are
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
of
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the
2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asian American group at around 1,469,637, including those of partial ancestry.
According to the
2010 census, the largest Japanese American communities were found in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
with 272,528,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
with 185,502,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
with 37,780,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
with 35,008,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
with 17,542 and
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
with 16,995. Southern California has the largest Japanese American population in North America and the city of
Gardena holds the densest Japanese American population in the 48 contiguous states.
History
Immigration
People from
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
began migrating to the US in significant numbers following the political, cultural, and social changes stemming from the
Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
in 1868. These early
Issei
is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...
immigrants came primarily from small towns and rural areas in the southern Japanese prefectures of
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
,
Yamaguchi,
Kumamoto
is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2.
had a population of 1,461,000, ...
, and
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
and most of them settled in either
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
or along the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
. The Japanese population in the United States grew from 148 in 1880 (mostly students) to 2,039 in 1890 and 24,326 by 1900.
![Nyssa, Oregon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Nyssa%2C_Oregon._Japanese-American_farm_worker_digital_file_from_original_neg.jpg)
In 1907, the
Gentlemen's Agreement
A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or th ...
between the governments of Japan and the United States ended immigration of Japanese unskilled workers, but permitted the immigration of businessmen, students and spouses of Japanese immigrants already in the US. Prior to the Gentlemen's Agreement, about seven out of eight ethnic Japanese in the continental United States were men. By 1924, the ratio had changed to approximately four women to every six men.
Japanese immigration to the U.S. effectively ended when Congress passed the
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...
which banned all but a token few Japanese people. The earlier
Naturalization Act of 1790
The Naturalization Act of 1790 (, enacted March 26, 1790) was a law of the United States Congress that set the first uniform rules for the granting of United States citizenship by naturalization. The law limited naturalization to "free White ...
restricted naturalized United States citizenship to free white persons, which excluded the Issei from citizenship. As a result, the Issei were unable to vote and faced additional restrictions such as the inability to own land under many state laws. Due to these restrictions, Japanese immigration to the United States between 1931 and 1950 only totaled 3,503 which is strikingly low compared to the totals of 46,250 people in 1951–1960, 39,988 in 1961–70, 49,775 in 1971–80, 47,085 in 1981–90, and 67,942 in 1991–2000.
Because no new immigrants from Japan were permitted after 1924, almost all pre-World War II Japanese Americans born after this time were born in the United States. This generation, the
Nisei
is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...
, became a distinct cohort from the Issei generation in terms of age, citizenship, and English-language ability, in addition to the usual generational differences. Institutional and interpersonal racism led many of the Nisei to marry other Nisei, resulting in a third distinct generation of Japanese Americans, the
Sansei
is a Japanese and North American English term used in parts of the world such as South America and North America to specify the children of children born to ethnic Japanese in a new country of residence. The ''nisei'' are considered the second g ...
. Significant Japanese immigration did not occur again until the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The l ...
ended 40 years of bans against immigration from Japan and other countries.
In the last few decades, immigration from Japan has been more like that from
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. The numbers involve on average 5 to 10 thousand per year, and is similar to the amount of immigration to the US from Germany. This is in stark contrast to the rest of Asia, where better opportunity of life is the primary impetus for immigration.
Internment and redress
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, an estimated 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals or citizens residing on the
West Coast of the United States
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...
were forcibly interned in ten different camps across the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
. The internment was based on the race or ancestry, rather than the activities of the interned. Families, including children, were interned together.
and 5,000 were able to "voluntarily" relocate outside the exclusion zone;
![Japanese-American camp, war emergency evacuation, (Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, Calif](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Japanese-American_camp%2C_war_emergency_evacuation%2C_%28Tule_Lake_Relocation_Center%2C_Newell%2C_Calif.%29_%28LOC%29.jpg)
In 1948, the
Evacuation Claims Act provided some compensation for property losses, but the act required documentation that many former inmates had lost during their removal and excluded lost opportunities, wages or interest from its calculations. Less than 24,000 filed a claim, and most received only a fraction of the losses they claimed.
Four decades later, the
Civil Liberties Act of 1988
The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (, title I, August 10, 1988, , et seq.) is a United States federal law that granted reparations to Japanese Americans who had been wrongly interned by the United States government during World War II. The act was ...
officially acknowledged the "fundamental violations of the basic civil liberties and constitutional rights" of the internment.
Many Japanese-Americans consider the term internment camp a
euphemism
A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...
and prefer to refer to the forced relocation of Japanese-Americans as imprisonment in concentration camps. Webster's New World Fourth College Edition defines a concentration camp: "A prison camp in which political dissidents, members of minority ethnic groups, etc. are confined."
Cultural profile
Generations
The nomenclature for each of their generations who are citizens or long-term residents of countries other than Japan, used by Japanese Americans and other nationals of Japanese descent are explained here; they are formed by combining one of the
Japanese numbers
The Japanese numerals are the number names used in Japanese. In writing, they are the same as the Chinese numerals, and large numbers follow the Chinese style of grouping by 10,000. Two pronunciations are used: the Sino-Japanese (on'yomi) readi ...
corresponding to the
generation
A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and gr ...
with the Japanese word for generation (''sei'' 世). The Japanese American communities have themselves distinguished their members with terms like ''Issei'', ''Nisei'', and ''Sansei'', which describe the first, second, and third generations of immigrants. The fourth generation is called ''Yonsei'' (四世), and the fifth is called ''Gosei'' (五世). The term ''
Nikkei'' (日系) encompasses Japanese immigrants in all countries and of all generations.
The ''
kanreki
Hwangap () in Korean, in Japanese or Jiazi () in Chinese, is a traditional way of celebrating one's 61st birthday in Korea. It is technically the 60th birthday, but in Korean age, the person would be celebrating their 61st. The number 60 means a ...
'' (還暦), a pre-modern Japanese
rite of passage
A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...
to old age at 60, is now being celebrated by increasing numbers of Japanese American ''Nisei.'' Rituals are enactments of shared meanings, norms, and values; and this traditional Japanese rite of passage highlights a collective response among the Nisei to the conventional dilemmas of growing older.
Languages
''Issei'' and many ''nisei'' speak
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
in addition to
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
as a second language. In general, later generations of Japanese Americans speak English as their first language, though some do learn Japanese later as a second language. In Hawaii however, where Nikkei are about one-fifth of the whole population, Japanese is a major language, spoken and studied by many of the state's residents across ethnicities. It is taught in private Japanese language schools as early as the second grade. As a courtesy to the large number of Japanese tourists (from Japan), Japanese characters are provided on place signs, public transportation, and civic facilities. The Hawaii media market has a few locally produced Japanese language newspapers and magazines, although these are on the verge of dying out, due to a lack of interest on the part of the
local (Hawaii-born) Japanese population. Stores that cater to the tourist industry often have Japanese-speaking personnel. To show their allegiance to the US, many ''nisei'' and ''sansei'' intentionally avoided learning Japanese. But as many of the later generations find their identities in both Japan and America or American society broadens its definition of cultural identity, studying Japanese is becoming more popular than it once was.
