2 RPPC AND 2 PHOTOS MEASURING APPROXIMATELY 4X6 INCHES AND 2 3/4 X 4 3/8 INCHES. LARGER PHOTO HAS LOS ANGELES STAMP ON BACK. ONE RPPC ON FRONT HAS PENCIL WRITING T. SUNATA TAKEN MAS?. ONE RPPC IS TORN NEAR THE YOUNG GIRL MIDDLE LEFT.
There is a Japanese American and a Japanese national population in Los Angeles and Greater Los Angeles. Japanese people began arriving in the United States in the late 1800s and have settled in places like Hawaii, Alaska, and California. Los Angeles has become a hub for people of Japanese descent for generations in areas like Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights. As of 2017, Los Angeles has a Japanese and Japanese American population was around 110,000 people.[1]
Contents
1History
2Geography
3Demographics
4Economy
5Education
5.1Full-time education
5.2Part-time education
6Culture and recreation
7Notable residents
8See also
9References
10Notes
11Further reading
12External links
History
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After the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Japanese immigration to the United States increased drastically throughout the 1800s.[2] From 1869-1910 Los Angeles became a prime location for Japanese immigrants to settle down. By 1910, Los Angeles had the highest percentage of Japanese and Japanese descendants in the country. Japanese immigrants took on the low-wage jobs that were once held by Chinese Immigrants and settled in cities like San Francisco. Japanese immigrants were once recruited to come to the United States to take on jobs on railroads but quickly turned to agriculture as a means of work in Southern California.
In 1905, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner published an article on the “yellow peril” and related it to Japanese immigrants, as its original creation was against people of Chinese descent.[3] The first group traveled from San Francisco after experiencing anti-Asian sentiment in that city.[4] The early 1900s saw an increase of racism and xenophobia in California to the point where Asian children were being segregated in public schools in San Francisco.[3] After the 1906 earthquake in Northern California, around 2,000-3,000 Japanese immigrants moved to Los Angeles and created areas like Little Tokyo on East Alameda.[3] As the community continued to grow, Little Tokyo extended to the First Street Corridor in Boyle Heights, in the early 1910s.[2]
Boyle Heights was Los Angeles's largest residential communities of Japanese immigrants and Americans, apart from Little Tokyo. In the early 1910s, Boyle Heights was one of the only communities that did not have restricted housing covenants that discriminated against Japanese and other people of color.[5] Boyle Heights was a bustling interracial community where people of different ethnic backgrounds lived amongst each other. In the 1920s and 1930s, Boyle Heights became the center of significant churches, temples, and schools for the Japanese community, “These include the Tenrikyo Junior Church of America at 2727 E. 1st Street (1937‐39), the Konko Church at 2924 E. 1st Street (1937‐38), and the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple (1926‐27), all designed by Yos Hirose, and the Japanese Baptist Church at 2923 E. 2nd Street (1926; extant but altered) built by the Los Angeles City Baptist Missionary Society in 1926‐29”.[3] A hospital, also designed by Hirose, opened in 1929 to serve the Japanese American community.[6]
Families of Japanese ancestry being removed from Los Angeles, California during World War II.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Japanese American internment processing in Los Angeles.
As of December 1941 there were 37,000 ethnic Japanese people in Los Angeles County. Not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized military commanders to exclude "any or all persons" from certain areas in the name of national defense, the Western Defense Command began ordering Japanese Americans living on the West Coast to present themselves for "evacuation" from the newly created military zones. This included many Los Angeles families.
After the war, due to lack of housing in Little Tokyo, many Japanese Americans returning from the camps moved into neighborhoods surrounding the downtown area, into apartments and boarding houses. Notably, Boyle Heights, just east of Little Tokyo, had a large Japanese American population in the 1950s (as it had before the internment) until the arrival of Mexican and Latino immigrants replaced most of them.
In 1981, public hearings were held by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians at the Los Angeles State Building as part of a government investigation into the constitutionality of the World War II internment of Japanese Americans. More than 150 people participated in the Los Angeles hearings.[7]
Geography
Exterior of Holiday Bowl, designed by architect Helen Liu Fong, in 2002
Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles is the main historical Japantown of Los Angeles. Sawtelle housed a Japantown that became known as "Little Osaka". Jack Fujimoto, author of Sawtelle: West Los Angeless Japantown, wrote that the name was given because of the "many colorful eateries and shops."[8] The city put up community signs "Sawtelle Japantown" for this area on April 1, 2015.[9] After court ruling that the segregation covenants in the Crenshaw district were unconstitutional, the area opened up to other races. A large Japanese American settlement ensued, which can still be found along Coliseum Street, east and west of Crenshaw Boulevard.[10] The Holiday Bowl was built by Japanese entrepreneurs as a combination bowling alley, pool hall, bar and coffee shop in 1958 and served Crenshaws Japanese residents who "had not long before suffered Manzanars internment camps and a blanket racial ban by the American Bowling Congress".[11] Blacks started arriving in the 1960s, and by the 1970s were the majority.
