"Immigration to America: The Japanese Journey" - Mukai Farm & Garden

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What is KONJO? The word “KONJO” in Japanese is similar to t h e E n g l i s h t e r m s grit and determination -- an apt description for the Japanese experience in America. PRONOUNCED: “CONE-JOE” KANJI: 根性 (logographic writing system) HIRAGANA: こんじょう (phonetic writing system) 根 KON (ROOT) 性 JOH (NATURE OF) discouraged by setbacks or disadvantage, and stays the course to reach objectives and do what is right. The original dictionary meaning of KONJO is the “root- nature” or “original nature” of a person. It is written with the kanji for “root” because the root of a tree was considered to be its origin. Survival is a normal human instinct, and KONJO came to mean “the will to survive” and the “do or die” nature of a person. What is the American image of a Japanese person? The beautiful Geisha on a label of canned mandarin oranges? The fierce Samurai who can cut his enemy’s head off in one stroke of his legendary sword? In truth, the majority of Japanese were farmers, laborers and craftsmen. Imagine the life of a farmer or carpenter and their families in a time with no powered machinery and only herbal medicine. The Japanese population was hard-working, accustomed to carrying out orders and to delivering tribute. The Japanese who emigrated to the U.S. were the children of these tough, resilient men and women. They accepted hardship and had a tradition of making do with what was available. The Japanese who gambled on a chance in America could not look back – they could only rely on their KONJO. Japan’s social norms discouraged people from believing they could return home if they were not happy with their new situation. Life was hard. It was the elderly, not the young, who held the assets and privileges and had the authority on who would be given opportunities. Japanese would face difficulties just obtaining permission to leave their country. And when they arrived in the U.S. they would face a white supremacist population that would be violent against other racial groups when they felt their dominance was threatened. Japanese-Americans found ways to survive and thrive, plus establish their own nuclear families and communities – first in Hawaii and the West Coast, and later all over the U.S. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1609 SAKOKU Spain Rules - England Ventures Out - Japan Closes Up By the dawn of the 1600s, Spain had conquered Mexico and South America, plus extended its colonies into East Asia, taking over what became the Philippine Islands. England, the lesser power, colonized areas of North America which would become the United States. Japan also cast a wary eye toward Spain. After Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated all of his rival Samurai Lords and became in 1603 the greatest Shogun of all history, he decided to outlaw Christianity and prohibit all travel overseas. The Dutch alone were allowed a trading post on Dejima, a small island in the harbor of Nagasaki. Any Japanese who attempted to sail from Japan would be condemned to death. Dejima, an island built for dutch trade Before the country closed up, Europeans and Africans from many nations reached Japan and traded there. They were known as Nanban, “Barbarians from the South.” Nanban Traders Worried about Spain, England encouraged its subjects to venture outward, while Japan executed its subjects who might try to do the same. Were he a Japanese subject, John Smith of the Virginia Colony (pictured at right) would have been executed for his ambition and ventures outside the realm. John Smith Soldier of Fortune The Philippines served as a base for Spanish control of the Pacific. Spain was at war with its The Spanish Captaincy Dutch subjects and was dedicated to spreading General of the Philippines Catholic Christianity. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu of Japan made every decision he could to thwart Spain’s strategy: he closed Japan to trade, prohibited Christianity and traded only with its Protestant enemy, the Dutch. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1834 The Hojun Maru Japanese Get Lost at Sea Too Despite SAKOKU, the strict policy of Japan’s Shogunate to prohibit all contact with the outside world, Japanese subjects sometimes found themselves sailing overseas through no fault of their own. In 1834, as the North American Continent was being taken away from its indigenous people by Britain, the U.S., and Mexico, a Japanese transport ship, the Hojun Maru was caught in a storm that destroyed its rudder and blew it out to sea. The ship had been transporting rice and Japanese vessels ceramics to Edo (later named Tokyo). similar to the Hojun Maru Its crew could do nothing as currents carried it slowly across the Pacific in the same way that many other wrecks from Asia have been carried to North America over the centuries after natural disasters. The Kuroshio “Black Tide” Current that runs eastward Three crew members survived on the rice they were carrying to Edo as their ship drifted eastward for fourteen months. Eventually they arrived in the land of the Makah, a whaling people whose land is still at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula in the State of Washington. They were taken captive as was the custom, and lived with the Makah for a period of time until traders from the Hudson’s Bay Company became aware that they were Japanese, and bargained with the Makah for their release. These Japanese sailors are the first known Japanese immigrants to North America. It is likely that many other Japanese actually found their way to North America but that information is lost to history. The Makah people in a whaling canoe The Makah people, like all native Americans, faced conflicts and injustices due to cultural differences and government policies. After being denied their traditional whaling rights for decades, in 1997 the International Whaling Commission granted back the Makah’s rights to hunt whales – an activity central to their culture and identity. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1854 Kurofune and Gun Boat Diplomacy Japan Opens Up to the West The modernized Euro-American powers increasingly dominated trade with China, and Japan found it The Signing of the increasingly difficult to refuse their Convention of Kanagawa approach. Yankee whalers and merchants felt they were unable to protect shipwrecked U.S. sailors from Japan. The U.S. made many attempts to establish relations with the Shogunate, complaining that Japan was mistreating the shipwrecked U.S. citizens. But the larger interest was trade. On July 14, 1853 U.S. Commodore Perry’s four Kurofune (“Black Ships”) arrived in Yokosuka Harbor, signaling a new era in Japan’s relations with the U.S. In 1854, with the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa (a trade document, not a gathering), two centuries of isolation came to an end for Japan. In the Japanese drawing of an American ship shown here, dimensions are also given so the viewer can compare its size and capabilities to contemporary Japanese craft. A Japanese woodblock print depicting a U.S. frigate with a steam-powered paddle wheel Despite changing trade relations, Japanese subjects continued to be prohibited from leaving Japan, and the Shogunate was rocked by arguments for and against further opening of the country. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1859 The Kanrin Maru An Official Mission to the United States Awareness that Japan was seriously disadvantaged in its relationships with the West, the Shogunate ordered a modern Dutch navy vessel: the Kanrin Maru. Some Samurai such as Fukuzawa Yukichi and Katsu Kaishu were strong advocates of opening Japan to the world and gaining Western technology. These two eagerly The Shogunate mission group joined a diplomatic mission to the on the Kanrin Maru, 1860 U.S. that would cross the Pacific on the Kanrin Maru. The mission traveled to many places in America including San Francisco where the group received a warm welcome. During Japan’s coming Civil War, Katsu Kaishu convinced the Shogun to cease fighting, surrender Edo Castle, and allow a new and modern government to be formed with the Emperor at its head. Fukuzawa Yukichi became a founder in higher education and established intellectual principles that guided Japan for its modernization. The Kanrin Maru Because the “Meiji Restoration” would mean the end of Samurai rule a decade later, it is often forgotten that the Shogunate did actually open Japan to trade and began to modernize its military with projects such as the Kanrin Maru. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1860 Japan’s First “Colony” in America In 1864, the United States Congress abolished the institution of slavery, but not the practice of racial and gender discrimination. Legislation and court decisions gave the rights of citizenship to men of African descent and even some indigenous men in certain cases, but racial categories continued to be allowed by Federal and State Laws. How do Asian immigrants fit in? In 1860, a group of 22 Japanese Samurai and one young woman established the first permanent settlement of Japanese in America -- the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony, purchasing land from the Charles Graner family near Sacramento. These Samurai of the powerful Aizu Wakamatsu Clan (of present-day Fukushima), had opposed the Japanese national policy of isolationism and were driven out after the (Japanese) Boshin Civil War of the 1860’s. Wakamatsu sided with the Shogun but also advocated Aizu Castle damaged by anti- learning Western technology Shogunate forces in 1868 Their dream was to cultivate Japanese products such as tea and silk. They arrived in San Francisco with great fanfare in the press and had some success until the drought of 1871 caused the colony to go into bankruptcy. Some returned to Japan. The fates of only three of the colonists are documented: • Sakurai Matsunosuke stayed on to work for the new owners of the property • Masumizu Kuninosuke married an African/Native American woman and moved to Sacramento • The young lady Ito Okei died in 1871 at the age of 19, and is believed to be the first Japanese woman buried in America Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm today KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1868 The Gannenmono Unauthorized Emigration from Japan to Hawaii A decade of political and civil turmoil in Japan ended in the capitulation of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the establishment of a modern, constitutional monarchy for Japan. The Emperor moved from Kyoto to Edo Castle. Edo was re-named “Tokyo” (Eastern Capital), and the Samurai who rebelled against the Shogun were put in charge. It was a time of drastic change. The swords that were symbolic of the absolute power of the Samurai were outlawed, as were