Education
![The Japanese-American residents of the camp in of Nyssa, Oregon elect the council members](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/The_Japanese-American_residents_of_the_camp_in_of_Nyssa%2C_Oregon_elect_the_council_members.jpg)
Japanese American culture places great value on education and culture. Across generations, children are often instilled with a strong desire to enter the rigors of higher education. Math and reading scores on the
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
and
ACT may often exceed the national averages. Japanese Americans have the largest showing of any ethnic group in nationwide
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
testing each year.
A large majority of Japanese Americans obtain post-secondary degrees and are often confronted with the "
model minority
A model minority is a minority demographic (whether based on ethnicity, race or religion) whose members are perceived as achieving a higher degree of socioeconomic success than the population average, thus serving as a reference group to outgroup ...
" stereotype, a characterization that first gained media attention during the 1960s. Among its earlier proponents, sociologist
William Petersen
William Louis Petersen (born February 21, 1953) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Gil Grissom in the CBS drama series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2000–2015), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Aw ...
, writing in 1966 on Japanese American success, stated that "They have established this remarkable record, moreover, by their own almost totally unaided effort. Every attempt to hamper their progress resulted only in enhancing their determination to succeed."
Although their numbers have declined slightly in recent years, Japanese Americans are still a prominent presence in Ivy League schools, the top
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
campuses including
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
and
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, and other elite universities. The 2000 census reported that 40.8% of Japanese Americans held a college degree.
Schools for Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals
![20140314 SAINTS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/20140314_SAINTS.png)
A Japanese school opened in Hawaii in 1893 and other Japanese schools for temporary settlers in North America followed.
[Endo, R. (]Hamline University
Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...
). "Realities, Rewards, and Risks of Heritage-Language Education: Perspectives from Japanese Immigrant Parents in a Midwestern Community." ''Bilingual Research Journal
The ''Bilingual Research Journal'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering bilingualism. The journal was established in 1975 and is published by Routledge. The current editors-in-chief are Dr. María E. Fránquiz and Emeritus Pro ...
'', 2013, Vol.36(3), p.278-294. CITED: p. 279. In the years prior to World War II, many second generation Japanese American attended the American school by day and the Japanese school in the evening to keep up their Japanese skill as well as English. Other first generation Japanese American parents were worried that their child might go through the same discrimination when going to school so they gave them the choice to either go back to Japan to be educated, or to stay in America with their parents and study both languages. Anti-Japanese sentiment during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
resulted in public efforts to close Japanese-language schools. The 1927 Supreme Court case ''
Farrington v. Tokushige
''Farrington v. Tokushige'', 273 U.S. 284 (1927), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously struck down the Territory of Hawaii's law, making it illegal for schools to teach foreign languages without a permit, as it ...
'' protected the Japanese American community's right to have Japanese language private institutions. During the
internment of Japanese Americans
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
in World War II many Japanese schools were closed. After the war many Japanese schools reopened.
[Endo, R. (]Hamline University
Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...
). "Realities, Rewards, and Risks of Heritage-Language Education: Perspectives from Japanese Immigrant Parents in a Midwestern Community." ''Bilingual Research Journal
The ''Bilingual Research Journal'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering bilingualism. The journal was established in 1975 and is published by Routledge. The current editors-in-chief are Dr. María E. Fránquiz and Emeritus Pro ...
'', 2013, Vol.36(3), p.278-294. CITED: p. 280.
There are primary school-junior high school Japanese international schools within the United States. Some are classified as ''
nihonjin gakkō
, also called Japanese school, is a full-day school outside Japan intended primarily for Japanese citizens living abroad. It is an expatriate school designed for children whose parents are working on diplomatic, business, or education missions o ...
'' or Japanese international schools operated by Japanese associations, and some are classified as ''
Shiritsu zaigai kyōiku shisetsu
''Zaigai kyōiku shisetsu'' ( 在外教育施設 "Overseas educational institution"), or in English, Japanese international school or overseas Japanese school, may refer to one of three types of institutions officially classified by the Ministry ...
'' (
私立在外教育施設) or overseas branches of Japanese private schools.
[私立在外教育施設一覧]
(). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community ...
. Retrieved on March 1, 2015. They are:
Seigakuin Atlanta International School
was an international, private, Christian elementary school located in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, United States, northeast of Atlanta, It is an affiliate to Seigakuin University,Lively, Kit.EDUCATION IS MADE IN JAPAN, EXPORTED TO ATLANTA" ''Orla ...
,
Chicago Futabakai Japanese School
, alternately in Japanese , is a Japanese elementary and junior high day school and Saturday education program in Arlington Heights, Illinois near Chicago. As of 1988 it is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education, now the Ministry of Edu ...
,
Japanese School of Guam
The is a Japanese international school in Mangilao, Guam. It includes both day school and weekend supplementary school divisions, and the school also holds Japanese language classes. As of April 2013 Toyohito Yoneyama is the chairperson of the sc ...
, Nishiyamato Academy of California near
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
Japanese School of New Jersey, and
New York Japanese School
, also known as The Greenwich Japanese School (GJS), is a Japanese elementary and junior high school,[Keio Academy of New York
is a private high school in Purchase, Harrison, New York in the New York City metropolitan area. It is sponsored by Keio University,Lyman, Rick.THE JAPANESE WAY IN A QUIET NEW YORK SCHOOL, 463 CHILDREN OF \ JAPAN'S CORPORATE ELITE GET A PROPER EDU ...]
, is near
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It is a ''Shiritsu zaigai kyōiku shisetsu''.
There are also
supplementary Japanese educational institutions (''hoshū jugyō kō'') that hold Japanese classes on weekends. They are located in several US cities.
[北米の補習授業校一覧(平成25年4月15日現在)]
"
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community ...
. Retrieved on May 5, 2014. The supplementary schools target Japanese nationals and second-generation Japanese Americans living in the United States. There are also Japanese heritage schools for third generation and beyond Japanese Americans.
[Endo, R. (]Hamline University
Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...
). "Realities, Rewards, and Risks of Heritage-Language Education: Perspectives from Japanese Immigrant Parents in a Midwestern Community." ''Bilingual Research Journal
The ''Bilingual Research Journal'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering bilingualism. The journal was established in 1975 and is published by Routledge. The current editors-in-chief are Dr. María E. Fránquiz and Emeritus Pro ...
'', 2013, Vol.36(3), p.278-294. CITED: p. 281. Rachel Endo of
Hamline University
Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...
, the author of "Realities, Rewards, and Risks of Heritage-Language Education: Perspectives from Japanese Immigrant Parents in a Midwestern Community," wrote that the heritage schools "generally emphasize learning about Japanese American historical experiences and Japanese culture in more loosely defined terms".
[Endo, R. (]Hamline University
Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...
). "Realities, Rewards, and Risks of Heritage-Language Education: Perspectives from Japanese Immigrant Parents in a Midwestern Community." ''Bilingual Research Journal
The ''Bilingual Research Journal'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering bilingualism. The journal was established in 1975 and is published by Routledge. The current editors-in-chief are Dr. María E. Fránquiz and Emeritus Pro ...