The interior of the Mitsuwa in Torrance
As of 2014 Torrance has the second largest concentration of ethnic Japanese people of any U.S. city, after Honolulu. The city has headquarters of Japanese automakers and offices of other Japanese companies.[12] Because of this many Japanese restaurants and other Japanese cultural offerings are in the city, and Willy Blackmore of L.A. Weekly wrote that Torrance was "essentially Japans 48th prefecture".[13] A Mitsuwa supermarket, Japanese schools, and Japanese banks serve the community.[12]
In the pre-World War II period the South Bay region was one of the few areas that allowed non-U.S. citizens to acquire property, so a Japanese presence came. According to John Kaji, a Torrance resident quoted in Public Radio International who was the son of Toyotas first American-based accountant, the Japanese corporate presence in Torrance, beginning with Toyota, attracted many ethnic Japanese. Toyota moved its operations to its Torrance campus in 1982 because of its proximity to the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles International Airport, and it was followed by many other Japanese companies.[12]
As of 1988 Gardena also has a large Japanese-American community.[14] Early in Gardenas history, Japanese migrants played a role in the agrarian economy.[15]
Jack Rodman, a managing partner of the accounting firm Kenneth Leventhal & Co., stated in 1989 that the most preferred place for Japanese businesspeople to settle is the Palos Verdes Peninsula, citing the inexpensiveness compared to Bel Air, Brentwood, and Pacific Palisades, proximity to the ocean, and the ranch-style houses because they are "more like a Japanese home--single-story, spread out."[16] He stated that the other preferred places were Pasadena, San Marino, and Arcadia.[16] In addition Rodman said some Japanese businesspeople liked to settle in Hancock Park in the City of Los Angeles; Hancock Park is in proximity to the Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles.[16]
Demographics
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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2014)
As of 2010, according to the report "A Community Of Contrasts: Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles County" by the nonprofit group Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles (formerly the Asian Pacific American Legal Center), of the Asian ethnic groups, 70% of Japanese Americans were born in the U.S., the highest such rate of the Asian ethnic groups. According to the same report, 19% of Japanese Americans were senior citizens, the highest such rate of the Asian ethnic groups, and from 2000-2010 the population of Japanese Americans increased by 1%, the lowest such rate of the Asian ethnic groups.[17]
In 1986 Hiroshi Matsuoka, the Japan Business Association of Southern California (JBA, 南カリフォルニア日系企業協会 Minami Kariforunia Nikkei Kigyō Kyōkai) executive director, stated that there were about 3,500 Japanese nationals working for 530 branch companies of Japanese companies in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.[18]
Economy
American Honda Motor Company headquarters in Torrance
The city of Torrance has headquarters of Japanese automakers and offices of other Japanese companies.[13] The headquarters of American Honda Motor Company, Hondas North American division, is located in Torrance.[19] Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., the U.S. division of Toyota, has its headquarters in Torrance.[20] Toyota has plans in 2014 to move its headquarters to suburban Dallas, Texas in the next few years.[21] All Nippon Airways operates its United States headquarters, a customer relations and services office, in Torrance.[22] Also the Japanese supermarket chains Mitsuwa Marketplace[23] and Nijiya Market[24] are headquartered in Torrance.
