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Japanese Americans

Japanese Americans are residents or citizens of the United States whose ancestry is Japanese or Okinawan. Okinawa, formerly an independent nation, was annexed by Japan in the late 19th century. Japanese Americans constitute one of the earliest Asian American ethnic groups in the United States, along with Chinese Americans. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American groups in the United States until the 1990s. Since then, in addition to Chinese Americans and Filipinos, the populations of Asian Indians, Vietnamese Americans, and Korean Americans have surpassed the population of Japanese Americans, which now compose the sixth largest group. Historically, Japanese Americans have experienced hatred, bigotry, discrimination, and institutionalized racism by the U.S. government, including the unconstitutional internment of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast during World War II. Later, Japanese Americans were included among the “model minorities,” a term, although seemingly flattering, that divides Japanese Americans from other minority groups and stereotypes Japanese Americans. This entry discusses Japanese Immigration to the United States, the effects of World War II, Japanese American farming, and issues facing contemporary Japanese Americans.

Japanese Immigration to the United States

The Japanese first began immigrating to the United States in the mid-19th century, following political, cultural, and social changes resulting from the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Further, Japanese laborers were recruited by many business owners following the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to replace the no longer available Chinese laborers. In the 1890s, young Japanese men were recruited to provide labor for Hawaiian sugarcane and pineapple plantations, as well as to work on California fruit and produce farms. In the early 1900s, the Japanese who had come to the United States had begun to lease land and sharecrop. However, in 1907, the so-called Gentlemen's Agreement was established between the United States and Japan, which stated that Japan would stop issuing passports for new laborers. This occurred because of White farmers' and landowners' concerns about Japanese competition. In 1908, Japanese women, mostly picture brides, were allowed to enter the United States. As a result, the population of Japanese Americans began growing, and these women began giving birth to U.S. citizens. In 1913, the California Alien Land Law was enacted, banning those of Japanese ancestry from purchasing land. This act was initiated by Whites who were threatened by the increasingly successful independent Japanese farmers. This act was followed by the U.S. Immigration Act of 1924, which banned immigration from Japan. Given the previous immigration patterns and the prohibition of new immigrants, Japanese Americans born after 1924 were by definition Japanese Americans and U.S. citizens. The bans on immigration produced well-defined generations within the Japanese American community. Issei were the immigrant generation, followed by the Nisei, who were their U.S.-born children.

Japanese American activism to address the continual racism and discrimination faced by Japanese Americans began in the early part of the 20th century. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) was founded in 1929 in California to address discrimination against individuals of Japanese ancestry.

The Effects of World War II

Following the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, demanding that those of Japanese ancestry residing on the West Coast be “excluded” from areas deemed military or exclusion zones. The order was signed on February 19, 1942; 6 days later, the order was implemented, and nearly 120,000 U.S. citizens of Japanese descent were forced to leave their homes and belongings and taken to internment camps. Each family was allowed only two suitcases of belongings. Subsequently, Executive Order 9095 was implemented to allow the U.S. government to take control of the property and assets of Japanese Americans in internment camps. Much of this property was never returned once the internment camps were closed.

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