'', 2013, Vol.36(3), p.278-294. CITED: p. 282.
Tennessee Meiji Gakuin High School
(1989–2007) was a Japanese education system boarding high school located in Sweetwater, Tennessee. The school, a part of Meiji Gakuin ( 学校法人明治学院) and affiliated with the Japanese Presbyterian institution Meiji Gakuin University ...
(''shiritsu zaigai kyōiku shisetsu'') and
International Bilingual School
The was an international bilingual day school in Palos Verdes Estates, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, serving students in Kindergarten through grade 9.Park, Andrew. "The ABCs of Asian schools." '' Transpacific'', Transpacific M ...
(unapproved by the
Japanese Ministry of Education
The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community. ...
or MEXT) were full-time Japanese schools that were formerly in existence.
Religion
Japanese Americans practice a wide range of religions, including
Mahayana Buddhism
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
(
Jōdo Shinshū
, also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran.
Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan.
History
Shinran ( ...
,
Jōdo-shū
, also known as Jōdo Buddhism, is a branch of Pure Land Buddhism derived from the teachings of the Japanese ex-Tendai monk Hōnen. It was established in 1175 and is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan, along with Jōdo Shi ...
,
Nichiren
Nichiren (16 February 1222 – 13 October 1282) was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period.
Nichiren declared that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest truth of Buddhist teachings suited for the Third Age of B ...
,
Shingon
file:Koyasan (Mount Koya) monks.jpg, Shingon monks at Mount Koya
is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks suc ...
, and
Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
forms being most prominent) their majority faith,
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
, and
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
(usually
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
or
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
). In many ways, due to the longstanding nature of Buddhist and Shinto practices in Japanese society, many of the cultural values and traditions commonly associated with Japanese tradition have been strongly influenced by these religious forms.
![USA-San Jose-Betsuin Buddhist Church-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/USA-San_Jose-Betsuin_Buddhist_Church-1.jpg)
A large number of the Japanese American community continue to practice
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
in some form, and a number of community traditions and festivals continue to center around Buddhist institutions. For example, one of the most popular community festivals is the annual
Obon Festival
or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...
, which occurs in the summer, and provides an opportunity to reconnect with their customs and traditions and to pass these traditions and customs to the young. These kinds of festivals are mostly popular in communities with large populations of Japanese Americans, such as
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
and
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. A reasonable number of Japanese people both in and out of Japan are secular, as Shinto and Buddhism are most often practiced by rituals such as marriages or funerals, and not through faithful worship, as defines religion for many Americans.
Many Japanese Americans also practice Christianity. Among mainline denominations the Presbyterians have long been active. The First Japanese Presbyterian Church of San Francisco opened in 1885. Los Angeles Holiness Church was founded by six Japanese men and women in 1921. There is also the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society (JEMS) formed in the 1950s. It operates Asian American Christian Fellowships (AACF) programs on university campuses, especially in California. The Japanese language ministries are fondly known as "Nichigo" in Japanese American Christian communities. The newest trend includes Asian American members who do not have a Japanese heritage.
Celebrations
An important annual festival for Japanese Americans is the
Obon Festival
or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...
, which happens in July or August of each year. Across the country, Japanese Americans gather on fair grounds, churches and large civic parking lots and commemorate the memory of their ancestors and their families through folk dances and food. Carnival booths are usually set up so Japanese American children have the opportunity to play together.
Japanese American celebrations tend to be more sectarian in nature and focus on the community-sharing aspects.
Politics
![Patsymink](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Patsymink.jpg)
Japanese Americans have shown strong support for Democratic candidates in recent elections. Shortly prior to the
2004 US presidential election
The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Chene ...
, Japanese Americans narrowly favored
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
by a 42% to 38% margin over
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
.
In the
2008 US presidential election
The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...
, the
National Asian American Survey National Asian American Survey is a nonpartisan organization that conducts representative surveys of the political and social preferences of the Asian American and Pacific Islander population in the United States.
Professor Karthick Ramakrishnan o ...
found that Japanese Americans favored
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
by a 62% to 16% margin over
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
, while 22% were still undecided.
In the 2012 presidential election, majority of Japanese Americans (70%) voted for Barack Obama. In the 2016 presidential election, majority of Japanese Americans (74%) voted for Hillary Clinton. In pre-election surveys for the 2020 presidential election, 61% to 72% of Japanese Americans planned to vote for Joe Biden.
Genetics
Risk for inherited diseases
Studies have looked into the risk factors that are more prone to Japanese Americans, specifically in hundreds of family generations of Nisei (''The generation of people born in North America, Latin America, Hawaii, or any country outside Japan either to at least one Issei or one non-immigrant Japanese parent)'' second-generation pro-bands (''A person serving as the starting point for the genetic study of a family, used in medicine and psychiatry).'' The risk factors for genetic diseases in Japanese Americans include coronary heart disease and diabetes. One study, called the Japanese American Community Diabetes Study that started in 1994 and went through 2003, involved the pro-bands taking part to test whether the increased risk of diabetes among Japanese Americans is due to the effects of Japanese Americans having a more westernized lifestyle due to the many differences between the United States of America and Japan. One of the main goals of the study was to create an archive of DNA samples which could be used to identify which diseases are more susceptible in Japanese Americans.
Concerns with these studies of the risks of inherited diseases in Japanese Americans is that information pertaining to the genetic relationship may not be consistent with the reported biological family information given of Nisei second generation pro-bands. Also, research has been put on concerning apolipoprotein E genotypes; this polymorphism has three alleles (*e2, *e3, and *e4)and was determined from research because of its known association with increased cholesterol levels and risk of coronary heart disease in Japanese Americans. Specifically too, the apolipoprotein *e4 allele is linked to Alzheimer's disease as well. Also, there is increased coronary heart disease in Japanese-American men with a mutation in the cholesterol ester transfer protein gene despite having increased levels of HDL. By definition, HDL are plasma high density lipoproteins that show a genetic relationship with coronary heart disease (CHD). The cholesterol ester transfer protein(CETP) helps the transfer of cholesterol esters from lipoproteins to other lipoproteins in the human body. It plays a fundamental role in the reverse transport of cholesterol to the liver, which is why a mutation in this can lead to coronary heart disease.
Studies have shown that the CETP is linked to increased HDL levels. There is a very common pattern of two different cholesterol ester transfer protein gene mutations (D442G, 5.1%; intron 14G:A, 0.5%) found in about 3,469 Japanese American men. This was based on a program called the Honolulu Heart Program. The mutations correlated with decreased CETP levels (-35%) and increased HDL cholesterol levels (+10% for D442G). The relative risk of CHD was 1.43 in men with mutations (P<0.05), and after research found for CHD risk factors, the relative risk went up to 1.55 (P=0.02); after further adjustments for HDL levels, the relative risk went up again to 1.68 (P=0.008). Genetic CETP deficiency is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease, which is due mainly to increased CHD risks in Japanese American men with the D442G mutation and lipoprotein cholesterol levels between 41 and 60 mg/dl. With research and investigations, the possibility of finding "bad genes" denounces the Japanese Americans and will be associated only with Japanese American ancestry, leading to other issues the Japanese Americans had to deal with in the past such as discrimination and prejudice.