Former Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. headquarters in Torrance
Japan Airlines moved its U.S. headquarters to El Segundo in 2003.[25] Nissan previously had its North American headquarters in Carson. In the summer of 2006 the Nissan headquarters moved to Tennessee.[26]
As of 1987, the membership list of the Japanese Business Association of Southern California stated that in an area between Los Angeles International Airport and the Port of Los Angeles, there were 194 Japanese companies which had branch operations.[19] In 1989, Sadao "Bill" Kita, the executive director of the JBA, stated that there were 693 Japanese companies with offices in Southern California. In a period before 1994, the peak number of Japanese expatriate executives and managers in Southern California was 3,800. In 1994, according to Kita, the number declined to 615. The number of expatriate managers and executives, by that year, had declined to 3,400. At that point, Japan was experiencing an economic recession.[27]
Education
In 1979 there were two full-time and part-time schools in Greater Los Angeles catering to Japanese national students. They had officiel a total of 356 students. In the 1980s the increase in Japanese businesses resulted in an increase in enrollment in full-time and part-time schools catering to Japanese national students. In 1987, there were three school campuses with 4,430 students. The campuses were located in Gardena, Hermosa Beach, and Torrance.[19]
Full-time education
As of 1989, the Torrance Unified School District and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District had 42% of all Japanese-speaking students enrolled by the 100 school districts in Los Angeles County. The Palos Verdes district had 346 students born in Japan in 1985, while the number increased to 434 in 1988.[16]
The Nishiyamato Academy of California is located in Lomita.[28] The school opened in April 1992. It was founded by Ryotaro Tanose, a Japanese Diet member, as a branch of the Nishiyamato Gakuen Junior and Senior High School (Nishiyamato Academy) in Kawai, Nara Prefecture. It was originally located in the former Dapplegray School building in Rolling Hills Estates. In 1993 the school served grades 6 through 8 and had 38 students. In 1994 it served grades 5 through 9 and had 71 students. As of 1994 the school had a monthly tuition of $630 ($1086.73 when considering inflation).[27]
There was previously another full-time Japanese school, the International Bilingual School, founded to educate children of Japanese nationals working for companies such as Honda and Toyota.[29] The school opened in Torrance in 1979, later moved to Hermosa Beach, before moving to a Palos Verdes school district facility in Palos Verdes Estates in 1992.[27] By 2002 the school district had filed suit to force the International Bilingual School to leave the school property.[30]
Part-time education
Asahi Gakuen (あさひ学園 "School of the Rising Sun") is a part-time Japanese school in the Los Angeles area.[19][31] The school was founded by the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education in Los Angeles. In 1988, the school had 2,500 students.[32] The school teaches the Japanese language, science, social sciences, and mathematics.[32] As of 1987 the school teaches all four aspects in each school day.[19] The Japan Traders Club of Los Angeles (Nihon Boeki Konwa-kai), as of 1997, financially supports the school.[32]
The main campus of the East-West Japanese School (三育東西学園 Saniku Tōzai Gakuen) is located in Gardena, adjacent to the Gardena Seventh-day Adventist Church and across from the Gardena Civic Center.[19] It also has branch campuses: the Rolling Hills Campus (ローリングヒルズ校 Rōringuhiruzu Kō) in Rolling Hills Estates and the Irvine/Costa Mesa Campus (アーバイン／コスタメサ校 Ābain/Kosutamesa Kō) in Costa Mesa.[33] Its primary customer base consists of Japanese children who are enrolled in American schools. As of 1987 most of its students are from Buddhist families. The school offers two hour classes on weeknights.[19]
As of 1987 the Southern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists does outreach to the Japanese community by sponsoring the East-West School. That year, the principal, Akira Nakamura, stated that students do 10-minute bible studies as part of the program even though most students are not Christian.[19] In 1987 the annual tuition was $780 ($1755.34) and registration was $280 ($630.12) for elementary school students. The school had different fees for students at the junior high school and kindergarten levels.[19]
Nishiyamato Academy offers its own Saturday school program.[34]
The Japanese Language School Unified System, founded in 1949, included a main campus in Los Angeles and a branch campus in Sun Valley as of 1988. The San Fernando Valley Japanese Language Institute in Arleta was founded circa 1928.[35]
The Rafu Chuo Gakuen is a part time Japanese language school that is located Saratoga Street in Boyle Heights. Founded in February 1929, under the name Tokiwa Gakuen but later moved that same year and was renamed Boyle Heights Chuo Gakuen.[36] By 1932, Boyle Heights Chuo Gakuen, to its present-day location in Boyle Heights and assumed the name Rafu Chuo Gakuen. Rafu Chuo Gakuen has served as a cultural and language center for children of all ages in the Japanese community.[36] It is part of the Kyodo System of schools that focuses on fluency, cultural understanding, and history for children in elementary through high school.[37]
Culture and recreation
Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo
The Japanese American National Museum and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) are located in Little Tokyo. The community center features the George J. Doizaki Gallery, the 880-seat Aratani/Japan America Theatre, the JACCC Plaza (designed by Isamu Noguchi), and the James Irvine Japanese Garden. The Japanese American Veterans Memorial Court was erected on the San Pedro Street side of the community center building to honor the Japanese Americans who died in service. Additionally, the Go For Broke Monument, which commemorates Japanese Americans who served in the United States Army during World War II is located on the north side of Little Tokyo, behind the museum. The Union Center for the Arts (former Japanese Union Church of Los Angeles) is located on Judge John Aiso Street. The Nisei Week festival is held early in August every year and is sponsored by various Little Tokyo businesses.[38]
Similar Japanese American Community Centers to the one in Little Tokyo were founded after the trauma of the internment of Japanese Americans. Today, most locations have become centers for cultural exchange and can be found in Venice, Long Beach, Sun Valley, and in other neighborhoods with historically large Japanese populations.
