Japanese Immigration to Hawaii - Essay Example

?Japanese Immigration to Hawaii Introduction One of the most emotive and inspiring event in the past years is the entry of the Japanese to Hawaii, keeping in mind their struggle, anxiety, and achievements. Even today people feel proud when thinking of the days of Japanese’s entry into Hawaii. Hawaii is a place which is 3,000 miles away from Japan. The Japanese immigrants demonstrated immense bravery in moving to a foreign land for life leaving behind their homeland. Though they succeeded in this, initially the early days of immigration was not free from trouble for the Japanese immigrants. Though the early immigrants underwent innumerable sufferings at their initial days of moving into Hawaii, this was all forgotten when thinking about their bright future and life both themselves and their next generation. They put in meticulous work and attained their goal because of patience, determination, and perseverance. On their initial arrival, the Japanese got a good hold in agriculture. They worked as agricultural laborers. They were paid very low wages than others. Also they had to pay more to acquire lands compared to others. Slowly the Japanese immigrants established themselves and became good competitors in agriculture. On farm lands they began to earn more due to their hard work and also by working for longer hours. Consequently, the reputation of the Japanese became higher and as a result their wages increased, and they soon took over the others in Hawaii. Gradually, like agriculture, they entered into other fields where they proved their skills and abilities (“Immigration,” n.d.). Hence, due to their hard work they contributed in great numbers to improve the economic development of Hawaii. Most cherished and victorious leaders in Hawaii are Japanese immigrants. They are a part of any profession, business, and government in Hawaii today. In the year 1890, the number of Japanese who settled in Hawaii as immigrants was more than 12,610 which increased by the year 1900. It was in this year when the Japanese made up about 40 percent of the population in Hawaii. The coming of the Federal Exclusion Act in 1924 totally stopped any further immigration from Japan. This was due to the increasing hostility toward the Japanese. Early Hawaii Hawaii was discovered in 1778 by Captain James Cook, the British explorer. He initially called the group of islands as Sandwich Islands. Hawaii has abundant tropical vegetation, beautiful beaches and volcanic mountains. The main agriculture in Hawaii includes Sugar cane, pineapples, orchids, and flowers. The main plantation work in early Hawaii was in the sugar cane field. Hawaii is located 2,397 miles west-southwest of San Francisco. It is a chain of islands of about 1,523 miles. Due to their increase in political affairs and in the sugar production sector, Hawaii became a native kingdom in the nineteenth century. “The main islands of Hawaii ruled by independent chieftains were conquered and/or united by Kamehameha, the Great as a kingdom”. They began trading through the pacific having Hawaii as a center point for carrying provisions and other supplies. During this time, a new industry which came into existence was the sale of sandalwood in overseas markets, mainly in China. The sandalwood was cut from the flourishing Hawaiian forests. The Japanese Entry Initially, the Japanese neither came to Hawaii islands as immigrants nor as settlers. They came as drifters on boats. They were either driven ashore in the Pacific Ocean or they were taken by sailing vessels on the seas. Hawaii is said to be the first kingdom which had maximum immigrants from Japan, there was a great transformation seen due to this prevalence of Japanese immigration. Hawaii was way behind transforming into an independent state when business men in Hawaii vigorously fixed Japanese as laborers to work in sugar cane fields (“Hawaii: Life in a Plantation Society,” n.d.). This was mainly because the Hawaiian people did not have an inclination toward working. They had the practice of working only when they felt like working (Masayo Umezawa Duus, 1998). This was done through agents who were sent to Japan to bring-in men who had seldom worked in such areas. Later the number of immigrants gradually increased and in 1923 Hawaii had the highest number of Japanese immigrants. Efforts were made by the Hawaiian government to bring Japanese workers to Hawaii. It was in 1860 when Japanese were required to work in sugarcane fields (“Immigration,” n.d.). “In 1868 a group of approximately 150 Japanese contract laborers arrived in Hawaii” (“Japanese Immigration to Hawaii,” n.d.). Initially, the number of immigrants was less because of the treatment that was given to the Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. Japan felt despondent about how the immigrants were dealt with in Hawaii. Hence, in 1860 when the Japanese immigration to Hawaii began, and gradually in 1880 the number of immigrants increased. It was in 1885 when both Hawaii and Japan got together and analyzed issues related to the treatment Japanese immigrants. After this, the percentage of Japanese immigrants in Hawaii increased. It was chiefly due to unemployment and economic failure that made this change. The other reason for Japanese to move into Hawaii than to U.S. mainland was that there was better race relations. The Japanese immigrants preferred Hawaii than other places. Japanese came to Hawaii putting forth their hard work and determination as their investment. At this stage, the U.S. government allowed them to go to Hawaii without any restriction. They initially suffered and underwent immense pain which later helped them to find themselves in the contemporary economic world. The sugar industry was one of the main reasons for them to start immigrating to Hawaii. The initial immigration was considered as an experiment by plantation owners (Barbara, n.d.). Labor conditions were not proper and the laborers had to face extreme humiliation. They had to work for very long hours, that is, in a day they had to work for about 12 h. The number of their working hours included their travel time from their living place to the place where they had to work (Yukiko Kimura, 1988). They had to work in