Japanese Immigrants During The 19th Century

Throughout this research, a study of multiple primary sources were utilized to apprehend information about the evolution of Japanese American women.The primary quantative research information as mainly taken from “Issei, Nisei, Warbride” by Evelyn Nakano Glenn, which thoroughly describes the two earlier generation and some of the struggles they faced coming to the United States. I also utilized njahs.org in order to gather some information about the main difference of the Issei, Nisei,and Sansei. Also it provide great information about what were some opportunities they were able to attain because they were a Sansei women.lastly i utilized a few articles from the Amerasia Journal

and U.S. controlled lands. “The turn of the century saw the beginning of a great twenty-five-year surge of immigration, in which more than 100,000 Japanese nationals arrived in the U.S., and during which many of the foundational institutions of the Japanese American community were established.” These newcomers at first found much of their employment in migratory labor, working the farms, mines, canneries, and railroads of the American West, sometimes becoming active in the labor agitation of the period.

After the attack on the Pearl Harbor in 1941, a surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy air service, United States was thrilled and it provoked World War II. Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. President FDR ordered all Japanese-Americans regardless of their loyalty or citizenship, to evacuate the West Coast. This resulted over 127,000 people of Japanese descent relocate across the country in the Japanese Internment camps. Many of them were American Citizens but their crime was being of Japanese ancestry. They were forced to evacuate their homes and leave their jobs and in some cases family members were separated and put into different internment camps. There were ten internment camps were placed in “California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas”(History.com). However, until the camps were fully build, the Japanese people were held in temporary centers. In addition, almost two-thirds of the interns were Japanese Americans born in the United States and It made no difference that many of them had never even been to Japan. Also, Japanese-American veterans of World War I were forced to leave their homes and relocate in the internment camps. Japanese families in internment camps dined together, children were expected to attend school, and adults had the option of working for earning $5 per day. The United States government hoped that the internment camps could make it self-sufficient by farming to produce food.

During the later half of the 19th century, Japan was rapidly growing their imperial power across Asia. As soon as Japan was seen as an imperial country, the United States started to reevaluate its trade relationship with Japan. The United States stopped all sale of material that would have been beneficial towards Japanese expansion , angering Japan. Later, on December 7, 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy had attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On February 19, 1942, president Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066, ordering the internment of people of Japanese heritage. The executive order was determined by economic issues, national security threats and, the most influential, racism towards Japanese.

While Asian immigrants were first generation migrants, female Mexican-American teens in the early 1920s differed in that they were first generation Americans. Still, these teens faced similar pressures of formative gender identity set by both American culture and by the ancestral customs of the Mexican familial oligarchy. The familial oligarchy of Mexican culture refers to the system by which familial elders “attempted to dictate the activities of youth for the sake of family honor,” as the family’s communal standing depended on the “purity,” or virginity of their daughter with little mention of the son. Due to the sudden rise of the flapper culture, American temptations were a constant threat to traditional Mexican values. These temptations were controlled through the use of a gender medium, usually a mother or grandmother, known as a dueña or a

Issei is a term used to describe Japanese immigrants, or those born in Japan but who have moved to America. Such people were prohibited by law from converting into naturalized Americans, despite how long they had lived in the United States. Nisei, on the other hand, defines U.S. citizens born to “Issei” parents-or Japanese immigrant parents. Nisei are more accurately called “Japanese Americans,” or referred to as “non-aliens.” The internment of Nisei would be more controversial than that of Issei because despite their Japanese descent, they are American citizens rather than immigrants. The Nisei have had no contact with the birthplace of their ancestors, which is the main point of controversy.

Yes, Late Nineteenth-Century Immigrants were “Uprooted”. They were uprooted physically and culturally. The immigrants came to America for a better life, since they had a rough time economically and politically in their own homeland. When they got here they had to get used to a whole new place with a different language, religion, culture and even different government. There were a lot of industries here, but all paid very small wage and a lot of the American citizens didn’t want them, they wanted a higher wage instead. The immigrants came in and took all jobs, even the ones that paid little wage. All these immigrants came from different backgrounds, therefore, getting used to American traditions was very hard for them. Some could not even continue