Because of the Japanese business presence, many Japanese restaurants and other Japanese cultural offerings are in Torrance, and Willy Blackmore of L.A. Weekly wrote that Torrance was "essentially Japans 48th prefecture".[13]
The OC Japan Fair takes place in Orange County.[39]
Notable residents
John Naka with his masterpiece Goshin at the United States National Arboretum
John F. Aiso (1909–1987), judge
Brittany Ishibashi (born 1980), actress (Orange County)[40]
Lance Ito (born 1950), judge
Shoson Nagahara, writer
John Naka (1914–2004), horticulturist
Kyle Nakazawa (born 1988), soccer player
Isamu Noguchi (1949–1988), artist & architect
Thomas Noguchi (born 1927), medical examiner-coroner
Yuji Okumoto (born 1959), actor
Jolene Purdy (born 1983), actress (half-Japanese[41]) - From Torrance[42]
James Shigeta (1929–2014), actor
Miiko Taka (born 1925), actress
George Takei (born 1937), actor
Paul Terasaki (1929–2016), scientist
Tamlyn Tomita (born 1966), actress
Miyoshi Umeki (1929–2007), Academy Award-winning actress
he Japanese American National Museum (全米日系人博物館, Zenbei Nikkeijin Hakubutsukan) is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affiliations program.[1]
The museum covers more than 130 years of Japanese-American history, dating to the first Issei generation of immigrants. Its moving image archive contains over 100,000 feet (30,000 m) of 16 mm and 8 mm home movies made by and about Japanese Americans from the 1920s to the 1950s. It also contains artifacts, textiles, art, photographs, and oral histories of Japanese Americans. The Japanese American National Museum of Los Angeles and the Academy Film Archive collaborate to care for and provide access to home movies that document the Japanese-American experience. Established in 1992, the JANM Collection at the Academy Film Archive currently contains over 250 home movies and continues to grow.[2]
Contents
1History
2Exhibits
2.1Selected previous exhibitions
3Major projects
4Additional images
5See also
6References
7External links
History
Activist Bruce Kaji and other notable Japanese-American individuals conceived of the idea of the museum. The community had become organized around gaining recognition of the injustice they had suffered from the federal government during World War II.
The museum was conceived as a way to preserve the positive aspects of their full history and culture in the United States. When it first opened in 1992, the museum was housed in the 1925 historic Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple building. Irene Hirano served as its first executive director and later as president and CEO of the museum.[3] In January 1999, the National Museum opened its current 85,000-square-foot (7,900 m2) Pavilion, designed under the supervision of architect Gyo Obata, to the public.[4] The temple building was used by government officials in 1942 to process Japanese Americans for wartime confinement. It is now used for offices and storage.[citation needed]
In 1993 the museum was given hundreds of artifacts and letters from children in internment camps, which they had sent to San Diego librarian Clara Breed. The material was featured in an exhibit, "Dear Miss Breed": Letters from Camp. It is now part of the museums permanent collection.[5]
In 1997, the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center was established by Robert A. Nakamura and Karen L. Ishizuka, to develop new ways to document, preserve and make known the experience of Americans of Japanese ancestry. In 1999, the Manabi and Sumi Hirasaki National Resource Center (HNRC) was established to provide access to the museums information and resources, both at the facility and online. It documents the life and culture of the Japanese Americans.
Akemi Kikumura Yano, author,[6] was the museums first curator. She succeeded Irene Hirano as President and CEO from 2008 until 2011. During her tenure, on December 2010, the museum was awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.[7]
Rev. Greg Kimura, an Episcopal priest, was appointed the president and CEO of the museum, serving between 2012 and 2016.[8][9][10] During his time the museum experienced an economic downturn as he looked to promote untraditional exhibits and let go core staff members. He resigned in May 2016 to pursue other work opportunities.[11]
In 2016, Ann Burroughs was announced to replace him as the new interim CEO[12] and was officially selected shortly thereafter. Burroughs spoke of her role: "I am committed to reinvigorating and finding new ways to advance the museum's key values, emphasizing the importance of being vigilant about democracy and stressing the value of diversity in our world today."[13]
Actor George Takei serves as a member of the museums board of trustees. He represented it as his charity during his time on The Celebrity Apprentice and during his appearance on The Newlywed Game.[14]
Exhibits
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This sections factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2012)
The museums current longterm exhibition is Common Ground: The Heart of Community, covering 130 years of Japanese American history, from the Issei and early immigration into the United States, World War II incarceration, to the present.[15]
Selected previous exhibitions
Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty (October 11, 2014 - May 31, 2015)[16]
Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game (March 29 - September 14, 2014)[17][18]
Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World (March 8 - September 14, 2014)[19]
Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 (October 12, 2013 - February 9, 2014)[20]
Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami (March 10 - August 26, 2012)[21]
Drawing the Line: Japanese American Art, Design & Activism in Post-War Los Angeles (October 15, 2011 – February 19, 2012)[22][23]
Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakais Usagi Yojimbo (July 9 - October 30, 2011)[24]
No Victory Ever Stays Won: The ACLUs 90 Years of Protecting Liberty (November 21 - December 11, 2010)
Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids by Kip Fulbeck (March 20 - October 17, 2010)[25]
20 Years Ago Today: Supporting Visual Artists in L.A. (October 4, 2008 - January 11, 2009)[26]
Glorious Excess (Born): Paintings by Linkin Parks Mike Shinoda (July 12 - August 3, 2008)[27]
Living Flowers: Ikebana and Contemporary Art (June 15 - September 7, 2008)[28]
Southern California Gardeners Federation: Fifty Years (October 25 - November 13, 2005)[29]
Boyle Heights: The Power of Place (September 8, 2002 – February 23, 2003)[30]
Sumo U.S.A.: Wrestling the Grand Tradition (July 3 - November 30, 1997)[31]
Dear Miss Breed: Letters from Camp (January 14 - April 13, 1997)[32]
Japanese Americans (Japanese: 日系アメリカ人, Hepburn: Nikkei Amerikajin) are Americans who are fully or partially of Japanese descent, especially those who identify with that ancestry and its cultural characteristics. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asian American group at around 773,000, including those of partial ancestry.[1] According to the 2010 census, the largest Japanese American communities were found in California with 272,528, Hawaii with 185,502, New York with 37,780, Washington with 35,008, Illinois with 17,542, and Ohio with 16,995.[4] Southern California has the largest Japanese American population in North America and the city of Gardena holds the densest Japanese American population in the 48 contiguous states.[5]
Contents
1History
1.1Immigration
1.2Internment and redress
2Cultural profile
2.1Generations
2.2Languages
2.3Education
2.3.1Schools for Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals
3Religion
3.1Celebrations
4Politics
5Genetics
5.1Risk for inherited diseases
6Japanese Americans by state
6.1California
6.2Connecticut
6.3Georgia
6.4Hawaii
6.5Illinois
6.6Massachusetts
6.7Michigan
6.8New Jersey
6.9New York
6.10Virginia
6.11Washington
7Neighborhoods and communities
7.1West
7.2Outside the West
8Notable people
8.1Politics
8.2Science and technology
8.3Art and literature
8.3.1Art and architecture
8.3.2Literature
8.4Music
8.5Sports
8.6Entertainment and media
9Works about Japanese Americans
10See also
11References
12Further reading
12.1In Hawaii
13External links
History
Main articles: Japanese-American history, Japanese-American life before World War II, and Japanese-American life after World War II
Immigration
A street in Seattles Nihonmachi in 1909
People from Japan began migrating to the US in significant numbers following the political, cultural, and social changes stemming from the Meiji Restoration in 1868. These early Issei immigrants came primarily from small towns and rural areas in the southern Japanese prefectures of Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Kumamoto, and Fukuoka[6] and most of them settled in either Hawaii or along the West Coast. The Japanese population in the United States grew from 148 in 1880 (mostly students) to 2,039 in 1890 and 24,326 by 1900.[7]
In 1907, the Gentlemens Agreement between the governments of Japan and the United States ended immigration of Japanese unskilled workers, but permitted the immigration of businessmen, students and spouses of Japanese immigrants already in the US. Prior to the Gentlemens Agreement, about seven out of eight ethnic Japanese in the continental United States were men. By 1924, the ratio had changed to approximately four women to every six men.[8] Japanese immigration to the U.S. effectively ended when Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924 which banned all but a token few Japanese people. The earlier Naturalization Act of 1790 restricted naturalized United States citizenship to free white persons, which excluded the Issei from citizenship. As a result, the Issei were unable to vote and faced additional restrictions such as the inability to own land under many state laws. Due to these restrictions, Japanese immigration to the United States between 1931-1950 only totaled 3,503 which is strikingly low compared to the totals of 46,250 people in 1951–1960, 39,988 in 1961-70, 49,775 in 1971-80, 47,085 in 1981-90, and 67,942 in 1991-2000.[9]
Because no new immigrants from Japan were permitted after 1924, almost all pre-World War II Japanese Americans born after this time were born in the United States. This generation, the Nisei, became a distinct cohort from the Issei generation in terms of age, citizenship, and English-language ability, in addition to the usual generational differences. Institutional and interpersonal racism led many of the Nisei to marry other Nisei, resulting in a third distinct generation of Japanese Americans, the Sansei. Significant Japanese immigration did not occur again until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 ended 40 years of bans against immigration from Japan and other countries.
In recent years, immigration from Japan has been more like that from Europe. The numbers involve on average 5 to 10 thousand per year, and is similar to the amount of immigration to the US from Germany. This is in stark contrast to the rest of Asia, where family reunification is the primary impetus for immigration.
