Japanese Picture Brides

What this novel does not touch on is the harsh levels of discrimination that some Asian-American families faced during the 20th centuries, some people telling at them to go back to Vietnam, Korea, or wherever they came from, some refusing service, perhaps throwing them out for being different, similarly to how African-Americans were treated during that time, and similar to how some Muslims are being treated today. However, more insidious than moments of outright hostility, and maybe more powerful, are the constant weak reminders that you’re different, that you’re not one of them. The “sign at the Peking Express” (Ng 193), the “little boys on the playground, stretching their eyes to slits with their fingers” (Ng 193), you even “saw it when waitresses and policemen and bus drivers spoke slowly to you, in simple words, as if you might not understand” (Ng 193). All these tiny things, these little reminders that you’re not the same as everyone else around you, may have more impact on the people being discriminated against than blatant in-your-face

The United States is the "land of the free, and the home of the brave" according to the song, but there is a dichotomy that exists between those who have called the United States their home for a long period of time, and those who are immigrating to the US. Asian Americans are a group that very few think of as having difficulties because the stereotype is of a group that is intelligent and is actually doing better than the average American. While this may seem to be true, better grades in a school setting does not mean that people who come from other countries are not experiencing racism (both overt and subtle), stereotyping and alienation in this country. Although there has been some difficulty, many groups are experiencing newfound hope because of the actions that they are taking. The plight, and the hope of the Asian cultures are being documented by artists of different stripes who are eager to depict what has happened to Asians as they try to build their own America, and assimilate into the one that was built before they came. In this paper, the Asian American cultures will be examined through the art that has been produced over the many years that Asian people have striven to make their way as new Americans.

In a poem written about the calling of Japanese-Americans to internment camps during WWII, author Dwight Okita writes from the perspective of a young girl who sees herself as an American but is surrounded by those who cast her out. She does everything to prove that she belongs and justifies that by convincing the audience of her American qualities. “If it helps any, I will tell you I have always felt funny using chopsticks and my favorite food is hot dogs. My best friend is a white girl named Denise.” Okita’s use of this 14 year old girl adds power behind his words because the perspective of a child can humble a reader and bring them to a point of deeper understanding. In the poem, the girl is so young and understands nothing about what lies ahead, but she knows well enough to present herself as an American, as one who truly belongs. The pressure on immigrants to belong in the United states is imminent in this piece, and the fact that the young girl has picked up on this expectation is almost disturbing. The stigma around those who are different is also included in Okita’s

The author utilizes overwhelming amount of excerpts from private letters that were both sent by and sent to Noguchi, exploring the use of language extensively. Drawing most of quotes from private letters of Noguchi and exploring the usage of terms and affection behind the usage, the book reads like a fine storybook; however, such heavy quotes on letters and explanation of language have made reader, I, to be confused whether this is a book about a life of a person or a book about general depiction of Japanese immigrants of the time. Even though it was pleasant to read beautiful language, mostly due to sharp contrast to languages of other literatures that we read, it made both easy and challenging to see the

Hisaye Yamamoto, a Japanese American author, composed a collection of short stories titled, Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories. These collection of short stories describes the experiences Japanese Americans undergo while residing in America. The Japanese American culture that Yamamoto introduces has three types of generations. The first one being, the Issei, the second one being, the Nisei and the third one being, the Sensei. All three Japanese generations are described in Yamamoto’s short story cycle, which shows the relationship between Japanese Americans as well as with other ethnic groups. The major themes Yamamoto highlights within her novel defines the idea of what it is like to be Japanese American through the difficulties that Japanese immigrants face in America, the cultural separation between these immigrants and their children as well as restrictions that Japanese women face within their traditional Japanese culture.

In 1869, the first Japanese Immigrants arrived in California in an attempt to escape the Meiji restoration, which forced them out of their houses. Many joined them in America after that, forming the first generation of Japanese-Americans, the Issei. Those immigrants then formed families and gave birth to the second generation, the Nisei. However, the cultural differences between the Issei and the Nisei, who were all born in America, created an important gap between the two generations. The short story “Seventeen Syllables”, through the relation between Rosie, a Nisei young girl, and Tome Hayashi, her mother, is a good depiction of this issue.