Japanese Americans by state
Alaska
California
In the early 1900s, Japanese Americans established fishing communities on
Terminal Island
Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Be ...
and in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
.
By 1923, there were two thousand Japanese fishermen sailing out of
Los Angeles Harbor. By the 1930s, legislation was passed that attempted to limit Japanese fishermen. Still, areas like San Francisco's
Japantown
is a common name for Japanese communities in cities and towns outside Japan. Alternatively, a Japantown may be called J-town, Little Tokyo or , the first two being common names for Japantown, San Francisco, Japantown, San Jose and Little To ...
managed to thrive.
Due to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, historically Japanese areas fell into disrepair or became adopted by other minority groups (in the case of Black and Latino populations in Little Tokyo). Boats owned by Japanese Americans were confiscated by the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
. One of the vessels owned by a Japanese American, the ''Alert'', built in 1930, became YP-264 in December 1941,
and was finally struck from the
Naval Vessel Register
The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
in 2014. When Japanese Americans returned from internment, many settled in neighborhoods where they set up their own
community centers
Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...
in order to feel accepted. Today, many have been renamed cultural centers and focus on the sharing of Japanese culture with local community members, especially in the sponsorship of
Obon
or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...
festivals.
The city of
Torrance in
Greater Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
has headquarters of Japanese automakers and offices of other Japanese companies. Because of the abundance of Japanese restaurants and other cultural offerings are in the city, and Willy Blackmore of ''
L.A. Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...
'' wrote that Torrance was "essentially Japan's 48th
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
".
Connecticut
The Japanese School of New York
, also known as The Greenwich Japanese School (GJS), is a Japanese elementary and junior high school,[Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...]
in
Greater New York City; it had formerly been located in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. There is also the
Japanese Language School of Greater Hartford
The Japanese Language School of Greater Hartford (JLGH; , ) is a supplementary Japanese language school located in the Greater Hartford area of Connecticut. It is Connecticut's oldest hoshū jugyō kō. The school has 74 students as of Septemb ...
, located in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
.
Georgia
The
Seigakuin Atlanta International School
was an international, private, Christian elementary school located in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, United States, northeast of Atlanta, It is an affiliate to Seigakuin University,Lively, Kit.EDUCATION IS MADE IN JAPAN, EXPORTED TO ATLANTA" ''Orla ...
is located in
Peachtree Corners
Peachtree Corners is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and is the largest city in Gwinnett County with a population of 42,243 as of the 2020 US Census.
Peachtree Corners is the only ...
in
Greater Atlanta
Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...
.
Hawaii
Illinois
As of 2011 there is a Japanese community in
Arlington Heights, near
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. Jay Shimotake, the president of the Mid America Japanese Club, an organization located in Arlington Heights, said "Arlington Heights is a very convenient location, and Japanese people in the business environment know it's a nice location surrounding
O'Hare airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop business ...
."
[Selvam, Ashok.]
Asian population booming in suburbs
." '' Daily Herald'' (Arlington Heights, Illinois
Arlington Heights is a municipality in Cook County with a small portion in Lake County in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 77,676. Per the ...
). March 6, 2011. Retrieved on June 19, 2013. The
Chicago Futabakai Japanese School
, alternately in Japanese , is a Japanese elementary and junior high day school and Saturday education program in Arlington Heights, Illinois near Chicago. As of 1988 it is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education, now the Ministry of Edu ...
is located in Arlington Heights. The
Mitsuwa Marketplace
is a Asian supermarket, Japanese supermarket chain in America, with locations in California, Illinois, Texas, Hawaii, and New Jersey.
History
As a subsidiary of Yaohan, ''Yaohan USA'' opened its first supermarket in Fresno, California, Fresno ...
, a shopping center owned by Japanese, opened around 1981. Many Japanese companies have their US headquarters in nearby
Hoffman Estates
Hoffman Estates is a village in Illinois, United States. The village is located primarily in Cook County, with a small section in Kane County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 52,530.
The village now serves ...
and
Schaumburg
Schaumburg is a district (''Landkreis'') of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (clockwise from the north) the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hamelin-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (districts of Lippe and Minden-Lübbe ...
.
Massachusetts
There is a Japanese School of Language in Medford. Another, the Amherst Japanese Language School, is in South Hadley, in the 5-college area of the western part of the state.Most Japanese-Americans in the state live in Greater Boston, with a high concentration in the town of Brookline.
Porter Square, Boston
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc ...
has a Japanese-cultural district and shopping plaza.
Michigan
As of April 2013, the largest Japanese national population in
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
is in
Novi, with 2,666 Japanese residents, and the next largest populations are respectively in
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
,
West Bloomfield Township,
Farmington Hills
Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the affluent suburbs northwest of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Farmington Hills is the second most-populated city in Oakland County, after Tro ...
, and
Battle Creek
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encom ...
. The state has 481 Japanese employment facilities providing 35,554 local jobs. 391 of them are in Southeast Michigan, providing 20,816 jobs, and the 90 in other regions in the state provide 14,738 jobs. The Japanese Direct Investment Survey of the
Consulate-General of Japan, Detroit
The is a diplomatic mission of Japan. It is located in Suite 1600 Tower 400 of the GM Renaissance Center in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. Its jurisdiction includes the states of Michigan and Ohio.
The Japanese government proposed opening the c ...
stated that over 2,208 more Japanese residents were employed in the State of Michigan as of October 1, 2012, than had been in 2011.
New Jersey
As of March 2011 about 2,500 Japanese Americans combined live in
Edgewater and
Fort Lee; this is the largest concentration of Japanese Americans in the state. The
New Jersey Japanese School
is a private school, Japanese school located in Oakland, New Jersey, United States in the New York City metropolitan area. It is one of the two Japanese day schools operated by the Japanese Educational Institute of New York (JEI; ニューヨ ...
is located in
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
. Paramus Catholic High School hosts
weekend Japanese school and Englewood Cliffs has
Japanese school Other smaller Japanese American populations are also located in the remainder of
Bergen County
Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[Mitsuwa Marketplace
is a Asian supermarket, Japanese supermarket chain in America, with locations in California, Illinois, Texas, Hawaii, and New Jersey.
History
As a subsidiary of Yaohan, ''Yaohan USA'' opened its first supermarket in Fresno, California, Fresno ...]
has a location in Edgewater that also houses a mini shopping complex.
New York
Oregon
Rhode Island
Rhode Island is the only state celebrating Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day) as a holiday. Every year, the holiday is observed on the second Monday in August. It has been claimed that this holiday is racially-based and negatively affects Japanese American citizens in RI and other states in the U.S., ignoring traumas caused by the history of the internment camp and deaths of between 129,000 and 226,000 civilians and lasting radiation poisoning due to the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is reported that in Rhode Island, some Japanese "are uncomfortable leaving their homes on Victory Day because they fear violence."
