...Farewell to Manzanar (2002) is a book written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and her husband, James D. Houston. Being first published in 1973, the book describes an experience of Japanese Americans throughout their imprisonment at the Manzanar Camp, created due to the United States government’s policy during World War II. According to the chapter “Chronology”, included at the beginning of the book, the Manzanar Camp, in Owens Valley, California, existed almost 5 years, from March 25, 1942, till November 21, 1945, when the camp was officially closed. Through the discussion of the events that took place before and after the imprisonment, Houston tries to analyze the ambivalence of the conditions she and her family were placed in. Nowadays, there...
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...economic reasons. People consider migration only when the move benefits the family now and whether here they can still support their family in the process. Preserving and revitalizing Japantown is essential as a manifestation of Japanese American history, a celebration of current cultural expression and an inspiration to future generations about Japanese American cultural heritage. (1) - Concepts for the Japantown Community Plan, November 2000 Immigration has historically been from country of origin to a well established familiar community. For example, Japantown in San Franscisco, was created by immigrants from Japan. The migration happened around 1869. Word then spread (via the media) that San Franscisco was a place that would be “tolerant” of the Japanese influx into the area. They then moved on droves becoming know “This first generation – Issei, flocked to the area and. Cultural identity remained intact. This is because the surrounded themselves by the same culturally inspired community base. The people flourished because they were still either connected to people of like mind and they had similar goals in which they worked toward. Until 1906 it had the largest Japanese population of any mainland American city. This only changed because of the San Japantown, is still a strong community;...
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...co-workers. She teaches Intro to Computers. While interviewing her, one thing that stuck out to me was she said that she learned things about Japanese culture from her parents growing up, but that she learned it from just simply watching them. Such as, taking off shoes at the door and eating with chopsticks. These sorts of things were second nature and just a way of life. This made me think about my own life and how most things about my own culture, which I have learned, are things that I picked up at a young age by just following in my parents footsteps. Kai also spoke about how her family was very strict growing up. She compared her upbringing to the kids at our school and said they get a lot of slack and how parents seemed less involved. She felt her family expected nothing but the best out of her. This seems to be something that is pretty consistent amongst the Japanese American culture. They tend to hold careers, school and hobbies at high regards. They feel that anything you are partaking in should be done to the best possible standard. This way of thinking has translated into her classroom. She holds her scholars to a high standard and takes the proper steps if these standards are not met, with phone calls home and setting up parent conferences. Something else that I found interesting is that, even though a great number of the Japanese Culture immigrated to America in the late 1800s (McGoldrick, 2005). The still hold firm to their culture and make sure that their culture...
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...understanding of the Japanese culture because of it, and at the same time was able to reflect on the differences and similarities of my Filipino heritage. From what I was able to gather, the Japanese and Filipino cultures have quite a few significant differences, but have more similarities than I originally anticipated. As the name would suggest, Little Tokyo is fairly little, with its borders spanning a radius of only a few blocks. Walking from one end of the town to the other took no more than five minutes. That afternoon, we started our trip right in the middle of all the activity, into the mouth of a little alley known as the Japanese Village Plaza. People were walking in and out of cosmetic stores, bakeries, bars, gift shops, a brightly lit Sanrio store, cafes, a market, and a number of restaurants serving sushi, shabu shabu, ramen, even Korean barbeque. Many of these shops were playing traditional Japanese music, and interestingly, almost all of the employees that worked in these shops were women. The same could be said about the restaurants, as many of the servers were also women. The chefs on the other hand were all men, which may be one aspect of gender roles in the neighborhood. The Japanese had great pride in serving the food they prepared, something my sister and I noticed while eating at one of the more traditional ramen houses. There was a mixture of different kinds of people that afternoon: several Caucasians and Hispanics, a handful African-Americans, and of course...
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...segregation based off differences in both culture and appearance, flourishes amongst the ignorant and is prevalent throughout both America’s distant and recent history, as well as in the archives of world history. A parent to ignorance and the culprit to the divisive vices of racial prejudice of all creeds, a lack of sufficient education, along with blatant disregard for one’s global community, is the underlying reason why Orientalism is a recurring theme in history that has yet to be abolished entirely. However, there exist scholars and filmmakers, such as Le Espiritu, Sucheng Chan, Wakako Yamauchi, etcetera, who give hope to the fight against such ignorance by using their work to inform and educate the public in order to challenge such stereotypes and atrocious ways of thinking. In order to effectively and efficiently push against orientalism in today’s age of information, and secure a future for future generations in which no one racially profiles one another, discriminates against anyone else based on racial profiling, or constructs social barriers that belittle and...