The imprisonment of Japanese Americans occurred because of their Japanese ancestry. The fear of the Japanese, also known as Anti-Japanese Paranoia, was a direct result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Many Americans feared that Japanese descendants would remain loyal to and side with their home country (Japanese American Internment, 2008). The brink of war being just around the corner clouded American minds and led to quick decisions. America was paralyzed by fear in the midst of another World War, just years after the first. Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt wrote, “The Japanese race is an enemy race, and while many second and third generation Japanese born on United States soil, possessed of United States citizenship, have become ‘Americanized,’ the racial strains are undiluted.” Like DeWitt, many Americans felt that all Japanese Americans were a threat, especially the Issei and Nisei. “Literally speaking, the Japanese terms Issei,

Startled by the surprise attack on their naval base at Pearl Harbor and anxious about a full-fledged Japanese attack on the United States’ West Coast, American government officials targeted all people of Japanese descent, regardless of their citizenship status, occupation, or demonstrated loyalty to the US. As my grandfather—Frank Matsuura, a nisei born in Los Angeles, California and interned in the Granada War Relocation Center (Camp Amache)—often

When the Japanese Americans migrated to the United States they were not welcomed with open arms. The Japanese Americans faced many hardships. The biggest hardships they faced were their treatment by the American people as well as by the American government after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Japanese Americans were taken from their homes and placed in internment camps for years with little to no explanation as to why. According to the United States government the Japanese Americans placement in internment camps “were justified on national security grounds” (Brooks), but the truth is Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps because of fear and racial prejudice. This event in history is important because it

December 7, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked, the US government and the FBI began to follow community leaders with strong Japanese ties. As American citizens, Issei and Nisei had enjoyed the rights of any US citizen; “now their own government imposed strict curfews on them and raided their homes for ‘contraband’ or anything that showed special connection to their former homeland”(“Japanese-American Relocation”). They suspected and wanted to be sure that no Japanese Americans were spies and was sending information to anyone from their homeland, but by doing so they striped them of their American rights that all Americans have but the Japanese Americans.

     I think Monica Sone focuses on, and clearly shows, the tension that arose in the Japanese American community because they felt torn between two distinct cultures and amongst themselves. There was also much confusion in this pre-World War II and during WWII era concerning the place of Japanese Americans in the United States. The Issei, or first generation of immigrants from Japan, were generally highly organized in their communities. They tended to stay in close connection with traditional Japanese culture. The Issei spoke their native language, practiced traditional Japanese customs, and formed church groups, and other social communities amongst themselves. Similarly, the Nisei, or second generation Japanese American, were also highly organized and formed strong ties amongst themselves separate from the Issei. The Nisei attended Japanese schools, which enhanced their use of the Japanese language, but more importantly, created a social network of peers. They participated in church programs, and sports teams together. One main difference between the Issei and Nisei was that the Nisei were considered Americans. They were born here and they held complete citizenship. This was not true for the Issei. Another factor that separated the

There are two phases that Japanese community undergoes in the United States. In the first phase, as the United States steadily progresses in the 19th century, there was a rise in the arrivals of the immigrants in particularly the Japanese Immigrants, which are found to have migrated to Hawaii and subsequently the west coast area in the States for better opportunities. Although it was quite difficult for Japanese immigrants to take up the citizenship, the offsprings of these immigrants that were born in the United States were considered citizens. The second phase begins at the start of the World War II that resulted in the relocation and internment camps for the Japanese-Americans.

After 1868, urbanization and industrialization in Japan led to drastic changes in society and agriculture, which prompted many of the farmers to leave their homeland in search of better prospects (Historical Overview). A prosperous American economy showed promising results and attracted many Japanese who survived on minimal wages to fulfill their family needs. Initially there was illegal migration of Japanese to the United States reported in 1868; approximately 148

In the nineteenth century, Japan experienced a traumatic shift. This shift had elements from the conservative isolationist policies of the shogun dominated edo period to the large and rapid spread drive to modernize and engage with the rest of the world that characterizes and personalizes the meiji restoration. during the early 19 century and the late 18 century the tokyo school of fine arts was opened the school's emphasis on the Japanese traditional arts rather than on western art opitimizes the country's renewed interest in native culture and is a part of an effort to seek a modern form of Japanese form of artistic expression. Japan during the early nineteenth century was flowering into multiple types of art types that Japanese citizens would never even think about being created at the time. during the prewar time arts and buildings were being created during this time. also the first manga was printed during the meiji period.