Virginia
There are about 5,500 Japanese Americans in
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...
, representing the majority of Japanese Americans in the state and the multi-state
Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. A small, but relatively high number of Japanese Americans can be found areas surrounding the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
and
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...
.
Washington
Neighborhoods and communities
![Seattle - Uwajimaya Village 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Seattle_-_Uwajimaya_Village_02.jpg)
West
*
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
:
* California:
**
Greater Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
:
***
Anaheim
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
and
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
.
***
Cerritos,
Hawaiian Gardens
Hawaiian Gardens is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the smallest city in the county in area (approximately 1.0 mi2) and was incorporated on April 9, 1964. The population was 14,254 at the 2010 census, down fro ...
and adjacent cities.
***
Fontana
Fontana may refer to:
Places
Italy
*Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone
*Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone
*Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino
*Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi
* ...
in the
Inland Empire
The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...
.
***
Fullerton in
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
.
***
Gardena in Los Angeles'
South Bay area.
***
Lomita
Lomita (Spanish for "Little hill") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 20,921 at the 2020 census, up from 20,256 at the 2010 census.
History
The Spanish Empire had expanded into this area when the ...
in the L.A. area.
***
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
– historic Japanese fisheries presence in
Terminal Island
Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Be ...
.
***
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, especially the
Little Tokyo section.
***
Palm Desert
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has been ...
, the Japanese also developed the year-round agricultural industries in the
Coachella Valley
, map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg
, map_caption = Coachella Valley
, location = California, United States
, coordinates =
, width =
, boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...
and
Imperial Valley
, photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg
, photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image.
, map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg
, map_caption = Map of Imperial ...
.
***
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
in the Los Angeles'
San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...
.
***
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
– esp. Blacks Beach.
***
Sawtelle, California
Sawtelle is a district in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California, partially within the West Los Angeles subregion. It was established in 1899 and named after a manager of the Pacific Land Company who was initially responsible fo ...
, in West Los Angeles.
***
Torrance in Los Angeles'
South Bay area, the largest Japanese community in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
and the second largest Japanese community in the U.S.
***
Venice, Los Angeles
Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...
– historically Japanese fisheries in
Marina Del Rey
Marina del Rey (Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the greater Los Angeles area. The p ...
.
***
Terminal Island
Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Be ...
– site of a former Japanese fishing village in Los Angeles Harbor. Notable for a Japanese-English pidgin spoken there before WWII. It was demolished during the War, after its residents were sent to
Manzanar
Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one o ...
.
**
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
area:
***
University City.
***
Chula Vista
Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popul ...
.
*** Japanese community center in
Vista
Vista usually refers to a distant view.
Vista may also refer to:
Software
*Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007
*VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) ...
in North County, one of two of its kind in Southern California.
**
Central Valley, California
The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast of the state. It covers ...
region:
***
Bakersfield
Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
/
Kern County
Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield.
Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...
.
***
Butte County.
***
Fresno
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
, 5% of county residents have Japanese ancestry.
***
Livingston, California
Livingston is a city in Merced County, California, United States. Livingston is located west-northwest of Atwater, at an elevation of 131 feet (40 m). According to the 2020 census, the city population was 14,172, up from 13,058 in 2010. Living ...
in Merced County.
***
Lodi.
***
Merced
Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...
.
***
Stockton.
***
Sutter County
Sutter County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 99,633. The county seat is Yuba City. Sutter County is included in the Yuba City, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Sacra ...
.
***
Yuba County
Yuba County (; Maidu: ''Yubu'') is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 81,575. The county seat is Marysville. Yuba County is included in the Yuba City, California Metropolitan Statistical A ...
.
**
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
, the main concentration of ''Nisei'' and ''Sansei'' in the 20th century:
*** Alameda County, concentrated and historic populations in the cities of Alameda, Berkeley, Fremont, Oakland, and Hayward.
*** Contra Costa County, concentrated in Walnut Creek.
*** San Mateo County, especially Daly City and Pacifica.
*** San Jose, has one of the three remaining officially recognized
Japantown
is a common name for Japanese communities in cities and towns outside Japan. Alternatively, a Japantown may be called J-town, Little Tokyo or , the first two being common names for Japantown, San Francisco, Japantown, San Jose and Little To ...
s in North America.
*** Santa Clara County, concentrated in Cupertino, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale.
***
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, notably in the Japantown district
*** Santa Cruz County.
** Monterey County, especially
Salinas, California
Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...
.
** Sacramento, and some neighborhoods of
Elk Grove, Florin and Walnut Grove.
* Washington State:
** Seattle area.
** Bellevue.
** Redmond.
** Tacoma.
* Puget Sound region (San Juan Islands) have Japanese fisheries for over a century.
*
Skagit Valley
The Skagit Valley lies in the northwestern corner of the state of Washington, United States. Its defining feature is the Skagit River, which snakes through local communities which include the seat of Skagit County, Mount Vernon, as well as Se ...
of Washington.
*
Yakima Valley, Washington.
* Chehalis Valley of Washington.
* Oregon:
** Ontario.
** Portland and surrounding area.
** Southern Oregon valleys.
** Willamette Valley.
* Idaho:
** Boise Area.
** Caldwell.
** Meridian.
** Nampa.
* Arizona:
** Phoenix Area, notably a section of Grand Avenue in Northwest Phoenix, and Maryvale (Phoenix), Maryvale.
** Las Vegas Area, with a reference of Japanese farmers on ''Bonzai Slough'', Arizona near Needles, California.
** Southern Arizona, part of the "exclusion area" for Japanese internment during World War II along with the Pacific coast states.
** Yuma County/Colorado River Valley.
* New Mexico
** Gallup, New Mexico, in World War II the city fought to prevent the internment of its 800 Japanese residents.
* Colorado
** Denver, Colorado, Denver, note Sakura Square.
** Greeley, Colorado, Greeley.
** Pueblo, Colorado, Pueblo.
* Utah
** Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City.
Outside the West
In the Southern United States, Southern, Midwestern United States, Midwestern, and Northeastern United States, the New York metropolitan area has the highest number of Japanese Americans, followed by the Washington metropolitan area.
* Arlington, Virginia and Alexandria, Virginia (the
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...
region).
* Bergen County, New Jersey.
* Boone County, Kentucky.
* Carmel, Indiana.
* Boston, Massachusetts.
* Cambridge, Massachusetts.
* Brookline, Massachusetts.
* Chicago, Illinois and suburbs:
**
Arlington Heights.
** Buffalo Grove, Illinois, Buffalo Grove
** Elk Grove Village, Illinois, Elk Grove Village.
** Evanston, Illinois, Evanston.
** Kane County, Illinois, Kane County.
** Naperville, Illinois, Naperville.
**
Schaumburg
Schaumburg is a district (''Landkreis'') of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (clockwise from the north) the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hamelin-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (districts of Lippe and Minden-Lübbe ...
.
** Skokie, Illinois, Skokie.
** Wilmette, Illinois, Wilmette.
* Columbus, Ohio.
* Fayetteville, North Carolina – close to the Research Triangle.