hairstyles that denoted class status. The Shinto Religion was given prefer- ence over the practice of Buddhism associated with the Samurai. During this period of uncertainty, a Dutch-American entrepreneur recruited Japanese workers to labor in the Kingdom of Hawaii. The Meiji Government, already suspicious of such emigration and its potential to damage the image of Japan, became concerned that these workers Early Japanese farmers in Hawaii were mistreated after arriving in were strictly controlled Hawaii. by plantation owners, on and off the job They were right. The “Gannenmono” group of mostly Japanese men found they were expected to work under more severe conditions than they had agreed to. The workday was long for Japanese farm workers in Hawaii, the labor exhausting, and both on the job and off, the workers' lives were strictly controlled by the plantation owners. Many workers fled to the U.S. mainland. The government passed laws in Japan to Gannen refers to The First Year of restrict emigration and promote the dedication the Era of the Meiji Emperor. of Japanese labor to the strengthening of the mono means “people.” nation of Japan to become a “Rich Nation with Strong Soldiers.” Despite Japan’s intentions, Japanese emigration to the U.S. continued, along with discrimination in their new homeland. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1882 The U.S. Chinese Exclusion Act In the mid-1800’s, as China endured major economic privation, the image of “Gold Mountain” in America was a heady lure to early Chinese immigrants. Chinese were originally recruited as a source of cheap labor, to work in sugar cane and cotton fields, lumber camps, mines and the Transcontinental Railroad. The Chinese soon came to be seen as a menace, a “ruin to white labor,” even though they comprised a small fraction of the total immigrant population in the US. For decades, Chinese communities experienced mass deportations, lynchings and massacres. State legislatures passed a series of laws designed to tax and restrict Chinese settlement and immigration. The 1862 Coolie Trade Act outlawed U.S. involvement in the human trafficking of Chinese. The 1875 the Page Act banned the immigration of Chinese women. And the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited all Chinese immigration for a 10-year period, and prohibited Chinese from becoming naturalized citi- zens. This legislation also established “Japanese” as a racial category separate from “Chinese.” Ironi- cally, the Chinese Exclusion Act led to the recruitment of young men from Japan, who were seen as an alternative source of cheap, hard-working labor. But Japanese almost immediately became subject to discrimination. On June 27, 1894, a U.S. district court ruled that Japanese immigrants were ineligible for citizenship, as they were not “a free white person” as required by the Naturalization Act of 1790. This ban against naturalization of Japanese immigrants lasted until 1952. It was largely the Chinese who blasted through the peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to get the Transcontinental Railroad through its most difficult leg. Many lost their lives while working on this U.S. achievement. Railroad workers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, about 1865 KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1907 The “Gentlemen’s Agreement” Japanese-Americans continued to struggle with prejudice in the United States. The Meiji Administration in Japan expressed to President Theodore Roosevelt its displeasure about local government efforts to segregate the Japanese community. Although he was himself a white supremacist, because of Japan’s victory against Russia, Roosevelt realized he had to intervene in U.S. local politics to avoid more global diplomatic problems. A “Gentlemen’s Agreement” was thus negotiated through backchannel diplomacy. The U.S. would suppress further local attempts to deny Japanese Americans their civil rights. In turn, Japan would cease issuing passports to new applicants destined for the U.S., but would continue to issue passports to family members of Japanese Americans. This category included new brides for Japanese- American men. Women were brokered as “picture brides.” Photos were exchanged, men would pick a bride, and the first time the couples would meet was when the woman landed at American shores. Historians volunteering for Friends of Mukai believe that B.D. Mukai met Kuni Nakanishi in San Francisco, and that Kuni arranged in for her sister Sato to immigrate and be B.D.’s picture bride. The effect of the “Gentleman’s Agreement” was that the number of Japanese women emigrating to the U.S. would increase, and Japanese-American children Japanese picture born in the U.S. attended school with white children. brides coming to America It can be seen in the history of the Japanese-American community here on Vashon Island, that Japanese families made friends and had good social standing despite the bigotry that would express itself much more strongly and visibly in the near future. