GEORGE SHIMA
Name: George Shima
Born: 1864
Died: 1926
George Shima (1864-1926) was a Japanese American businessman in California who
at one point produced about 85% of the state's potato crop, thus earning him the
nickname "The Potato King".
Born Ushijima Kinji in Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan, after failing the
entrance examination for Tokyo's Hitotsubashi University, he emigrated to San
Francisco in 1889 determined to learn English, the subject that gave him the
most trouble on the exam.
Name: George Shima
Born: 1864
Died: 1926
George Shima (1864-1926) was a Japanese American businessman in California who
at one point produced about 85% of the state's potato crop, thus earning him the
nickname "The Potato King".
Born Ushijima Kinji in Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan, after failing the
entrance examination for Tokyo's Hitotsubashi University, he emigrated to San
Francisco in 1889 determined to learn English, the subject that gave him the
most trouble on the exam.