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Chinese Exclusion Act.
This act severly limited the number of Chinese immigrants coming into America. With the lack of low wage working Chinese, the demand for Japanese workers increased durastically. -
The land of oppurtunity.
Me, my wife, and my 2 children move to America on August 16th, 1882. My names is Satoru Takeshi. My wifes name is Satoru Akiko. Our two childrens names are Satoru Kousuke and Satoru Yukiko. We are poor farmers, only bringing our families, 2000 yen, and a couple sets of clothes. We come to America for peace, prosperity, and a better future for our children. -
Temporary job and a place to live.
We have little to no money left and we are being threatened by our apartment landlords. Luckily, The Chinese Exclusion Act increased the demand for japanese laborares that work hard for cheap wages. It was fairly easy getting a logging job. The wages were low but it was enough to keep us alive for a little longer. We also found a cheap tenement. The paint on the walls were etching, the walls were paper thin, it smells, and disease is rampant. I hope to gain enough money to move out soon. -
Racism
Racism took a sudden turn to the worst, Violent racism. The racism is getting worse and it is starting to get violent. They yell racist remarks about our culture, how we look, and how we are stealing their jobs. People throw garbage at us and we fear for the lives of our children. -
Reasons to move west.
Some of the reasons why me and my family have decided to move west is get my children a better education in Washington, get a farming job, and try to meet other japanese farmeres and make friends. -
Preperations for moving north.
We have finally saved enough money for a train ticket to Washington and survive 3 weeks once we get their. We plan to make friends with other Japanese friends and start a farm where we can make enough money to give our children a great education and a jump start in America. -
To Washington.
We brought a fairly large amount of luggage containing everything from clothes to food. Our seats almost got stolen but we saved it just in the nick of time, with some casualties of racist remarks and a mean stare. Our seats were quite comfortable and for the first time since we came to America, I could sleep with a smile on my face. -
The danger of America
My daughter Satoru Yukiko needed to go to the bathroom but even with my wife with her, she was still afraid to go so we all decided to go. When we got about to get into a fist fight with the man that had stolen my seat but another Japanese man stopped me. -
A new hope,
The japanese man I met is named Nakanishi Koutalou. He came to America alone in hope of becoming rich.He shared his fortune, seats, and food with us. We bonded so well that we decided to stick together and work at the same place with each other, -
Almost happy ending.
Me and Nakaninshi san get a farming job rather easily and we pool our supplies togther, We save enough to give my children a decent education and buy a couple of acres of land. We are working hard and holding our keep but we are getting older and weaker.
