Ashley Packard

Ashley Packard is a freelance writer covering travel, lifestyle, sustainability, beauty, culture, and more. She is an American expat living in Germany with her husband and their two cats. When she’s not writing or researching her next trip, she’s outside hiking, cycling along the river, buried in a book on her Kindle, or eating her way around a new city. To view her portfolio or to collaborate check out, www.ashleypackard.com.

A collage of a Japanese man, potatoes and farm workers, with a blend of the Japanese and U.S. flags in the background.

442: George Shima, the ‘Potato King,’ was the first Asian millionaire

The business tycoon revolutionized California’s agricultural industry with his potato empire

Photo collage featuring Kanaye Nagasawa, the "Grape King," sitting in a chair, with pictures of grapes and grape juice surrounding him.

442: Meet Kanaye Nagasawa, the ‘Grape King’ of Napa Valley

The samurai was smuggled out of Japan and helped birth California’s wine industry