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...Farewell to Manzanar Essay Farwell to Manzanar is an autobiography of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. The story is about Jeanne and her family, composed of her father Ko, her mother Riku and nine siblings during World War II. Her parents are first-‐generation Japanese immigrants, called Issei. The children are called Nisei, they are natural American citizens and second-‐generation Japanese. The story begins on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The book is set during WWII when the Anti-‐Japanese sentiment was not unusual in states like California. Jeanne’s family and all Japanese were forced to move to an internment camp because they were all thought to be a threat for America. The Camp was called Manzanar. Manzanar is an isolated place located just outside the Mojave Desert in southeastern California. Jeanne observes and comments on her own and her family’s experiences...
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...World War II: The Internment of Japanese-American Citizens American History 129 History 129 Professor 22 April 2005 On December 7, 1941, the United States of America suffered from an unanticipated attack on Pearl Harbor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated that this day would live in infamy. This attack brought forth an array of drastic changes for the lives of Japanese-American citizens that were currently living in the United States at the time. Officials in Washington became highly involved in deciphering a plan to prevent further espionage, and sabotage from happening. After the attack many Americans had strong anti-Japanese attitudes (NARA). This brought the Executive Order 9066 into full effect. Two months following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt decided to instate the Executive Order 9066 into full effect. Executive Order 9066 was the starting point for the internment of Japanese-American citizens living inside of the United States. Officials feared that Japan had plans of further invading the homeland. Officials believed that Japanese-American citizens would side with Japan, and aid them rather than the United States. Order 9066 would bring the fear of invasion to a since of security. This order had to power to have the ability to relocate all people of the Japanese decent on the western coast to the Midwestern states, and it did exactly that. This order affected 117,000 people of Japanese descent, and two-thirds of those...
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...To say that the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII was unexpected would be a lie. The U.S. is a country that has a long history of discrimination based on race. After pearl harbor many citizens of the U.S. acted in a very predictable way. Race based violence started occurring towards Japanese people and some unlucky person of Asian heritage. This is what has historically happened in the U.S. when the citizens do not understand a different group. Unrealistic generalization and stereotyping spread like wildfire in these kind of circumstances. There will always be people in any country that do not accept, and the people of the U.S. do quite a bit. Yet the trend seems to be that there is always one group that becomes the target after one incident created by an immeasurably smaller part of that said group. This time it was the Japanese. Is it really protecting the safety of American citizens when they and their families are put in internment camps? The internment of Japanese-Americans was wholly expected in a country with a...
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...The Internment of Japanese Americans Josh White Sothern New Hampshire University WORLD WAR II: THE INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE AMERICANS The topic of Japanese American Internment during the Second World War is a very important part of American history.It happened during the Second World War when nations were against each other and after the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Japan automatically became an enemy to the United States thus leading to the government of the day led by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 to take several measures against Japan and its origins mainly living in the United states. What followed was an executive order by the president to allow forceful removal of Americans of Japanese origin from their homes and incarcerated into camps.The government had feared another attack by the Japanese would be imminent and so they had to come up with some measures to get rid of Japanese spies that were living in the west coast. This led to one of the lowest moments in American history as these camps were an absolute human rights violation to these Japanese Americans. Most of these Japanese Americans who had been taken to these camps were actually legal American citizens thus showing that this move was based on racial stereotypes and propaganda that was being peddled during that time referring to the Japanese as less of human beings. This incarceration seriously affected these Japanese Americans leading to them...
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...sea water as Japanese immigrants search for their new hope, America. Knowing little about the new land the Japanese travelled together and searched for work. As they shinned the web of status, the Japanese immigrants were met with disdain and hatred. Despite this, they continued to support their families, some able to create small businesses and become successful. Destruction was brought upon by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, fear and hysteria ran through America. President Kennedy decided to pass executive order 9066, causing all Japanese Americans to be rushed to internment camps. Although the Japanese immigrants had children who were American citizens, they too, were taken to the camps. Furthermore, President...
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...1213-008 October 10 2015 The Rugged Road to True Freedom The United States of America is a place some people only dream of residing in. During the early twentieth century, hundreds of Japanese people ventured towards America—a land of freedom, equality, and justice. These people left an unstable homeland in search of peace and prosperity with the hope of providing a better future for their children. Ronald Takaki, in his book titled Strangers from a Different Shore, remarks that “America represented liminality,” and so Asian immigrants “could imagine what they could do in an unformed America, and their dreams inspired them to take risks. They wondered what they could become, unfurled before the winds of change and challenge”(42). This represents Japanese extravagance as a whole—traveling beyond known boundaries in pursuit of new freedom. Yet what seemed free wasn’t free at all, but rather a future of harsh treatment. Japanese-Americans crossed the boundaries of their homeland only to come into contact with more boundaries in America—of racism, American legislation and ultimately internment—which taxed the extravagance of Japanese-Americans. Throughout the next several decades, Japanese extravagance morphs to deal with America’s act of yarding them in through its legislation. In 1885, the Japanese government announced it would be sending six hundred immigrants to Hawaii. Many who crossed the frontier were financially distressed and viewed “themselves as dekaseginin—laborers working...