the heat for more than 12 h per day. There was no labor contract followed during this time hence the laborers had no option but to do as instructed by their superiors. Women laborers were paid much lesser than men. All immigrants who arrived in Hawaii between 1885 and 1894 continued to stay back in Hawaii. They worked for cheap labor and lived a very simply life. It was initially men who immigrated in great numbers. It is seen that “between 1885 and 1894 there were around 28,000 Japanese immigrants in Hawaii.” These people’s main occupation was farming and they were farm laborers. In the beginning, about three-quarter of Japanese returned to Japan but later this number reduced to about only one quarter. Consequently, in 1900, the majority of Japanese immigrants living in the world settled in Hawaii. In 1899, thousands of Japanese contract laborers were hired by Hawaii plantation owners. It was in this year that there was highest number of employments given to Japanese. Hawaii became the main area of attention for the Japanese immigrants for many years primarily because of the improved racial relationship. On the whole, it is said that “between 1885 and 1924 approximately 200,000 Japanese immigrated to Hawaii, most of them to work on Hawaii’s sugar plantations.” The Japanese’s relationship with the society in Hawaii improved with the fact that they followed the path of the Chinese. In Hawaii, the Chinese began as laborers and developed as small businessmen. Japanese too began in the same manner and they became welcomed alternatives for Chinese to work as laborers. The people and the government in Hawaii were startled to see the developments of the Japanese immigrants. Hence, bearing in mind the major economic development of Japanese in the main land of Hawaii, many laws were passed to restrict the participation of Japanese workers in skilled occupations and they were also not allowed to make any land purchases. Labor Contracts In 1885, the Japanese government and the Hawaii kingdom signed an official immigration agreement. Within the next few years many Japanese worked on a three-year contract. The Japanese contract workers became very used to the kind of work given to them in the fields. Seeing the hard work of the Japanese, the plantation owners were very happy to hire them. “The Japanese government backed the contract labor system as a way of earning foreign exchange.” Japanese Laborers It was in 1900 after United States took over Hawaii that the Japanese laborers started to become more expressive about their discomforts and unhappiness. Even they started to stop working quite often. The reason for this was mainly because they felt that they were the only lowest-paid laborers in Hawaii at that time. This was first brought to focus in 1908 by a Japanese writer “Motoyuki Negoro.” When his articles focusing the sufferings of the Japanese immigrant laborers in Hawaii got published, this became a major issue in Hawaii. A group was formed, which included advocates, to analyze and discuss the various ways to help the Japanese laborers and to help them improve their economic status. In 1909, many laborers decided to go on strike and most of them were sent back, and other agitators were stopped from entering into the plantation areas. The laborers decided to go on strike because they found no improvement of help from many meetings, discussions, and negotiations with the plantation owners. The plantation laborers were advised to strictly not indulge into violence. Slowly the strikes became lesser and the strikers returned to their plantation work. All the people who were involved in the strike and those who were put in prison were released on bail and went back to work. The first phase of agitation was unsuccessful for the Japanese laborers. After this there were different phases of agitations in 1910 and 1920. During the 1920 strike, the situation of the Japanese laborers still continued to be the same as it was in the beginning. It was only after this year that gradually there was improvement seen in the status of Japanese laborers. There was immense improvement in their housing and economy and all basic needs were given to them with proper sanitation. In the meantime, the Japanese business community joined the whites in a committee. This was called the Palmer Plan. This committee joined together to ask the Japanese federation to call off strikes and to abandon the field of plantation workers. Initially, the Japanese federation rejected the Palmer Plan, but later after further meetings they agreed to the Palmer Plan proposal. They stood to readily accept the general principles laid down by the Palmer Plan and cooperated to put in principles into operation. As the strike still dragged on, both the morale and money came down. There began internal quarrels among the Japanese strike community themselves. Soon due to the heavy costs incurred due to strikes, the federation acknowledged this and worked toward putting strikes to an end. Plantation Laborers in Hawaii Unlike other parts of the United States, Hawaii was a place which was very comfortable for the Japanese immigrants to work though they had to struggle a lot to improve their economic status. The Japanese laborers in Hawaii had a very different experience. It was a place chiefly governed by commercial interests. Most of the work was in sugar cane fields. “The first major sugar plantation in Hawaii began in 1800. This ultimately changed the economy and ethnic mix of the islands” (Ronald T. Takaki, 1994). They had to cut, chop, and weed sugar cane on large numbers. The plantation supervisors were very strict and each laborer had a separate chief to monitor their work and to enforce the company regulations. If there were any violations then the laborers had to pay heavy fines and sometimes they even got whipped by their overseers. The laborers had to buy whatever they wanted for day to day living in the company stores and they lived in houses which the companies offered them. The houses were very small and unhygienic. The Japanese laborers were put a 3 to 5 year contract and those who did not follow rules were jailed. Gradually as the Japanese sugar cane workers established themselves in the plantation fields, they began to protest against