Figure 1.--This is an unidentified Japnese family we think during the early-20th century, probably the 1910s. The Los Angeles County Museum of Natuaral History identified them as 'Japanese in California'. We are not sure about this. It may be a portrait sent to relatives in California. The boys are wearing their school uniforms, clerly a school in Japan. (Japan at the time was the only country in Asia with a public school system.) There clearly is a Western influence. The father wears a Western suit and the little girl a Western dress. This is a little unusual, often the boys were more likly to wear Western dress than the girls. It is possible of course a Japanese family in California dressed up in traditional clothing for a family portrait, we doubt, however, that the boys would have dressed up in Japanese school uniforms.

The story about immigration for most national groups is mostly about their story in America. The Japanese story concerns developments in their home country nore than most groups. For much of history the restrictions were primarily limits on emigration imposed by the Japanese Government. Japan was a heavily populated poor country and under the Shogunate closed to foreigners as a step to ensure social stability. The Shogun came to see foreigners as a threatening influence. After killing most Christians, he expelled forigners and instituted a policy of national isolation (1639). Emigration was also strictly controlled. American Commodore Matthew Perry sailed his heavily armed Black Ships into Tokyo harbor, forcing the Shogun to open to internation trade and commerce (1853). The American whaling fleet was a major American concern. This was done at the point of Perry's guns. Ameicans forgot about that. The Japanese did not. The antagonistic relationship would evetually lead to the Pacific War. The opening to the West resulted in just what the Shogunate did not want, a remarkable social transformation. For many educated Japanese the West increasingly became a model for the future. And observing the European incursions in China like the Opium War (1840s), they realized that a modern military would be needed to maintain national indepedence. The discovery of gold in California sparked immigration from all over the world (1848). This included the Chinese. Unlike the Chinese, however, the Shogunate's ban on emigration meant that the California Gold Rush attracted almost no Japanese. The result of the social change set in motion by Perry's Black Ships opening was the Meiji Restoration (1868). The Meiji Government began a stunning process of modernzation, including industrilization. Japan's rapid industrialization also meant urbanization. This meant both social disruption and agricultural decline. Japan is a heavily populted, mountainous country with very limited agricultural land, nost of which was owned by arustocratic landlords. With the opening, some tenant farmers began to emigrate. and there were three places that the Japanese learned that greater opportunities existed: the Hawaiian Kingdom, the United States, and Brazil. Most came as farm labor, but over time many became land owners and purchased small plots of their own, an accomplishment that was virtually impossible at home. Land reform in Japan would only come with the arrival of the Americans again at the end of the Pacific War. The first Japanese to reach Hawaii arrived on a derelect ship (1806). More followed and Menji officials, however, were less sure, actually banning emigration (1868-85). They thought that Japanese laborers abroad would give a negative view of the Japanese people. the Hawaiian monarchy incouraged immigration and relations with Japan, especially as American power grew, the Japanese seemed a counter to American and British power. Hawaiian King David Kalākaua traveled to Japan to get the ban removed and to seek a royal marriage for one of his daughters. The Japanese ended the ban and major emigration ensued. The Japanese government showed significant interest in the process, selecting emigrants from a pool of applicants. Most were ambitious young men from rural areas with few prospects in Japan. Women also evetually participated. Many of the emigrants had to borrow money to pay for the ocean voyage. Interestingly before the Civil War and the Transcontinental Railway, it was easier for Chinese and Japanese to get to Califirnia than it was for Americans. The Japanese were unaffected by the Chinese Exlusion Act (1882). In fact, they were seen as a possible off set to the Chinese. The United States annexation of Hawaii meant that a large number of ethnic Japanese were also acquired (1898). Some 0.4 million Japanese made the journey to Hawaii and the United States after the emmigration ban was lifted (1885). Emigration was largely reduced after the Gentelemen's Agreements were negotited (1906-07). The Japanese in Hawaii and the California had very different experiences. On Hawaii they experienced little descrimination. In California a range of discrimatory laws were passed affecting both the Chinese and Japanese. In our modern PC world, great attention is given to this decrimination. And the accounts are largely correct. What the authors discussing descrimintion usually do not mention because many have a hidden agenda is why both Chinese and Japanese emigrants stayed. Many had come to Hawaii and America planning to make money and return home. Few did so. Despite the descrimination they encountered, most decided that America offered more opportunity and a brighter future than was availabe to them at home. Few could have ever bought land to have their own small farms if they had not emigrated.

Created: 8:14 PM 2/28/2017
Last updated: 8:14 PM 2/28/2017