My Grandfather

 

People have asked me about my grandfather and how he found his way to America. This link tells a bit about his journey from Japan to Texas. His name was Eizo Kimi Jingu. My grandfather became a tea importer and traveled often to Japan once the family settled at the Japanese tea gardens in San Antonio. The Jingu family was notable in their contributions to the Texas community. You can read about them in a book “The Japanese Texans” by Thomas K. Walls. . Other articles and books touch on my grandfathers contribution to the tea industry in this country. In 1933 at the Chicago World Fair a special Japanese pavilion was built. “The 1933 Chicago World's Fair, officially titled "A Century of Progress," featured a Japanese pavilion designed by Iwakichi Miyamoto. This pavilion showcased traditional Japanese architecture and included exhibits on Japanese culture, industry, and arts.” My grandfather had an exhibit booth at the pavilion featuring his imported green tea. We grew up being told my grandfather invented green tea ice cream. He contracted with the Bordan Ice cream company to make his green tea ice cream recipe for the tea gardens. They served that specialty at the garden in Texas in special bowls in the shape of a lotus leaf that my grandfather had designed and had made. He also invented a sweet grren tea drink that became popular at the fair and garden. My mother was 16 and her sister Mary a year older in 1933. My grandfather took these two eldest daughters to help him at the World’s fair exhibition. They dressed in traditional Japanese Kimonos and greeted guests at the family tea venue. It was one of my mother’s treasured memories that she often spoke of. In another chapter of my book I tell about how all the Jingu sisters met their future Japanese husbands that were 2nd generation “Nisei” men. (there weren’t many Japanese in their Texas community. ) You may recall when I spoke of my aunt Mary being the sole sister that moved to Hawaii. Well that summer in Chicago my grandfather also hired two young nisei architecture students from the University of Chicago to help with his tea exhibit. One of the young men was Kenji Onodera from Honolulu Hawaii. He began courting Mary that summer.

 

 

 

https://japaneseteagardensa.org/history/