Japanese Immigration Overview mostly second wave immigration 1880 1920 Japan isolated for over 200 years 2nd half of the 1800s Quickly became a world power A Closed Society 1600s first englishman in Japan Early 1600s Christian missionaries Leaders worried Christianity would cause conflict By 1650s Japan totally closed to foreign influences Considered Europeans barbarians Rigid Social Hierarchy 1600s and 1700s strong class division Privileged class daimyo land owners Samurai Swordsmen Commoners Farmers Priests and artisans Merchants Lowest classes animal skinners and hide tanners prostitutes and kabuki performers Opening Japan About 1650 185 remained a closed society 1853 U S Commodore Matthew C Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay Forced open interaction with the West Gunboat imperialism diplomacy showing off your military strength Japanese Industrialization Worried about being colonized 1868 formed a strong centralized government focused on industrialization and strong military increased taxes farmers could barely survive stories of jobs in Hawaii and the U S Numbers and Location Hawaii 1869 150 japanese came to farm sugar plantations 1885 1924 200 000 japanese immigrated to Hawaii U S Pacific Coast California Oregon Washington 1880s 1908 150 000 japanese immigrated 1909 1920s 100 000 immigrated The Gentleman s Agreement Nativism in California Japan had a strong military President Theodore Roosevelt The Gentleman s Agreement 1908 Japan agreed to stop laborers from coming Families of laborers already in the U S were allowed to immigrate Female Japanese Immigration japan encouraged women to immigrate didn t want a bachelor society Wanted to prevent drinking gambling and prostitution Gentleman s Agreement allowed for more women Arranged marriages Picture brides Female Immigration More Japanese women than Chinese women immigrated Late 19th century Japanese women joined the workforce textile mills construction coal mines More education literate learned english Wives were seen as a form of social control Hawaii Plantations Racial discrimination Planters wanted workers of different nationalities increased competition and division discouraged them from uniting strikes were successful when ethnic groups worked together Maintaining and Mixing Culture maintained culture on the Hawaiian plantations bonsai trees Japanese gardens Buddhist temples schools Festivals kimonos Japanese drums and dance Sumo wrestling mixing cultures shared cuisine Common dialect of English Hawaiian identity Hawaii vs California Hawaii large Japanese population 1920 40 japanese Planters depended on Japanese laborers California 1920 2 japanese Racism kept out of industrial jobs became shopkeepers and farmers railroad lines and refrigerated railroad cars Agricultural success Japanese very successful at farming in California Ex 1919 1 total land 10 total produce value small family farms George Shima farming entrepreneur the Potato King most famous japanese man in America 1940 half of Japanese American men were in agriculture 1 3 of women worked out of the house Discrimination California nativism and racism success led to backlash from whites Alien Land Act 1913 Japanese not eligible for naturalization Could only be citizens by birth Ozawa vs United States 1922 An unassimilable race basically said japanese people were so different they couldn t successfully assimilate to American culture spread to all asians Miscegenation Anti race mixing The Cable Act 1922 U S white women who married Asian immigrants lost their citizenship intermarriage one of the major signs of social acceptance Limiting Japanese Immigration 1924 Immigration Act Asians were considered aliens ineligible for citizenship Essentially stopped Japanese Immigration Japanese Americans focused on improving life for their children
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