Internment and redress
Main articles: Internment of Japanese Americans and Japanese American redress and court cases
Families of Japanese ancestry being removed from Los Angeles during World War II
During World War II, an estimated 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals or citizens residing on the West Coast of the United States were forcibly interned in ten different camps across the Western United States. The internment was based on the race or ancestry, rather than the activities of the interned. Families, including children, were interned together.
Four decades later, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 officially acknowledged the "fundamental violations of the basic civil liberties and constitutional rights" of the internment.[10] Many Japanese-Americans consider the term internment camp a euphemism and prefer to refer to the forced relocation of Japanese-Americans as imprisonment in concentration camps.[11] Websters New World Fourth College Edition defines a concentration camp: "A prison camp in which political dissidents, members of minority ethnic groups, etc. are confined."
Cultural profile
Generations
The nomenclature for each of their generations who are citizens or long-term residents of countries other than Japan, used by Japanese Americans and other nationals of Japanese descent are explained here; they are formed by combining one of the Japanese numbers corresponding to the generation with the Japanese word for generation (sei 世). The Japanese American communities have themselves distinguished their members with terms like Issei, Nisei, and Sansei, which describe the first, second, and third generations of immigrants. The fourth generation is called Yonsei (四世), and the fifth is called Gosei (五世). The term Nikkei (日系) encompasses Japanese immigrants in all countries and of all generations.
GenerationSummary
Issei (一世)The generation of people born in Japan who later immigrated to another country.
Nisei (二世)The generation of people born in North America, Latin America, Hawaii, or any country outside Japan either to at least one Issei or one non-immigrant Japanese parent.
Sansei (三世)The generation of people born in North America, Latin America, Hawaii, or any country outside Japan to at least one Nisei parent.
Yonsei (四世)The generation of people born in North America, Latin America, Hawaii, or any country outside Japan to at least one Sansei parent.
Gosei (五世)The generation of people born in North America, Latin America, Hawaii, or any country outside Japan to at least one Yonsei parent.
The kanreki (還暦), a pre-modern Japanese rite of passage to old age at 60, is now being celebrated by increasing numbers of Japanese American Nisei. Rituals are enactments of shared meanings, norms, and values; and this traditional Japanese rite of passage highlights a collective response among the Nisei to the conventional dilemmas of growing older.[12]
Languages
See also: Japanese language education in the United States
Issei and many nisei speak Japanese in addition to English as a second language. In general, later generations of Japanese Americans speak English as their first language, though some do learn Japanese later as a second language. In Hawaii however, where Nikkei are about one-fifth of the whole population, Japanese is a major language, spoken and studied by many of the states residents across ethnicities.[citation needed] It is taught in private Japanese language schools as early as the second grade. As a courtesy to the large number of Japanese tourists (from Japan), Japanese characters are provided on place signs, public transportation, and civic facilities. The Hawaii media market has a few locally produced Japanese language newspapers and magazines, although these are on the verge of dying out, due to a lack of interest on the part of the local (Hawaii-born) Japanese population. Stores that cater to the tourist industry often have Japanese-speaking personnel. To show their allegiance to the US, many nisei and sansei intentionally avoided learning Japanese. But as many of the later generations find their identities in both Japan and America or American society broadens its definition of cultural identity, studying Japanese is becoming more popular than it once was.[citation needed]
Education
Japanese Americans is located in the United StatesChicagoChicagoOakland, NJOakland, NJGreenwich, CTGreenwich, CTKeio AcademyKeio AcademyNishiyamato AcademyNishiyamato AcademySeigakuin AtlantaSeigakuin AtlantaMeiji GakuinMeiji Gakuin
Locations of Japanese day schools (nihonjin gakkō and shiritsu zaigai kyoiku shisetsu) in the contiguous United States approved by the Japanese MEXT (gray dots represent closed schools)
Japanese American culture places great value on education and culture. Across generations, children are often instilled with a strong desire to enter the rigors of higher education. Math and reading scores on the SAT and ACT may often exceed the national averages. Japanese Americans have the largest showing of any ethnic group in nationwide Advanced Placement testing each year.[citation needed]
A large majority of Japanese Americans obtain post-secondary degrees. Japanese Americans often face the "model minority" stereotype that they are dominant in math- and science-related fields in colleges and universities across the United States. In reality, however, there is an equal distribution of Japanese Americans between the arts and humanities and the sciences.[citation needed] Although their numbers have declined slightly in recent years, Japanese Americans are still a prominent presence in Ivy League schools, the top University of California campuses including UC Berkeley and UCLA, and other elite universities.[citation needed] The 2000 census reported that 40.8% of Japanese Americans held a college degree.[13]