Another question arises: what is a “narrative of ethnicity” in diasporic context? Choy explains how immigrants are to preserve their ethinic identity, yet they adapt to their social context. The children feel the same resentment and distaste for Chinese. Jook-Liang forces herself to speak English at home in her efforts to be more like Shirley Temple. She speaks to herself in English while practicing her dance routine (Choy, 36) and uses it as a tool to feel less Chinese. The children have jarring associations to learning and speaking

Houston uncover the racism that American white Americans accord the Japanese families and all Japanese race and ancestry.A race that’s exotic and dissimilar Jeanne and her japanese family went through the difficult times of racism and critical discrimination,just for being japanese americans.For looking and having japanese ancestry.Jeanne and her family were faced with a big challenge when the emperor of Japan gave a message bombing Pearl Harbor and Americans misread the message and conducted all japanese and consider them a threat.They were raised with Americans traditions,in American cities and celebrated American holidays. But they were consider otherwise and discriminated for looking spectacular different than most average white families. “He had become a man without a country.He was suddendly a man without rights who looked exactly like the emimie”(pg8) Jeanne father and family was conflicted for being a Japanses family and they became the emimie for being different.They had no civil rigths and were treated like criminals and lived like prisinors

Their selfish purpose for moving to America was to seek riches that they could bring back to Japan. Once thy realized that the “American Dream” was merely an illusion, they still refused to appreciate the resources and opportunities that America was realistically able to offer. Ichiro describes his contempt concerning the older generation’s trepidation to accept American culture and lifestyle. “They continued to maintain their dreams by refusing to learn how to speak or write the language of America and by living only among their own kind and by zealously avoiding long term commitments such as the purchase of a house” (25-26). Not only do Ichiro’ parents personally reject the American life, but they also attempt to isolate their children from that life as well. Ichiro’s mother would not allow radio, a record player, or any other item representing American culture, in her house. “All she wanted from America for her sons was an education, learning and knowledge which would make them better men in Japan. To believe that she expected that such a thing was possible for her sons without their acquiring other American tastes and habits and feelings was hardly possible and, yet, that is how it was” (205). The parents and their generation believed that the younger generation had to choose between being Japanese or being American and not both. Ichiro’s mother’s approval of him stems from whether or not she considers him to be her version of

In this essay, written by Dwight Okita, the narrator, a young 14 year-old girl doesn’t realize what’s happening and that her family will be deported to relocation centers for being of Japanese descent. The cause of this was the current battle during World War II between USA and Japan. Denise, who is white and the girl’s best friend, was probably told by an adult about the American against Japanese matters, and mistreats the girl for this “She was sitting on the other side of the room. “You’re

At the morning assembly, the author notices that there are no Japanese children present: “I discover later that they have their own morning assembly in another field in the back of the school. It is obvious that we do not mix classes. They have their own classes and classrooms, and we have ours, although we are all the same school. A few years later, they will build a new school somewhere outside the town, exclusively for themselves.”

1991 Japanese Mothers and Bentos: The Lunch Box as Ideological State Apparatus. Anthropological Quarterly 64(4):195-208.

For this week, we explore Keiko McDonald’s reading analyzing the satirical approach utilized in Yoshimitsu Morita’s film The Family Game. The Family Game, released in 1983, was noted in Kinema jumpo as the number one film of the year remarkably being shot within eighteen days. In this flick, the story centers around the Numata’s family, specifically their foolish son, Shigeyuki, who receives a tutor for his upcoming entrance exams. McDonald commences her exploration of this film by bringing to attention the two issues that Post-war Japan suffered with. To expound, these two conflicts were the nuclear family classification versus the work-heavy humanity of the school system.

America has a different way of eating than a spanish-speaking country, like Spain for example. America eats at different times, eats different things. Now let’s say a person from Spain, or another spanish speaking country, is here in the US to take classes Ben Davis University. The student’s name is Lana. Lana is experiencing something called culture shock, experienced by someone who is subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes. The everyday life of a American and Spaniard is different, not only in culture, but in every aspect.

I wouldn’t want to meet my ‘soulmate’ through picture brides because it’s unconventional and insincere. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that both parties thought they were benefiting their own interests going into a picture bride marriage. I admit that there was a lot of deception involved, however that didn’t change the fact that going through with their marriage was arrange on the circumstances of their self-interests. For the brides, some would be from poor families and needed money. Obviously what they found in America wasn’t what they expected. But they never loved the American on the other side, but they found the opportunity too hard to pass. They needed to make money to support their family. On the other side, most of the men were poor farmers that highly likely weren’t going to find true love, so they decided to create some of it.