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1924 Anti-Immigration Crests Again At the turn of the century, xenophobia had built up across the U.S. as immigrants from many different countries came to find their fortunes. The anti-immigration acts passed during the 1920’s and 30’s reflected a strong prejudice against people of many different cultures. Racism and eugenics were mainstream thought in the U.S. at the time, and even recent immigrants of different back- grounds supported the acts as a compromise that might strengthen the U.S. labor movement by keeping out poor immigrants who would work for lower wages. A popular book (pictured at left) published in 1920 argued that the “white” race deserved a position of supremacy over all other races. At its publishing, even the New York Times reviewed it favorably. The Rising Tide of Color describes the collapse of white supremacy and colonialism. The Immigration Act of 1924 included the Asian Exclusion Act which prevented immigration from Asia. It supplanted The Gentleman’s Agreement. For the Japanese-American community the legislation would mean that new immigration from Japan would be next to impossible. Still, the Japanese American Community would take root and continue to thrive. As Japanese began to establish themselves economically, they formed tight knit communities. By 1930, Nisei, the American-born second generation of Japanese, were 52% of the total population of Japanese in the U.S. By 1940 they made up 63% of the Japanese-American community. They identified as Americans despite anti-Japanese laws and “yellow peril” hysteria. On Vashon Island, Japanese-Americans made a great effort to be active in the community, participating in fund-raising for new schools and fostering cross-cultural exchange. Fuyo Nishiyori of Vashon Island founded a Japanese cultural society in the 1920’s. And the gardens here at the Mukai Complex Fuyo Nishiyori are a lasting tribute to the courageous cultural expression of of Vashon Japanese-American women in the face of darkest side of the Island American character. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1930’s Japan Goes its Own Way The U.S. and Japan Drift Apart as Japan Invades China During the earlier Russo-Japanese War, about half of the Japanese soldiers sent to fight Russia’s positions in northern China lost their lives. It became a holy ground for many Japanese families who agreed with their military leaders that Japan needed to conquer more territory to protect Japan from Western Imperialists. But Japan’s membership in the League of Nations forbade it from territorial aggression and the establishment of puppet states. In 1931 Japanese forces extended their occupation of Manchukuo (Manchuria), announcing it would be headed by the last Qing Emperor of China, Puyi. Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson of the Hoover Administration declared to Imperial Japan that the U.S. would not recognize the Japanese puppet state. Japan left the League of Nations and continued an aggressive Japan’s aggressions in the 1930’s campaign in China. The U.S. felt forced to included parts of China (in pink above) and many Pacific islands become an ally of China despite China’s government instability. Japan’s invasions of China in the 1930s were only one part of their expansionist policies from many years previous. Imperial Japan’s justification for its continuous annexation of territory at China’s expense was based on a Japanese supremacist ideology developed to counter the white supremacist ideology of the Western powers. The Nanjing Massacre is among Japan’s aggressions against China. For the Japanese-American community these clouds of war would make them aware that expressions of loyalty to America were important. But many of their fellow Americans would never be convinced that Japanese-Americans were Americans. Xenophobia was a growing problem. It became worse throughout the 1930’s as U.S. tensions with Japan increased. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1942 Executive Order 9066 West Coast Japanese-Americans Interned With the anti-Japanese hysteria that followed the 1941 Locations of internment camps Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued (just two months later) Executive Order 9066, ignoring military intelligence that Japanese- Americans were clearly loyal Americans. An exclusion zone was established along the West Coast (note the dark black line though central Washington & Oregon). All Japanese-Americans who did not self- deport from the zone were forced at gunpoint to leave their homes and their possessions for internment camps located in remote areas throughout the United States. Observers (on the bridge) Jeered and spat at internees walking to the train at the local assembly center On May 16, 1942 Japanese-American residents of Vashon Island would be ordered, with two days’ notice, to assemble at Ober Park to board Army trucks and later trains with blacked out windows. They were allowed two suitcases, so many wore several layers of clothes. They were not told their destination. They rode for two days in insufferable heat. They arrived at an unfinished “Civilian Assembly Center” at Pinedale in the California desert, with no toilet facilities and minimal furniture. Two months later they were transferred to Tule Lake, California. But at least they were together. In 1943, the government decided to require all internees to sign a “loyalty questionnaire.” Tule Lake then became a segregation facility for individuals deemed to be “disloyal.” Most Vashon Islanders were again forced to change locations. This time, they did not move together but were sent to five of the camps located from Idaho to Arkansas. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1945 Now What? Throughout World War II, life continued behind the barbed wire: sports teams, newspapers, schools, marriages, births, death. