1901 this Japanese ‘boss’ leased one of the ranches mentioned. This was the beginning of Japanese leasing independent farming in this district, and, it is said, in Los Angeles County” [9]. 

By 1904, 29 Japanese households were leasing over 150 acres in Tropico for berry growing [7]. During this time, there were additional reports of Japanese farmers expanding their operations to the neighboring towns of Burbank and Glendale [7]. By 1905, 3 Japanese farms were established in Glendale, occupying 29 acres [7]. 

In the early 1900s, Tropico was considered a POC community. When reported on by The Los Angeles Times, it was frequently referred to as "the Japanese colony”, a community which was reported to “[embrace] all the little brown men of Tropico, Burbank and Glendale” [10]. 

Immigrants in Industries (In Twenty-Five Parts) additionally notes that prior to the Japanese settlement in the early 1900s the Glendale, Burbank and Tropico areas had not been used much for agriculture, but that through the Japanese community, this became the primary, flourishing industry [9]. 

Ultimately, the production of strawberries did not last in this area however as frosts began damaging the crops and leading them to be unsustainable [7]. By the 1920s, Tropico no longer existed and Glendale and Burbank ceased to be farming communities [7].