Kanaye Nagasawa (né Isonaga Hikosuke; February 2, 1852February 14, 1934) was a

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to deter ...

, the first Japanese national to live permanently in the United States, a recipient of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

, and a disciple of

Thomas Lake Harris Thomas Lake Harris (May 15, 1823 – March 23, 1906) was an Anglo-American preacher, spiritualistic prophet, poet, and vintner. Harris is best remembered as the leader of a series of communal religious experiments, culminating with a group call ...

, the self-proclaimed "Father and Pivot and Primate and King of the Brotherhood of the New Life". Nagasawa followed Harris from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

out to

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

, where he eventually took over Harris' Fountaingrove estate. Nagasawa died in 1934, but the round barn he constructed at Fountaingrove was a landmark in

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...

Early life

Nagasawa was born in

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

, Japan, on February 2, 1852, a member of the

Satsuma clan The were the '' daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in con ...

and the son of a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

. At age 12 or 13, he was one of 15 Satsuma students smuggled out of Japan and sent to the United Kingdom to learn Western customs, technology and systems. At this time, he was granted a new name by his lord in order to protect his family from any possible legal repercussions as most foreign travel was forbidden at the time. Nagasawa, being too young for university, was sent to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Scotland, to live with the family of

Thomas Blake Glover Thomas Blake Glover (6 June 1838 – 16 December 1911) was a Scottish merchant in the Bakumatsu and Meiji period in Japan. Early life (1838–1858) Thomas Blake Glover was born at 15 Commerce Street, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire (council area), ...

and attend school. In Scotland, he met English nobleman Laurence Oliphant, who was a disciple of Thomas Lake Harris and had been asked to find potential recruits for his New York State commune. Oliphant took Nagasawa, along with five other Satsuma students, to

to join Harris' community there. Nagasawa studied at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

for one year in 1870. While the other students who had left Japan with Nagasawa returned home shortly afterwards, he stayed with Harris and eventually followed him out to California when Harris left

Brocton, New York Brocton is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The name was derived by combining the names "Brockway" and "Minton", two prominent local families. The population was 1,335 at the 2020 census. Brocton is within the town of Portl ...

Fountaingrove

Nagasawa arrived in California in 1875 at age 23. The community Harris established in Santa Rosa was named Fountaingrove, and the ranch encompassed 1,000 acres. Harris brought winemaker Dr. John Hyde to the property to plant grapes and instruct the disciples in

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

. Nagasawa became winemaker after Hyde left, and made wine for the Brotherhood of the New Life's store in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as well as for the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. Nagasawa introduced California wines to the international world, including Europe and Japan. The wine won several medals and was widely marketed. Harris attributed the wine's success to the spiritual qualities of the Fountain Grove community. Harris left Fountain Grove in 1891, though, after journalist Alzire Chevaillier wrote several articles for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' saying that the commune leader was a charlatan. Harris died in 1906 without ever returning to Fountain Grove, and Nagasawa took over the estate. When Harris eventually died in 1906, he became the leader of The Brotherhood of the New Life and lead the cult until his death. By 1916, however, he was the only cult member still resident at Fountaingrove, and although other members visited from time to time, missionary activity had effectively ceased during the later years of Harris' life. Nagasawa became the top wine producer in California. In Japan, he earned the "Wine King of California" nickname, and has been described as "the

Robert Mondavi Robert Gerald Mondavi (June 18, 1913 – May 16, 2008) was an American winemaker. His technical and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi promoted label ...

of his time". In 1915, he helped run the Japanese Exhibit at the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He was often referred to as "Prince Nagasawa" or "Baron Nagasawa" because of his samurai heritage, and hosted extravagant parties at Fountaingrove throughout

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, at which the wine flowed freely. In an elaborate ceremony at Fountaingrove, Nagasawa was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun at the request of

Emperor Taishō was the 123rd Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and the second ruler of the Empire of Japan from 30 July 1912 until his death in 1926. The Emperor's personal name was . According to Japanese custom, while reigni ...

. The Fountaingrove Round Barn was built while Kanaye Nagasawa ran the estate. Before the barn burned in the 2017

Tubbs Fire The Tubbs Fire was a wildfire in Northern California during October 2017. At the time, the Tubbs Fire was the most destructive wildfire in California history, burning parts of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties, inflicting its greatest losses in ...

, it was one of very few surviving

round barns A round barn is a historic barn design that could be octagonal, polygonal, or circular in plan. Though round barns were not as popular as some other barn designs, their unique shape makes them noticeable. The years from 1880 to 1920 represent th ...

in California. It was actually 16-sided.

Death and legacy

Nagasawa died in 1934, having endured growing

anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States Anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States has existed since the late 19th century, especially during the Yellow Peril, which had also extended to other Asian immigrants. Anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States would peak during World Wa ...

. Services were held in Santa Rosa and he was cremated in the San Francisco Bay Area. at Despite efforts to pass the Fountaingrove property on to his relatives, including his American-born grand-nephew and grand-niece, via the

California Alien Land Law of 1913 The California Alien Land Law of 1913 (also known as the Webb–Haney Act) prohibited "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from owning agricultural land or possessing long-term leases over it, but permitted leases lasting up to three years. It affe ...

, the land was seized by the Santa Rosa City Council, sold in an estate sale. The property became a cattle ranch, and today is largely a residential development, although several hundred acres are still planted. Nagasawa's round barn was a landmark in Santa Rosa, and a 33-acre park was named in his honor in 2007.

References

External link

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagasawa, Kanaye 1852 births 1934 deaths People from Kagoshima Japanese emigrants to the United States American businesspeople American winemakers Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure