Eth 125 Journal Entry of a Subordinate Group Member

Abstract

Japanese have made it to America starting in the middle of the 19th century either because they were shipwrecked or forced out due to war. Japanese Americans can be found all over California and Hawaii but also there are communities in New York, Washington, and Illinois ("Japanese-American.", Wikipedia. 20, August 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American).

The first documented case of Japanese to come to America was when Captain Whitfield, commanding a New England sailing vessel, rescues five shipwrecked Japanese sailors on 27, June 1841. Significant immigration did not begin until the first year of the Meiji era in 1868 because of the political, cultural, and social changes stemming from the Meiji Restoration. ("Japanese-American history.", Wikipedia. 20, August 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_history).

"In January 1868, the Boshin War (War of the Year of the Dragon) started with the Battle of Toba Fushimi in which the new government's army, led by the forces from Choshu and Satsuma defeated the shogun's army. The war ended in early 1869 with the siege of Hakodate, Hokkaido. The defeat of the armies of the former shogun (led by Hijikata Toshizo) marked the end of the Meiji Restoration; all defiance to the emperor and his rule ended" ("Meiji Restoration - Change is Japan's political and social structure." Japan-101. 20, August 2011 http://www.japan-101.com/history/meiji_restoration.htm).

Japanese did not come to the main land United States until a handful of people left for California in the 1860's and by 1900 there were still less than 25,000 Japanese nationals in the U.S. These people scattered across the Pacific coast forming small communities in small towns and larger cities. Finding jobs as farm labor was most common but some could be found in lumber mills and mining camps, and sometimes established general stores, restaurants, and small hotels ("The U.S. Mainland: Growth and Resistance." Immigration....