n addition to rice and vegetables, a third crop figures into the history of early Japanese-Texan settlement—sugar cane. In 1917 seven Japanese men joined in financing the purchase of a 400-acre sugar plantation near Brownsville in the Rio Grande Valley. They called their plantation the "Yamato colony," a name carrying special significance. Embodied within the name "Yamato" is the idea that Japan and its people constitute one large family. The result, quite naturally, is a sense of group solidarity. This feeling is reinforced by Japan's long, uninterrupted history and its homogeneous racial population.

Unfortunately for the Brownsville Yamato colony, however, group spirit was not nearly enough. While the sugar cane grew well, the market price for sugar was simply too low. The same post-World War I depression that ruined most Japanese-Texan rice farmers also spelled doom for the sugar colonists, who ended up bickering among themselves over how best to handle their sizable financial problems. By 1921 the Yamato sugar colony had dissolved.

Even after the Yamato colony's failure, many of the colonists remained in the Valley. One such couple were Minoru Kawahata and his wife, Toku, both of whom had come to Texas via Santa Fe, New Mexico. After the colony dispersed, the two farmed some land near the Rio Grande. To handle their crops and those of other Japanese farmers, they eventually started a packing and shipping business. Everything went well for them until 1929, when major surgery left Minoru bedridden for four years. Toku continued to run the farm as best she could, but it was extremely difficult, especially with four small children to care for and the country in the middle of the Great Depression. Although the family lost its packing and shipping business and was reduced to farming a small acreage, they somehow managed to survive and overcome the obstacles put in their path.

The financial situation of Japanese Texans in the Valley generally mirrored that of other Texans during the hard years of the Great Depression. During this period, however, the social life of Valley Japanese improved considerably because of better roads and more reliable transportation. With more people being able to get together, Japanese parties with plenty of food and drink became more common.