* Grand Prairie, Texas (the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area).
* Japan, North Carolina – former town bulldozed by dam construction.
* Kansas City metro area.
* New York City, New York, according to the Japanese Embassy of the US, over 100,000 persons of Japanese ancestry live in the NYC metro area, including South Shore (Long Island) and Hudson Valley; Fairfield County, Connecticut and Northern New Jersey.
* Northern Indiana has a small, but evident Japanese community.
* Novi, Michigan outside Detroit.
* Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the suburbs of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester County.
* Salem, New Jersey and Cherry Hill, New Jersey (see Delaware Valley).
* Salisbury, Maryland and Ocean City, Maryland (see Wicomico County).
* Seabrook Farms, New Jersey.
* South Texas – Rio Grande Valley had Japanese farmers.
* Washington, D.C. and suburbs in Maryland and
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...
.
* Yamato Colony, Florida in South Florida.
Notable people
Politics
![Daniel Inouye Official Photo 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Daniel_Inouye_Official_Photo_2009.jpg)
After the Territory of Hawaii, Territory of Hawaiʻi's statehood in 1959, Japanese American political empowerment took a step forward with the election of Daniel K. Inouye to Congress. Spark Matsunaga was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1963, and in 1965, Patsy Mink became the first Asian American woman elected to the United States Congress. Inouye, Matsunaga, and Mink's success led to the gradual acceptance of Japanese American leadership on the national stage. Federal level appointments include Eric Shinseki and Norman Y. Mineta, the first Japanese American Chief of Staff of the United States Army, military chief of staff and federal Cabinet of the United States, cabinet secretary, respectively.
As an expansion of immigration continued in 1920, more restrictions on women were put in place.This also came with the push for more Single women to act as continental brides and come to the United States and more to raise up strong Japanese communities by marrying Japanese settlers who lived there. This push also called for women to be trained to best server the household needs, husband and mostly the empire.
Japanese American members of the United States House of Representatives have included Daniel K. Inouye, Spark Matsunaga, Patsy Mink, Norman Mineta, Bob Matsui, Pat Saiki, Mike Honda, Doris Matsui, Mazie Hirono, Mark Takano, and Mark Takai.
Japanese American members of the United States Senate have included Daniel K. Inouye, Samuel I. Hayakawa, Spark Matsunaga, and Mazie Hirono. In 2010, Inouye was sworn in as President pro tempore of the United States Senate making him the highest-ranking Asian-American politician in American history up to that time.
George Ariyoshi served as the Governor of Hawaiʻi from 1974 to 1986. He was the first American of Asian descent to be elected governor of a state of the United States. David Ige is the current governor of Hawaii and has served in that office since 2014.
Kinjiro Matsudaira was elected mayor of Edmonston, Maryland in 1927 and 1943.
In 1957, Japanese American James Kanno was elected as the first mayor of California's Fountain Valley, California, Fountain Valley. Norm Mineta became mayor of San Jose, California in 1971.
In 1980, Eunice Sato became the first Asian-American female mayor of a major American city when she was elected mayor of
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
.
Science and technology
![YoichiroNambu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/YoichiroNambu.jpg)
Many Japanese Americans have also gained prominence in science and technology. In 1979, biochemist Harvey Itano became the first Japanese American elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences.
Charles J. Pedersen won the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his methods of synthesizing crown ethers. Yoichiro Nambu won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on quantum chromodynamics and spontaneous symmetry breaking. Shuji Nakamura won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes. Syukuro Manabe won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the "physical modeling of earth's climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming."
Michio Kaku is a Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist specializing in string field theory, and a well-known science popularizer. Ellison Onizuka became the first Asian American astronaut and was the mission specialist aboard ''Challenger'' at the time of its Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, explosion. Immunologist Santa J. Ono became the first Japanese American president of a major research university (the University of Cincinnati). Ono subsequently served as president of the University of British Columbia and University of Michigan.
Bell M. Shimada was a notable Fisheries science, fisheries scientist of the 1950s after whom the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ship NOAAS Bell M. Shimada (R 227), NOAAS ''Bell M. Shimada'' (R 227) and the Shimada Seamount in the Pacific Ocean were named.
In 2018, Lauren Williams (mathematician), Lauren Kiyomi Williams became the second ever tenured female mathematician of the Harvard University, Harvard mathematics department.
Art and literature
Art and architecture
Artist Sueo Serisawa helped establish the California Impressionist style of painting. Yoko Ono's Fluxus art and performance art has been exhibited internationally. Other influential Japanese American artists include Chiura Obata, Isamu Noguchi, Kenjiro Nomura (artist), Kenjiro Nomura, George Tsutakawa, George Nakashima, Hideo Noda, and Ruth Asawa.
Architect Minoru Yamasaki designed the original World Trade Center (1973–2001), World Trade Center (completed in 1973) and several other large-scale projects. Gyo Obata designed the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C (completed in 1976) and the pavilion of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles (completed in 1992).
Literature
![Miné Okubo paused to have this picture taken (G-828) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Min%C3%A9_Okubo_paused_to_have_this_picture_taken_%28G-828%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Japanese American recipients of the American Book Award include Milton Murayama (1980), Ronald Phillip Tanaka (1982), Miné Okubo (1984), Keiho Soga (1985), Taisanboku Mori (1985), Sojin Takei (1985), Muin Ozaki (1985), Toshio Mori (1986), William Minoru Hohri (1989), Sesshu Foster (1990 and 2010), Karen Tei Yamashita (1991 and 2011), Sheila Hamanaka (1992), Lawson Fusao Inada (1994), Ronald Takaki (1994), Kimiko Hahn (1996), Lois-Ann Yamanaka (2000), Ruth Ozeki (2004), Hiroshi Kashiwagi (2005), Yuko Taniguchi (2008), and Frank Abe (2019). Hisaye Yamamoto received an American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1986.
Taro Yashima won the Josette Frank Award, Children's Book Award in 1955 for his book ''Crow Boy''. Cynthia Kadohata won the Newbery Medal in 2005 and National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2013.
Michi Weglyn and Ronald Takaki received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in 1977 and 1994 respectively.
Dale Furutani won the Anthony Awards, Anthony Award and the Macavity Awards, Macavity Award in 1997.
Poet laureate of San Francisco (from 2000 to 2002) Janice Mirikitani published three volumes of poems. Lawson Fusao Inada was named poet laureate of the state of Oregon (2006–2010).
Tomie Arai's work is part of permanent collection of Museum of Modern Art, Library of Congress, and the Museum of Chinese in the Americas.
Michiko Kakutani is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic and former chief book critic for ''The New York Times'' (from 1983 to 2017).
Karen Tei Yamashita was named the recipient of the National Book Foundation's National Book Award#Medal for Distinguished Contribution (lifetime), Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2021.
Music
![MidoriInstructingStudent 2013rehearsal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/MidoriInstructingStudent_2013rehearsal.jpg)
Classical violinist Midori Gotō is a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize (2001), while world-renowned violinist Anne Akiko Meyers received an Avery Fisher career grant in 1993. Juno Award-nominated classical violinist Hidetaro Suzuki was the concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra from 1978 to 2005. Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Yoko Ono released 14 studio albums and was named the 11th most successful dance club artist of all time by Billboard Magazine.
