Takaki's chapeter ten is mainly discussing how the Japanese came back into the free world and out of isolation. They came to Hawaii which then led to the United States for the same reasons most immagrants do, to start a new life: "But they, too, were pushed here by external influences"(246). Since taxes were so high for Japanese farmers, they had to sell there land and most moved easterly in search of money and prosperity.
Many Japanese farmers had to sell there land because they couldn't afford taxes anymore, so they moved easterly (246-247). "In one year a worker could save about eight hundred yen- an amount equal to the income of a governor in Japan," and that is why so many people wanted to make there way over to Hawaii (247). In most peoples mainds in Japan "Money grew on trees in America" (247). The United States wanted more women imigrants because it would keep the male ones in line, and both the States and Japan didn't want what happened to China happen to they as well. The term "picture bride" was said now becasue marriage in Japan was based on families, so they sent pictures of the bride and groom before they met overseas (248). Japanese women had more rights then chinese women. Family is everything in Japan, it was said to have three children "one to sell, one to follow, one in reserve" (249-250). The one to sell was a girl and she would be soon wed and in another family, the one to follow was the oldest male and he got married first, and the one in reserve was if something happened to the first son (250). People working in the canefields were soon discriminated against when Hawaii became a state. There supplies and most everyting else were lowered. Since many men left for the UNited States for more jobs the women were stuck back in Hawaii in the fields and were whipped if didn't work hard enough. There whole people were exploited to work on fields and they stereotyped they greatly. "Blood Unions " were formed to strike and stop work in the fields of Hawaii, but Filipinos were just imported to Hawaii and it then broke the strike. Then soon they went on strike too (2858-259). Other forieng people were then imported like Koreans as strikebreakers. But for everyone, the conditions were horrible for both living and working. "Over the years, a plantation dialect devoloped called pidgin English" (264). It was a mix of all the languages of imigrants. In the United States the Japanese were the racial minority by only having 2 percent of the population. They worked on railroads byt many became farmers. The only land that they could farm was desert because they were dicriminated against. So many Japanese people had to turn the desert into a prosperous farm land. And everything went somewhat fine for both the Japanese people excluding some hardships and Americans, untill the day of december 7, 1941.
Do you think the Japanese people could have done anything different in their oppresion?
How would you feel if you were a Japanese person and one of the first to be over in the UNited States? Do you think you'd be able to live like they did?
I personally liked this chapter of Takaki. I always like to read his work and find it very interesting and hard to put down. I find some of the other readings we do boring and repitious and i never seem to feel that way about Takaki. I couldn't imagine how it was to be a Janpanese man in this time of hardship and dirscrimination. I think i would have probably worked on the rail road because i don't think i would have gotten into the farming business. I feel bad for all the discrimination and sorry that i couldn't do anything for them, but happy that they are prospering in the United States now like they set out ot do in the first place.
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