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  hile
the main thrust of early Japanese immigration to Texas concerned rice
farming, a substantial number of Japanese gravitated toward the cities.
Following a pattern established by ethnic groups before them, Japanese
immigrant entrepreneurs would often provide Japanese newcomers with
jobs. In this way both employer and employee were better able to face
the challenge of economic survival in a foreign land.One of the more successful of the early Japanese entrepreneurs was Houston restaurateur Tsunekichi Okasaki, more commonly known as "Tom Brown" Okasaki. In the early 1900s, he opened an establishment called the Japanese Restaurant, which despite its name served mainly American food. In 1911 he opened a Japanese Art Store in downtown Houston, while down the block he was a partner in the Japan Art and Tea Company. Later, following the loss of his art store in a fire, Okasaki establish two more restaurants, one of which was described in the city directory as a "chop suey parlor." These restaurants, which were popular gathering places for Houston's small but growing Japanese community, also provided much-needed work for Japanese newcomers to the area.
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