Country voices

In Country Voices, the reader steps into the world of Japanese American family farms, hears a people speak simple truths, and tastes the sweat and sweetness of rich harvests and life’s struggles. Through oral histories, interviews, essays and stories, Country Voices not only describes the historical development of a rural community but also explores the cultural and spiritual growth of all its people. The ingredients of culture, land and the family come together into a moving account of a community. You don’t have to be Japanese to enjoy and relate to topics that include – preserving ethnic traditions through food and cooking, the struggles within a community over changing religion, the evolution of a family farm and the archaic way raisins are still made, or the everyday life people experienced during the Depression or the tragic drama of evacuation of Japanese farm families during World War II. Country Voices is part of all our histories. There are over 70 photographs, documents and drawings in Country Voices – each adds to the story and the voice of a community and people.