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...of old. However, I learned a lot by hearing this speech. Firstly, I learned about Nihonmachi Outreach Committee (NOC). It is a progressive organization based in the San Jose Japanese American community that is dedicated to educating the public about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, and as a consequence, is committed to defending all people on issues of civil rights, equality, justice, tolerance and peace. And one of this main activities of NOC continues to be the annual Day of Remembrance(DOR) commemorating Executive Order9066 which ordered 120,000 Japanese Americans to concentration camps during World War II. From the first event in 1981, DOR has come to present some of the defining issues facing the Japanese- American community and a time to reflect on our history in the United States. Staring with the debate over redress/reparations to support for American Muslims today. DOR has provided a forum for the San Jose Japanese American community to come together to remember the lessons of the past and define the future. However, I have also learned about the Campaign for Justice (CFJ). It has been fighting for redress for Japanese Latin Americans (JLAs) since 1996. When JLAs were excluded from redress provided by the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, NCRR, JACL, Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project, and the Southern California chapter of ACLU formed CFJ. CFJ worked with JLA former internees to file the Mochizuki v. U.S. class-action lawsuit. That...
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...American fear and suspicion was a cultural and social factor that caused the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. Operating out of a position of fear, paranoia, and skepticism, President Roosevelt signed an internment order that relocated all Japanese Americans who had Japanese ancestry and Japanese people in camps on the West Coast of the United States. The fear was that the Japanese were plotting another surprise attack and tha0t Japanese spies, or those who could operate as spies, needed to be rounded up and given a loyalty oath to the nation. The government thought that all Japanese ancestry would stay loyal to their ground no matter what. The camps, which were relocated, lacked effective medical care, and were situated in the desert, subject to extremely hot temperatures. The stress of being relocated and living a life in camps had adverse physical and psychological effects on many. At the same time, the consequence of the internment was that the court concluded that many of the Constitutional Rights of the detainees had been violated, under the Habeas Corpus clause of the Constitution. At the same time, I would suggest that the internment of Japanese Americans displayed a level of contradictory behavior in American policy and its ideals. A nation predicated upon individual freedom and liberty was denying it to a group, about 2/3 of who were Americans. Finally, another consequence was that while America stood strong in its commitment to European...
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...Although there is a huge variety of children’s literature to choose from such as picture books or pop up books, they can’t always provide the story line with themes or learned lessons, but children’s chapter books can. Farwell to Manzanar by James D. Houston and Jeanne Wakatsuki is truly a good book because it includes themes the reader can relate to, tension that leaves readers on edge at times, and a point of view that is relatable. First, in the story Farwell to Manzanar Houston and Wakatsuki provide themes that teach the reader about friendships through barriers, not being shamed of our roots and where we come from and always standing up for what is right. Racism after Pearl Harbor was bombed was at its peak, and many Japanese-Americans were mistreated. On page 157 Jeanne explains that after the Wakatsuki family was released from Manzanar, she was entered into a sixth grade elementary class in west Long Beach. There Jeanne felt like a true foreigner and was always stared at, but her new found friend Radine always felt the need to protect her by shouting out, “What are you looking at?”...
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...American Citizens: Racism, Discrimination, and Identity The creation of history is an ongoing process we all participate in. According to Kristine Kuramitsu, Internment and Identity in Japanese American Art, “an ethnic community is never a monolithic entity but a group that is, by definition, connected by some set of memories and experiences.” Collective memories have shaped our identity; some people protest others choose to agree with version illustrated and perceived which best defines their relative existence. However, “with this personal identification with a community subgroup comes the threat of isolation” (Kuramitsu). The more an individual begins to recognize their heritage and embrace their origin, Gayatri Spivak, “Acting Bits/Identity Talk”, Critical Inquiry would assert, “history slouches in one’s origins, ready to comfort and kill.” The consequences of history offer to narratives, peace and equality or secondly protest and pain. In America which operates on the principle of Democracy, people and citizens believe in fundamental rights as intuitively recognizable. These provisions are grounded in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. During World War II these rights were quickly destroyed. Internment camp prisoner Henry Sugimoto and War Relocation Authority photographer Dorothea Lange’s; uncensored artwork and photography lifted the veil capturing the plight and destitute existence Japanese Americans citizens endured as a result of...
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