Schools for Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals
Nihon Go Gakko in Seattle
Seigakuin Atlanta International School on March 23, 2014
A Japanese school opened in Hawaii in 1893 and other Japanese schools for temporary settlers in North America followed.[14] In the years prior to World War II, many second generation Japanese American attended the American school by day and the Japanese school in the evening to keep up their Japanese skill as well as English. Other first generation Japanese American parents were worried that their child might go through the same discrimination when going to school so they gave them the choice to either go back to Japan to be educated, or to stay in America with their parents and study both languages.[15][page needed] Anti-Japanese sentiment during World War I resulted in public efforts to close Japanese-language schools. The 1927 Supreme Court case Farrington v. Tokushige protected the Japanese American communitys right to have Japanese language private institutions. During the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II many Japanese schools were closed. After the war many Japanese schools reopened.[16]
There are primary school-junior high school Japanese international schools within the United States. Some are classified as nihonjin gakkō or Japanese international schools operated by Japanese associations,[17] and some are classified as Shiritsu zaigai kyōiku shisetsu (私立在外教育施設) or overseas branches of Japanese private schools.[18] They are: Seigakuin Atlanta International School, Chicago Futabakai Japanese School, Japanese School of Guam, Nishiyamato Academy of California near Los Angeles, Japanese School of New Jersey, and New York Japanese School. A boarding senior high school, Keio Academy of New York, is near New York City. It is a Shiritsu zaigai kyōiku shisetsu.[18]
There are also supplementary Japanese educational institutions (hoshū jugyō kō) that hold Japanese classes on weekends. They are located in several US cities.[19] The supplementary schools target Japanese nationals and second-generation Japanese Americans living in the United States. There are also Japanese heritage schools for third generation and beyond Japanese Americans.[20] Rachel Endo of Hamline University,[21] the author of "Realities, Rewards, and Risks of Heritage-Language Education: Perspectives from Japanese Immigrant Parents in a Midwestern Community," wrote that the heritage schools "generally emphasize learning about Japanese American historical experiences and Japanese culture in more loosely defined terms".[22]
Tennessee Meiji Gakuin High School (shiritsu zaigai kyōiku shisetsu) and International Bilingual School (unapproved by the Japanese Ministry of Education or MEXT) were full-time Japanese schools that were formerly in existence.
Religion
Religious Makeup of Japanese-Americans (2012)[23]
Unaffiliated (32%)
Buddhism (25%)
Mainline Protestant (19%)
Evangelical Protestant (13%)
Catholicism (4%)
Other Christian (1%)
Other (6%)
Japanese Americans practice a wide range of religions, including Mahayana Buddhism (Jōdo Shinshū, Jōdo-shū, Nichiren, Shingon, and Zen forms being most prominent) their majority faith, Shinto, and Christianity. In many ways, due to the longstanding nature of Buddhist and Shinto practices in Japanese society, many of the cultural values and traditions commonly associated with Japanese tradition have been strongly influenced by these religious forms.
San Jose Betsuin Buddhist Temple
A large number of the Japanese American community continue to practice Buddhism in some form, and a number of community traditions and festivals continue to center around Buddhist institutions. For example, one of the most popular community festivals is the annual Obon Festival, which occurs in the summer, and provides an opportunity to reconnect with their customs and traditions and to pass these traditions and customs to the young. These kinds of festivals are mostly popular in communities with large populations of Japanese Americans, such as Southern California and Hawaii. A reasonable number of Japanese people both in and out of Japan are secular, as Shinto and Buddhism are most often practiced by rituals such as marriages or funerals, and not through faithful worship, as defines religion for many Americans.
Many Japanese Americans also practice Christianity. Among mainline denominations the Presbyterians have long been active. The First Japanese Presbyterian Church of San Francisco opened in 1885.[24] Los Angeles Holiness Church was founded by six Japanese men and women in 1921.[25] There is also the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society (JEMS) formed in the 1950s. It operates Asian American Christian Fellowships (AACF) programs on university campuses, especially in California.[26] The Japanese language ministries are fondly known as "Nichigo" in Japanese American Christian communities. The newest trend includes Asian American members who do not have a Japanese heritage.[27]
Celebrations
An important annual festival for Japanese Americans is the Obon Festival, which happens in July or August of each year. Across the country, Japanese Americans gather on fair grounds, churches and large civic parking lots and commemorate the memory of their ancestors and their families through folk dances and food. Carnival booths are usually set up so Japanese American children have the opportunity to play together.
Japanese American celebrations tend to be more sectarian in nature and focus on the community-sharing aspects.