Other notable Japanese American musicians include singer, actress and Broadway star Pat Suzuki; rapper Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and Fort Minor; rapper Kikuo Nishi aka "KeyKool" of The Visionaries; Hiro Yamamoto, original bassist of Soundgarden; ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro; guitarist James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins fame; singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata; bilingual singer-songwriter Emi Meyer; and Trivium (band), Trivium lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matt Heafy. Marc Okubo, guitarist of Veil of Maya, is of Japanese descent.
Singer-songwriter and composer Mari Iijima is a Japanese expat currently living in the United States. J-Pop singers Hikaru Utada and Joe Inoue were both born in the United States but gained their fame in Japan.
Sports
![Ford Konno 1952](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Ford_Konno_1952.jpg)
Japanese Americans first made an impact in Olympic sports in the late 1940s and in the 1950s. Harold Sakata won a weightlifting silver medal in the 1948 Olympics, while Japanese Americans Tommy Kono (weightlifting), Yoshinobu Oyakawa (100-meter backstroke), and Ford Konno (1500-meter freestyle) each won gold and set Olympic records in the 1952 Olympics. Also at the 1952 Olympics, Evelyn Kawamoto-Konno, Evelyn Kawamoto won two bronze medals in swimming. Konno won another gold and silver swimming medal at the same Olympics and added a silver medal in 1956, while Kono set another Olympic weightlifting record in 1956.
Several decades later, Eric Sato won gold (1988) and bronze (1992) medals in volleyball, while his sister Liane Sato won bronze in the same sport in 1992. Bryan Clay (mother from Japan) won the decathlon gold medal in the Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon, 2008 Olympics, the silver medal in the Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon, 2004 Olympics, and was the sport's 2005 world champion. Apolo Anton Ohno (father from Japan) won eight Olympic medals in short-track speed skating (two gold) in 2002, 2006, and 2010, as well as a world cup championship. Brothers Kawika Shoji, Kawika and Erik Shoji won bronze medals in volleyball in 2016.
Michael Norman (sprinter), Michael Norman (mother from Japan) was a member of the gold medal-winning 4 × 400 meters relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and won an individual gold medal in the 400 meter race at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Swimmers Erica Sullivan (swimmer), Erica Sullivan and Jay Litherland (both with mothers from Japan) each won silver medals at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
In figure skating, Kristi Yamaguchi, a fourth-generation Japanese American, won three national championship titles (one in singles, two in pairs), two world titles, and the Figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, 1992 Olympic gold medal in singles figure skating. Rena Inoue, a Japanese immigrant to America who later became a US citizen, competed at the 2006 Olympics in pair skating for the United States. Kyoko Ina, who was born in Japan, but raised in the United States, competed for the United States in singles and pairs, and was a multiple national champion and an Olympian with two different partners. Two-time Olympian Mirai Nagasu won the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the age of 14, becoming the second youngest woman to ever win that title. Alex Shibutani, Alex and Maia Shibutani are two-time national champions in ice dancing and 2018 Olympic bronze medalists.
In distance running, Miki Gorman, Miki (Michiko) Gorman won the Boston Marathon, Boston and New York City Marathon, New York City marathons twice in the 1970s. A former American record holder at the distance, she is the only woman to win both races twice, and is one of only two women to win both marathons in the same year.
In professional sports, ''
Nisei
is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...
''-born Wataru Misaka made the New York Knicks roster in 1947 as the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball, just months after Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Misaka played college basketball for the Utah Utes men's basketball, Utah Utes and led the team to win the 1944 NCAA basketball tournament, 1944 NCAA and 1947 National Invitation Tournament, 1947 NIT championships. He took a two-year hiatus between these titles to serve in the United States Army in the American occupation of Japan.
Wally Kaname Yonamine was a professional running back for the San Francisco 49ers in 1947. Lenn Sakata, born in Hawaii, played in the Major League Baseball, MLB from 1977 to 1987. Rex Walters, whose mother was Japanese, played in the NBA from 1993 to 2000. Lindsey Yamasaki was the first Asian American to play in the WNBA and finished off her NCAA career with the third-most career 3-pointers at Stanford University.
Hikaru Nakamura became the youngest American ever to earn the titles of National Master (age 10) and International Grandmaster (age 15) in chess. In 2004, at the age of 16, he won the U.S. Chess Championship for the first time. He later won four other times.
Collin Morikawa won golf's 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship.
Naomi Osaka, who held U.S. citizenship until she renounced it in 2019, was the main torchbearer of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Osaka resides in the United States.
Kyle Larson, born to an American father and Japanese-American mother, won the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series.
Entertainment and media
![Miyoshi Umeki](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Miyoshi_Umeki.jpg)
Miyoshi Umeki won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1957. Actors Sessue Hayakawa, Mako Iwamatsu, and Pat Morita were nominated for Academy Awards in 1957, 1966, and 1984 respectively.
Steven Okazaki won the 1990 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for his film ''Days of Waiting: The Life & Art of Estelle Ishigo''. Chris Tashima won the 1997 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Audrey Marrs won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Kazu Hiro won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling in 2018 and 2020, winning the second award as an American citizen.
Jack Soo, born Goro Suzuki, (''Valentine's Day (TV series), Valentine's Day'' and ''Barney Miller''), George Takei (''Star Trek'' fame) and Pat Morita (''Happy Days'' and ''The Karate Kid (1984 film), The Karate Kid'') helped pioneer acting roles for Asian Americans while playing secondary roles on the small screen during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1976, Morita also starred in ''Mr. T and Tina'', the first American sitcom centered on a person of Asian descent. Keiko Yoshida appeared on the 1999–2005 TV show ''Zoom (1999 TV series), ZOOM'' on PBS Kids. Gregg Araki (director of independent films) is also Japanese American.
Shin Koyamada had a leading role in the Warner Bros. epic movie ''The Last Samurai'' and Disney Channel movie franchise ''Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior'' and TV series ''Disney Channel Games''. Masi Oka played a prominent role in the NBC series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'', Grant Imahara appeared on the Discovery Channel series ''MythBusters'' and Derek Mio appeared in the NBC series ''Day One (TV series), Day One''. Daisuke Tsuji played the Crown Prince in the Amazon original series ''The Man in the High Castle (TV series), The Man in the High Castle'' and as the voice and motion-capture of the main protagonist Jin Sakai in the 2020 video game ''Ghost of Tsushima''.
Cary Fukunaga is an Emmy-award-winning filmmaker and writer known for directing and producing the first season of HBO series ''True Detective'' and for directing the 2021 James Bond film ''No Time to Die''.