the treatment that was given to them by the plantation workers. This resulted in major strikes in the years 1900, 1906, and 1909. The sugar plantation strike in Hawaii in the year 1920 marked to be a great event and a major milestone in the history of Hawaiian labor community. This was due to the increasing number of labor workers, the length of the strike, the involvement of two different community people in one place, the plantation area, and the demands of the laborers. The Japanese laborers, the government, and the Hawaiian plantation owners all of them together led to a great consequence in the lives of Hawaii’s Japanese. Even though the Japanese immigrants had to face disputes with the European American owners in terms of wages and way of living, the Japanese felt quite comfortable in terms of cultural independence. They did not feel isolated or they did not have the fear of racial attacks. They could very easily follow their tradition and follow them in their new location. Even “obon,” the festival of the souls was celebrated throughout the plantation areas (“Hawaii: Life in a Plantation Society,” n.d.). Meanwhile, the plantation laborers felt the difficulty in terms of the rising cost of living in Hawaii. Prices of goods increased due to the Hawaiian dependence on the mainland. “The price of a 100-pound bag of rice rose to about $8 to $15.” In 1917, few number of Japanese joined together to form Company D of Hawaii’s National Guard. The Japanese displayed enthusiasm in giving a great demonstration of their loyalty toward the Americans. The Japanese immigrants continued to settle and the island became their permanent home. In 1909, the Japanese government advised the Japanese immigrants to continue to render their support in Hawaii. The Japanese immigrants slowly, in spite of all troubles, settled well in Hawaii. By the year 1930 they became well established and their children and grandchildren felt being in Hawaii as living in their own home town. Thus, the Japanese immigrants lived in a society where they played an imperative role. Postwar Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 9, 1941, in Hawaii where the incident happened, thousands of Japanese were kept under custody and were treated as enemies. There was a shocking impact on the economy. Businesses started before the war and those which were flourishing very well had to be closed down due to heavy losses faced by the Japanese. After this, it was very tough for them to resume their business back to normal. The number of farm laborers increased and there became lesser number of qualified people who could work as professionals in various fields. History shows that the Japanese who immigrated to the mainland were in a much greater economic level when compared with those who immigrated to Hawaii. In Hawaii social discrimination played a very imperative role in putting down the Japanese immigrants economically. Conclusion One key concept that can be understood from the history of the Japanese immigration in Hawaii is the intensity of the role played by the working community in improving the political economy in Hawaii (Edward D. Beechert, 1985). The Japanese labor society in Hawaii proves the potential of the working class. This also gives an opportunity to the organizations to understand and be aware of the potential and importance that is given by the labor community. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries visualized the growth and awareness that the Japanese immigrant workers had. At each stage of their struggle they learnt to respond rightly to the owner community. It was between 1826 and 1850 that there were more thoughts which cropped up in the minds of political authorities in Hawaii to convert commoners into labor force to improve the economy of Hawaii. For the Japanese the entry into Hawaii and the problems that they faced in the inter relationships between the Japanese and the Americans proved to be an ultimate event. This gave birth to a new era in Hawaii. In Hawaii, the Japanese immigration and their settlement marked a time of compulsion in terms of both politics and social backgrounds. The Japanese were forced to live with a certain compulsion in Hawaii whether they were happy with it or not. The Hawaii was an American society where the Japanese could not expect any rewards or support for improving their Japanese culture. Many among the Japanese community in Hawaii were very unhappy about this but they had no other choice but to live with it as there was little use in fighting against it. Annexation was one way which put forth limits on how the Japanese were treated by the Hawaii’s Americans in Hawaii. The end of the labor contract was seen as a trouble by many plantation owners in Hawaii. But there was no way they could get away with this. It could be said that, taking the Japanese establishments into account, any future disputes between Japanese and the Americans in Hawaii would be less in terms of fundamental issues or rather there would be no rivalry in terms of whether Hawaii would be controlled by the Japanese or the Americans. Though through annexations in Hawaii tensions lessened, the international relationships between the Japanese and the Americans marked an increasing long Pacific rivalry. This was the place where for the first time the Japanese and the Americans met in greater numbers and at close quarters. Though the annexation imposed adjustment, the drift between them began increasing further. Further, as the Japanese government was focusing on other issues in diplomatic business it gave a way to increase the bitterness between the Japanese and the Americans in Hawaii. Bibliography 1. “Immigration” . 2. “Japanese Immigration to Hawaii” . 3. “Immigration: Hawaii” 4. “Hawaii: Life in a Plantation Society” . 5. “A History of Japanese in Hawaii,” December 1971. . 6. Yukiko Kimura. Issei: Japanese Immigrants in Hawaii, p. 3. 7. Edward D. Beechert 1985. Working in Hawaii: A Labor History. University of Hawaii Press, 1985. 401pp. 8. Barbara F. Kawakami. Japanese Immigrant Clothing in Hawaii 1885-1941. 9. Masayo Umezawa Duus. The Japanese Conspiracy, California, 1998. 10. Ronald T. Takaki. Raising Cane: The World of plantation Hawaii, New York: Chelsea House, 1994. Read More