DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how that official marker tells it, and I want to make sure you hear every word of it right. This one comes out of Harris County, and it's a story about rice, and dreams, and the kind of stubborn dedication that quietly changes an entire industry. The marker is titled 'Contributions to the Texas Rice Industry by Seito and Kiyoaki Saibara.' Now let's get into it.
Seito Saibara was born in 1861, and by the time the twentieth century rolled around, this man had already lived a remarkable life. He had served as president of Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. He had become the first Christian member of the Japanese Diet — that's the Japanese Parliament.
And in 1901, he arrived in the United States to study theology. But he carried something else with him too: the desire to establish a Japanese colony in America. That's a big dream.
That is a continent-sized dream. Now, in August of 1903, the Houston Chamber of Commerce extended Saibara an invitation. They wanted his expertise — they wanted him to advise Texas farmers on the cultivation of rice, which was just then emerging as a major cash crop in the region.
So Saibara came to Texas, took a look around, and made a decision. Rice farming, he concluded, was the ideal business for his colony. He leased a tract of land — this very tract — and then he sent for his family.
His oldest son, Kiyoaki Saibara, born in 1884, made the journey from Japan carrying something precious in his luggage: three hundred pounds of Shinriki seed. Three hundred pounds. And that seed was no ordinary variety — Shinriki was considered superior to native rice.
Father and son put that seed in the ground together, planting a field near a canal that sits about a half mile to the northeast of where that marker stands. And those first crops they raised? They didn't keep them for themselves.
Those harvests were distributed primarily as seed across Texas and Louisiana. They were planting an industry, not just a field. The Saibaras built a house, two hundred and fifty yards south of the marker, and several families made the journey from Japan to join the colony.
But here is where the story turns heavy. The colonization effort failed. Not from the land, not from the crops — but from something the soil couldn't fix.
Disillusionment set in. Homesickness took hold. The new colonists came, and the new colonists left.
The colony didn't survive, but Seito Saibara did not stop. He stayed. He worked the land.
He continued improving rice strains and refining agricultural techniques, and he kept at it until his death in 1939. And Kiyoaki, that son who'd carried three hundred pounds of Shinriki seed across an ocean, he kept going too — continuing new developments in rice farming until his retirement in 1964. Kiyoaki lived until 1972.
Two men. One family. Seeds carried across the Pacific and pressed into Texas soil.
The colony they dreamed of never took root the way they'd hoped, but the industry they shaped? That one grew. And it's still growing.
What the marker says
Seito Saibara (1861-1939), former president of Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, and first Christian member of the Japanese Diet (Parliament). Arrived in the United States in 1901 to study theology, and with the desire to establish a Japanese colony in America. Saibara came to Texas in August 1903 at the invitation of the Houston Chamber of Commerce to advise farmers on the cultivation of rice, which was emerging as a major cash crop. He decided rice farming was the ideal business for a colony, leased this tract of land (which he later purchased), and sent for his family. The oldest son, Kiyoaki Saibara (1884-1972), brought from Japan 300 pounds of Shinriki seed, a variety superior to native rice; and together, father and son planted a field near the canal (1/2 mile NE). Their first crops were utilized primarily for distribution as seed in Texas and Louisiana. The Saibaras built a house (250 yards S), and several families soon moved here from Japan, but the colonization effort failed because of disillusionment and homesickness of the new colonists. Seito Saibara aided the growth of the Texas rice industry with improved rice strains and agricultural techniques until his death, and Kiyoaki Saibara continued new developments until his retirement in 1964. (1974) This marker was originally located 1,090 yards to the southwest. Seito Saibara's house was 1,270 yards SW of here.