The Search for "The American Dream"

   There are a number of reasons why the Japanese first started to immigrate to the US. One of those reasons was unemployment and bankruptcy due to their difficulty of transitioning into a modern economy. By the 1900s, almost half of all Japanese immigrants migrated to Hawaii due to an increase in the economy because of the sugar industry. The majority of these immigrants were farmers and laborers, but a small amount of these immigrants later returned to Japan. After making money in the sugar industry in Hawaii, they would return to Japan. Another reason they immigrated to the US was due to safety reasons. The economic downfall caused civil riots.

   During their journey, the Japanese faced laws before they could enter the US. The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the amount of individuals that could enter the country, making it difficult for individuals to move from Japan to the US. The Act stated that only two percent of the population from that country could immigrate to the US. After the Immigration Act removed these bans in 1965, individuals from Japan could immigrate to the US.

    When the Japanese first arrived, they worked as agricultural laborers for lower wages than whites, and the only way to get land was by paying more than the whites. Then, the Japanese earned more though hard work and long hours. As they’re reputation spread, the Japanese overtook that of the whites. The Japanese practiced a wide range of religion; they were not limited to only one practice. They practiced different types of Shinto, Christianity, and Buddhism. Most Japanese practiced Mahayana Buddhism. Some other practices were Zen, Jodo Shu, and Jodo Shinshu. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese Americans were regarded as untrustworthy and dangerous, they were also very discriminated against. Some even thought that these immigrants were spies living in the US. The US sent the Japanese Americans to “internment camps”. There were a total of eleven internment camps throughout the US and approximately one hundred and twenty thousand Japanese Americans were sent to these camps.  These camps were authorized by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Since World War II, the United States have realized that these camps were a mistake. In 1988, the Congress passed an apology for these internment camps. President Ronald Regan then signed this as a law. Over one billion dollars were disbursed through Japanese Americans that suffered in these internment camps, or were heirs of individuals that went to these camps.  The Japanese in the mainland, who historically dealt with more discrimination, achieved higher income and occupational levels than those in Hawaii.

   Having been sent to internment camps due to the attack on Pearl Harbor was obviously an unfair act. The Japanese immigrated to America so they could find paying jobs, and have a better life for themselves and their families, not because they were spies. The Americans felt that all the Japanese had to take the blame and be discriminated against or punished because of the Pearl Harbor attack, which not all Japanese had to do with. The apology was well deserved, because they did not have to be sent to internment camps in the first place.