Kanaye Nagasawa: The samurai who forever changed California

Kanaye Nagasawa: The samurai who forever changed California Ed Reschke/Getty Images Kanaye Nagasawa: The samurai who forever changed California Smuggled out of Japan, he became the US' first permanent Japanese resident and helped birth California's wine industry. Museum of Sonoma County Nagasawa's Fountaingrove estate was once one of the largest wineries in California The "Wine King" helped famed American botanist Luther Burbank teach horticulture; consulted with international Japanese dignitaries; and hosted Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, John Muir and other notable figures at his lavish Sonoma estate. "My mother wanted to bring back the heritage of our land, and when she learned about Nagasawa, she wanted to tell this amazing story about an important historical figure in Sonoma County that a lot of people are unfamiliar with," said Rene Byck, Marijke's son and the owner of Paradise Ridge winery. And at Paradise Ridge, just behind the plot of chardonnay grapes designated as Nagasawa Vineyard, a small fenced-in area encloses a newly planted tea plantation, the result of efforts to connect Nagasawa's legacy with that of Wakamatsu Tea, which employed some of California's first Japanese immigrants in silk and tea production.