was a Japanese rice farmer who introduced the cultivation of rice in parts of southeast

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The community of Mykawa and Mykawa Road in Houston are named after him.

History

Mykawa graduated from what would become

Hitotsubashi University , formerly known as , is a national university, national research university in Tokyo, Japan. Often regarded as Japan’s foremost institution for the study of the social sciences, particularly commerce, economics, law, political science, sociolog ...

. At the time it was Tokyo's number one commercial college.Connor, R. E.
How That Road Got Its Name
"

''

Houston Post The ''Houston Post'' was a newspaper that had its headquarters in Houston, Texas, United States. In 1995, the newspaper shut down, and its assets were purchased by the ''Houston Chronicle''. History Gail Borden Johnson founded the ''Houston P ...

'', Sunday May 2, 1965. Spotlight, Page 3. – Available on microfilm at the

Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in ...

Central Library Jesse H. Jones Building In 1903 Mykawa first came to the United States as a naval officer representing Japan at the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. While on his way to return to Japan, Mykawa passed through

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and decided that the land around the city was perfect for rice cultivation. Mykawa settled in Erin Station, an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Harris County, Texas, and established a rice farm there.Historic Houston Streets: The Stories Behind the Name
"
Archive
''July 19, 2007''. Retrieved on June 19, 2009. Mykawa, after the World's Fair, had organized a rice farming project, and returned to Texas in 1906 with four other men. Mykawa introduced rice growing in the Erin Station area. On April 24, 1906 Mykawa died after he fell underneath one of his pieces of agricultural equipment. The Santa Fe Railroad Company renamed Erin Station to Mykawa in his honor, and Japanese immigrants to Texas perceived it as friendly towards Asian Americans because of the renaming. A school established there, Mykawa School, and Mykawa Road were named in his honor. Mykawa's name, as the town name and the name of Mykawa Road, is pronounced differently from the actual Japanese name '' Maekawa''.
Archive
''

Sanyo Shimbun The is a Japanese language daily newspaper published by . The company was founded on January 4, 1879. The newspaper is based in Okayama, Japan. The newspaper covers national and international news stories and also news from Okayama and neighborin ...

''. Retrieved on June 19, 2009. "（注：綴りはMaekawaではない。Mae-だと、"メイカワ"と発音されやすいので、あえてMy-として "マイカワ"と読ませたのだろうが、それが今や"ミカワ"と発音されている）。" The spelling of his

family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

was stated by a friend living in Texas as "Mykawa", and the friend had given the railroad station that name.Karkabi, Barbara. "PEARL HARBOR: 1941–1991 – THE INTERNEES – Farms lured Japanese here – Common interest in growing rice smoothed relations." ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''. Sunday December 1, 1991. Special p. 6. Available at NewsBank, Record Number 12*01*825948. Available at the

website with a library card. "Others followed Saibara, including Shinpei Maekawa, one of several Japanese entrepreneurs who came to the Houston area. He was killed in 1906 in a farming accident. As a tribute to him, a Texas friend renamed the nearby railroad station (and in the process changed the spelling) to Mykawa Station. Today, the road that runs parallel to the railroad tracks in South Houston is still called Mykawa Road. " As of 2008 Mykawa is an area within the city of Houston.GVCA News CCT 2CC5
" Garden Villas Community Association. Retrieved on June 19, 2009. Mykawa's grave is located in the Hollywood Cemetery in Houston. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the cemetery placed his gravestone in for safekeeping for a period after threats against the grave were telephoned.

Gallery

File:MykawagraveHouston.JPG, Grave of Shinpei Mykawa, Hollywood Cemetery

References

External links

Publications of Early Japanese in North America
(Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mykawa, Shinpei Japanese farmers 1906 deaths 1874 births Hitotsubashi University alumni People from Houston People from Aichi Prefecture Japanese emigrants to the United States American farmers of Japanese descent 20th-century American farmers Farmers from Texas

History

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links