A nebuta float during Nisei Week in Los Angeles
Kazari streamers hung during the Tanabata festival in Los Angeles Little Tokyo
Bon Odori in Seattle
A kagami mochi display for the upcoming Japanese New Year in San Diegos Nijiya Market
Major celebrations in the United States
DateNameRegion
January 1Shōgatsu New Years CelebrationNationwide
FebruaryJapanese Heritage FairHonolulu, HI
February to MarchCherry Blossom FestivalHonolulu, HI
March 3Hinamatsuri (Girls Day)Hawaii
MarchHonolulu FestivalHonolulu, HI
MarchHawaiʻi International Taiko FestivalHonolulu, HI
MarchInternational Cherry Blossom FestivalMacon, GA
March to AprilNational Cherry Blossom FestivalWashington, DC
AprilNorthern California Cherry Blossom FestivalSan Francisco, CA
AprilPasadena Cherry Blossom FestivalPasadena, CA
AprilSeattle Cherry Blossom FestivalSeattle, WA
May 5Tango no Sekku (Boys Day)Hawaii
MayShinnyo-En Toro-Nagashi (Memorial Day Floating Lantern Ceremony)Honolulu, HI
JunePan-Pacific Festival Matsuri in HawaiʻiHonolulu, HI
July 7Tanabata (Star Festival)Nationwide
July–AugustObon FestivalNationwide
AugustNihonmachi Street FairSan Francisco, CA
AugustNisei WeekLos Angeles, CA
Politics
Patsy Mink entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1965 as the first woman of color in either chamber of Congress.
Japanese Americans have shown strong support for candidates in both political parties. Shortly prior to the 2004 US presidential election, Japanese Americans narrowly favored Democrat John Kerry by a 42% to 38% margin over Republican George W. Bush.[28] In the 2008 US presidential election, the National Asian American Survey found that Japanese American favored Democrat Barack Obama by a 62% to 16% margin over Republican John McCain, while 22% were still undecided.[29]
Genetics
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The distribution of the Y-chromosome among Japanese males is a lot different from the males of neighboring countries, such as in Taiwanese males. The Y chromosome is directly correlated to Asian populations, especially in Japanese Americans. The chromosome addition of Y Alu polymorphic element is only displayed in Japanese American men. People of Japanese descent show the highest frequency of the haplogroup O3a5. Haplogroups are groups of genetic populations that share a common ancestor, paternally or maternally. The frequency of this haplogroup is about 5% higher than its frequency in other Asian groups such as Koreans, Manchus, and other Northeast Asians.
The Japanese DNA sequence consists of 24.2% Korean, 16.1% Okinawa, 4.8% Uniquely Japanese, 25.8% Chinese, 8.1% Ainu, and 21% Unidentified. The Ainu people were the key to the Japanese genetic origins because researchers found an exact DNA match with the Ainu and the Jōmon Japanese to conclude the Ainu rooted all the way back to the Jōmon.[30] From mainland Japanese people, the MtDNA haplogroup frequencies are most occurring in the D4 haplogroup, with about 33%, with the second largest frequency in the B4 haplogroup, containing about 9%, and the third largest frequency in the M7a haplogroup, occurring at about 8%. The rest of the other haplogroup frequencies are much smaller than D4, with frequencies ranging from about 3-5%, consisting of mostly N9a, M8, and M9 haplogroups. Between the different Japanese populations, the Yayoi population has the highest haplogroup frequencies of the D4 haplogroup. The Jōmon Japanese group has the highest frequency of the N9b haplogroup.
In modern Japanese Americans, the highest haplogroup frequency is in the D4 haplogroup, the same as the Yayoi Japanese population. In Okinawa Japanese populations, the highest frequency of haplogroups is the D haplogroup, with the M7a haplogroup frequency directly behind. Of the Ainu Japanese population, the highest haplogroup frequency occurs in the Y haplogroup, followed closely by an even distribution of frequency in the D, M7a, and G haplogroups. Lastly, for mainland Japanese populations, the D haplogroup presents the highest frequency.[31][32] In Japanese Americans, the biggest components are Chinese, Korean, and Okinawan. People of Japanese descent show two pre-Yayoi ancestral Y chromosome lineages descended from Paleolithic people who had been isolated on the mainland of Japan. Studies of the mitochondrial component of Japanese American genes of haplogroup M12 shows a direct correlation of Japanese haplotypes with Tibetans. Other haplotypes that early descents of Japanese people were thought to be carried into include C-M8, which is another Y-chromosome haplotype. Also going back to the Jōmon, that gene is displayed in high frequencies in people of Japanese descent. The estimated percentage of this type of gene in Japanese Americans is about 34.7%. The highest frequencies occur in Okinawans and Hokkaidos.[33] Overall, the genetic makeup of Japanese Americans show very mixed origins of genes, all due to the result of migrations of the Japanese ancestors in the past.
Risk for inherited diseases
Studies have looked into the risk factors that are more prone to Japanese Americans, specifically in hundreds of family generations of Nisei (The generation of people born in North America, Latin America, Hawaii, or any country outside Japan either to at least one Issei or one non-immigrant Japanese parent).
Années 1940 ORIGINAL JAPONAIS AMÉRICAIN LOS officiel ANGELES RPPC ET PHOTOS TRÈS RARE VINTAGE
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