Japanese Community

Introduction

The forced eradication of Japanese & Japanese Americans from their homes within California, Washington, & Oregon from 1942 to 1946 brought suffering and personal loss to various communities. After the camps, Japanese were told to resettle within Midwest and East and avoid returning to hostile West Coast (Harth 2001). Most communities perished and were never restored. For instance, as people started resettlement, Japanese communities like San Francisco Nihonmachi & Los Angeles Little Tokyo were ripped by urban renewal. The aim of this paper is to discuss the long term impacts like racism, economic loss and generational changes of this regrettable episode of American history upon the Japanese community.

The life in camps was a bitter experience for the Japanese community as it presented them with some of the harsh things to cope with. This brought tectonic changes to their relationships specially the gender relations, for instance, between 1908 and 1924, many of Japanese women; that is, over 33,000 immigrants entered the United States with various reasons. Valerie (1984), the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” of 1908 limited access of Japanese laborers into the country, although it authorized immigration of wives, parents, and children of laborers already staying in the United States. Altogether, the immigration Act (1924) eliminated immigration of Japanese altogether.

Some Japanese women joined United States to reunite with their husbands while others journeyed as newlyweds with their husbands who had gone to Japan to get wives. Also, others came alone as brides to join Issei men who avoided excessive travel costs or army conscription. After settling down, these women were met with uncommon food, clothing, customs, and language besides living with husbands with several cases, some strangers and normally ten to fifteen older than their seniors (Valerie, 1984, pp.257).

Racism

Indeed, Japanese Americans among other Asian...