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The First Japanese Immigration
The first Japanese Americans arrive in Hawai'i. They left unstable life, tedious work, and low pay at home in search of peace and prosperity. They mostly worked in the fields on sugarcane plantations. More than 400,000 men and women would immigrate from Japan in the following 20 years. -
Early Discrimination
A US court rules that Japanese Immigrants cannot become naturalized US citizens because they are not a "free white person", upholding the naturalization act of 1790. n -
The Mainland
They arrive on the West Coast of the United States, and begin working, mostly in the agriculture business -
Protest of new workers
The first anti-Japanese protest is held in California, which was organized by various labor groups. -
Public Racism
The San Francisco Chronicle promotes Japanese racism on the front page of the newspaper. -
Alien Land Law
California passes the Alien Land Law, forbidding those not eligible for citizenship from owning and purchasing land. It would be revised 7 years later to cover all the loopholes found in it. -
Japanese Production
Japanese American farmers are responsible for 10% of California's Ag production, producing $67 million in crops. Fruits and nuts were popular. -
Trust
We declare our trust in the Japanese living in America in the Munson Report -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes bomb the US ships and planes at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i. The US arrests 1,291 Japanese Immigrants in the next 48 hours. -
Relocation and Exclusion
Japanese Immigrant families are given small amounts of time to prepare to be evacuated from their homes. Civilians were then transported to more permanent facilities, or "camps", where they were not treated well. Men were shot trying to escape, and they were barely strong enough to wakl. -
The Draft
The US requires Japanese men to be drafted, including those in internment camps. -
Food
Japanese restaurants became more popular after WW2. Now, you can find an abundance of them in cities, as we have almost "Americanized" sushi. -
Atomic Bomb
The US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki three days later. -
End of Camps
The last internment camp hosting Japanese Immigrants is closed. It was Tule Lake. -
Citizenship
Despite President Truman's veto, the McCarran-Walter Act is pushed through by the house and the Senate, which gave Japanese Immigrants the right to obtain citizenship. -
Buddhism
Once the incarcerated Japanese were released, and the discriminatory immigration laws were lifted, Buddhism in the United States began to take off once again. -
Art Influence
The Pavilion for Japanese Art opened California, showing works from 3000 BCE to the 20th century. The practice that influenced artists the most was Japonism. It remained realistic, yet simple. -
Reagan Offers Apologies
President Ronald Reagan acknowledges that the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese individuals was unjust, and offers $20,000 compensation to each person. -
Language
Because they have only been in America since 1880 there aren't a lot of Americans who speak Japanese. It can also be harder for a language to cross an ocean. However, around 500,000 Americans speak Japanese and in some neighborhoods with a large Japanese population it is the main language spoken. -
Immigrants in the government
Mazie Hirono was the first Asian-American woman and Buddhist elected to US Senate as a Democrat. She was born in Japan in 1947.
