JAPANESE AMERICAN
- Imperialism: “Gunboat diplomacy” by United States leads Harris Treaty of 1858, granting extraterritoriality (exempt from local law) for U.S. citizens. [Key player: Matthew Perry]. Matthew Perry of the U.S Navy forced Japan to enter into trade with the United States and demanded a treaty permitting trade and the opening of Japanese ports to U.S. merchant ships.
- Push factors: Meiji restoration (Massive Restoration) which lead to new tax structure meaning loss of land and compulsive enlistment to the arm forces of Japanese natives
- Pull factors: Robert Walker Irwin Convention (American businessman and the Kingdom of Hawaii's Minister to Japan) recruited an initial 29,000 Japanese to work the fields of Hawaii
- Immigrant demographic: farming class, more educated than Chinese, possessed some capital, mostly from Southern Japan
- Mass Immigration: 1880s
"So, transform yourself first… Because you are young and have dreams and want to do something meaningful, that in itself, makes you our future and our hope. Keep expanding your horizon, decolonize your mind, and cross borders."
- Yuri Kochiyama, Japanese American activist