Karen Fukuhara grew up speaking Japanese as her first language and attended Japanese language schools on Saturdays for 11 years. She got her start in the entertainment industry as a host for Disney Channel's ''Movie Surfers'' before she made her film debut in 2016's ''Suicide Squad (film), Suicide Squad'' as Katana (comics), Tatsu Yamashiro / Katana. Fukuhara has since lent her talent to live-action and animated shows such as ''The Boys (TV series), The Boys'', ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'' and ''Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts''.
Japanese Americans now anchor TV newscasts in markets all over the country. Notable anchors include Tritia Toyota, Adele Arakawa, David Ono, Kent Ninomiya, Lori Matsukawa, an
Rob Fukuzaki
Works about Japanese Americans
* In 2010 Tokyo Broadcasting System, TBS produced a five-part, ten-hour fictional Japanese language miniseries, ''Japanese Americans (miniseries), Japanese Americans''. This featured many of the major events and themes of the Issei and Nisei experience, including emigration, racism, picture brides, farming, pressure due to the China and Pacific wars, internment, a key character who serves in the 442nd, and the ongoing redefinition in identity of what it means to be Japanese and American.
See also
* Buddhist Churches of America (Young Buddhist Association & Buddhist Women's Association)
* Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii
* Zenshuji Soto Misson & Soto Zen Buddhist Association
* Midwest Buddhist Temple Ginza Holiday Festival
* San Francisco Peace Pagoda
* List of Shinto shrines in the United States
* ''Chicago Shimpo''
* Day of Remembrance (Japanese Americans)
* Go for Broke Monument
* Japanese American Citizens League
* Japanese American National Library
* Japanese American National Museum
* Japanese American service in World War II
** 442nd Infantry Regiment (United States), 442nd Infantry Regiment, and the related 442nd Infantry Regiment (United States)#522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion
** 100th Infantry Battalion (United States), 100th Infantry Battalion
** Military Intelligence Service (United States), Military Intelligence Service
* List of Japanese American Servicemen and Servicewomen in World War II
* Japanese Community Youth Council (San Francisco)
* Japanese in Chicago
* History of the Japanese in Los Angeles, Japanese in Los Angeles
* Japanese in New York City
* Japanese Argentines
* Japanese Brazilians
* Japanese Chileans
* Japanese Colombians
* Japanese Mexicans
* Japanese Peruvians
* Japanese settlement in the Philippines, Japanese Filipinos
* Japanese Canadians
* Japanese Australians
* Japanese New Zealanders
* Japanese in the United Kingdom
* Model minority
* Nisei Baseball Research Project
* Pacific Movement of the Eastern World
* Japan–United States relations
References
Further reading
* "Present-Day Immigration with Special Reference to the Japanese," ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'' (Jan 1921), pp. 1–23
online 24 articles by experts, mostly about California
* Azuma, Eiichiro.
A History of Oregon's ''Issei'', 1880–1952." ''Oregon Historical Quarterly''. Oregon Historical Society. Vol. 94, No. 4, Winter, 1993/1994., pp. 315–367. Available on JStor.
* DeWan, George.
Learning How To Stay Japanese In America" ''Newsday''. January 6, 1990. PART 11, Start page NOPGCIT.
* Easton, Stanley E., and Lucien Ellington. "Japanese Americans." in ''Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America,'' edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp. 537–555
online
*
* Inouye, Karen M., "Changing History: Competing Notions of Japanese American Experience, 1942–2006" (PhD dissertation Brown University, 2008). ''Dissertation Abstracts International'' No. DA3318331.
* Jacobson, Matthew Frye. (2000). ''Barbarian Virtues: The United States Encounters Foreign Peoples at Home and Abroad, 1876–1917''. Hill and Wang,
* Kase, Toyoshi. "Nisei Samurai: Culture and Agency in Three Japanese American Lives." (PhD dissertation 2005)
online
* Kikumura-Yano, Akemi, ed. "Encyclopedia of Japanese Descendants in the Americas." (Walnut Creek, CA: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002).
* Leong, Andrew Way. "Early Japanese American Literature, 1815–1900." in ''Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature'' (2019)
online* Lyman, Stanford M. ''Chinatown and Little Tokyo: Power, Conflict, and Community Among Chinese and Japanese Immigrants in America'' (Associated Faculty Press, 1986).
* Miyakawa, Tetsuo Scott. ''East across the Pacific: historical & sociological studies of Japanese immigration & assimilation'' (ABC-CLIO, 1972).
* Montero, Darrel. ''Japanese Americans: Changing Patterns of Ethnic Affiliation Over Three Generations'' (Westview Press, 1980).
* Moulin, Pierre. (1993). ''U.S. Samurais in Bruyeres – People of France and Japanese Americans: Incredible story'' Hawaii CPL Editions.
* Moulin, Pierre. (2007). ''Dachau, Holocaust and US Samurais – Nisei Soldiers first in Dachau'' Authorhouse Editions.
* Nakano, Mei T. ''Japanese American Women: Three Generations 1890–1990'' (Mina Press, 1990).
* Niiya, Brian, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Japanese American History: An A-to-Z Reference from 1868 to the Present.'' (2001)
online free to borrow* Takahashi, Jere. ''Nisei/Sansei: Shifting Japanese American Identities and Politics'' (Temple University Press, 1997).
*
* Tsuchiya, Tomoko, "Interracial Marriages between American Soldiers and Japanese Women at the Beginning of the Cold War," ''Journal of American and Canadian Studies'' (Tokyo) (no. 29, 2011), 59–84
*
In Hawaii
*
*
* Kawakami, Barbara F. ''Japanese immigrant clothing in Hawaii, 1885–1941'' (University of Hawaii Press, 1995).
* Morgan, William. ''Pacific Gibraltar: U.S.-Japanese Rivalry over the Annexation of Hawai'i, 1885–1898'' (Naval Institute Press, 2011).
*
* Nordyke, Eleanor C., and Y. Scott Matsumoto. "Japanese in Hawaii: a Historical and Demographic Perspective." (1977)
online
*
External links
"Japanese Americans"Archive State of California.
Japanese American National Museumin Washington, DC
Japanese American Citizens LeagueJapanese Cultural Center of HawaiiJapanese Cultural & Community Centerof Northern California
Japanese American Community and Cultural Centerof
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
Japanese American Historical SocietyDensho: The Japanese American Legacy ProjectJapanese American Museumof San Jose, California
Japanese American NetworkJapanese-American's own companies in USAJapanese American Relocation Digital Archives* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110525012332/http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/photo_exhibits/yamato.cfm Photo Exhibit of Japanese American community] in Florida
Nikkei FederationDiscover Nikkei* [https://www.pbs.org/thewar/at_war_democracy_japanese_american.htm The War: Fighting for Democracy: Japanese Americans]
''"The War Relocation Centers of World War II: When Fear Was Stronger than Justice"'', a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan* Short radio episode
' from "Lil' Yokohama" by Toshio Mori, 1941. California Legacy Project.
American Life in the 20th Century in Washington State– University of Washington Digital Collections
{{Authority control
Japanese American,
Japanese-American history
Japanese-American culture in Hawaii,
History of immigration to Hawaii
American people of Japanese descent,
Japanese diaspora by country, American
Asian-American society
East Asian American