‘We Too Were Once Strangers’

Statues of giant produce are something one would associate more with small rural towns rather than a sprawling suburban city like Santa Ana. This bronze statue of a stalk of celery, however, is in a location that was once farmlands galore. More specifically, “We Too Were Once Strangers” honors the Japanese farmers who once cultivated the region, including this particular plot of land. The base of the statue is meant to appropriately evoke a Japanese garden’s pathways.

Japanese immigrants settled heavily in rural California, and by 1940 were responsible for 40% of the state's produce. Among them was the Sakioka family, who grew and sold celery and other crops here in Santa Ana. Many of these farmers were uprooted by incarceration during World War II, as well as by the latter urbanization of areas like Orange County. Despite those events, there remain many Japanese businesses in nearby Costa Mesa.