

EL SOBRANTE – Six feet two and built like a linebacker, longtime customer Ryan Sandoval Sullivan teared up as he said goodbye to the family at Adachi Florist & Nursery.

The nursery is closing June 21, following the closure years ago of the Adachi family’s other large nursery at the Richmond-El Cerrito border. The shuttering of the last remaining Adachi property marks the end of an era for the Japanese-American floral industries that flourished in West Contra Costa County for more than half a century.

“Thank you for all your good work,” Sullivan, a Richmond resident, said to the workers with a quiver in his voice May 17. He has been buying bouquets from floral designer Ruby Adachi Hiramoto, who is now 95, “since I was old enough to buy my mother flowers for Mother’s Day,” he said.

A steady stream of longtime customers have been visiting the store, walking past the Japanese blood maple with its red-brown leaves outside the front door and receiving the customary greetings, often by name, from staffers.

“I remember coming here as a little boy with my mom,” said Richard Oliver, owner of Oliver’s Hardware in El Sobrante. “I bought my date’s corsage for the De Anza High School prom here.”

Immediately inside the front door, the scent of roses washed in, carried on the breeze from the outdoor nursery. Underneath, it was the muted but unmistakable scent of fertilizer.

“It’s that earth smell mixed with the sweetness,” said Sullivan, who brought his daughter Lilliana, as is his custom.

Asked what she liked about visiting the nursery, “I like the fountains,” the 10-year-old said.

The “fountains” she referred to were mini-waterfalls on sale. In every corner of the establishment — the florist shop, the main store and the outdoor nursery — the sound of trickling water mingled with the tinkle of wind chimes.

In Japan, under the influence of Shintoism, water is believed to embody the purity and simplicity of life. Standing under a waterfall is thought to purify the individual.

Floriculture is another basic element of Japanese culture, and one that served California and East Bay immigrants well since before the turn of the century.

The Domoto brothers were pioneers, opening an Oakland nursery in 1885. West Contra Costa floriculturalists included the Mabuchi family, which ran Contra Costa Florist in El Cerrito, the Sakai family, which opened its Richmond establishment in 1906, and the Seizo Oishi family, who founded Oishi Nursery around 1909.

The Related Articles Senior apartment project breaks ground at Richmond site of Japanese nurseries by Isaburo Adachi and his brother Sadajiro at the Richmond-El Cerrito border where Home Depot is located now. It closed in 1992.

Isaburo’s children worked in the family business: Fujiko Elsie, Hideyo, Sonoko, Toshitatsu (known to family and friends as “Tosh”) and Ruby.

His children’s children continued the tradition, and in recent years, Tosh’s son Paul and Paul’s cousin Ken have run the El Sobrante nursery and florist shop. “I’ve worked in this store from the time it opened in 1981,” Ken said.

“I basically lived the first five years of my life in the back of the (El Cerrito) nursery,” said Paul. “We had an apartment connected to a flower cleaning shed.”

When Paul was in high school, “On weekends I worked delivering (bouquets). I worked summertimes repairing greenhouses, painting and changing glass,” he said.

Paul attended UC Berkeley, returning to the family business after graduation.

He said, “My parents thought it would be a good living, and they knew that if some family members didn’t continue they might have to close.”

Now it’s come to that. After a life in the family business, Paul is retiring at 62, and there is no one to take his place.

“I married late, and my daughter is turning 13 in June,” he said. “She wouldn’t be interested, I don’t think. She wants to be a dancer.”

In many ways, the story of the Adachis reflects the story of Japanese immigrants in this country. A tragic chapter began in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed. By an order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt, members of the hardworking Adachi family and thousands of other Japanese immigrants who had done nothing wrong were forced to leave their homes during World War II.

Undeterred, the family rebuilt after the war and reopened their nursery and the flower shop, as did the other Japanese-American floriculturists.

Following the rebuilding, the industry thrived in West County for decades, only to decline in the 1980s. The businesses began moving as far south as the Monterey Peninsula in the 1980s.

“Land is too expensive in the Bay Area,” said Ken Murakami, who runs the Moraga Garden Center. “Nurseries are not as profitable as other kinds of developments.”

Paul Adachi said his favorite memories are of his clientele.

“The people we have met, the regular customers who come in all have their stories to tell,” he said. “You learn from people every day just by talking to them.”

Toni Mayer of El Cerrito fondly recalled her experiences at Adachi’s in a Yelp review.

“It seemed as if the springtime sunshine hooked my heart and pulled me there, year after year,” Mayer said. She added in an email last week, “I’m so sorry they’re closing. It’s the end of an era.”