 He settled in Texas and his main business became rice farming.When his crop failed he became employed by a Japanese restaurant owner in Houston, Tsunekichi Okasaki, who bought of land in Texas with the plan that Katayama farm it.In late 1905, the two borrowed $100,000 from Iwasaki to fund the rice harvest, together forming a "Nippon Kono Kabushiki Kaisha" (Japan Farming Company) to develop the project, making Katayama managing director.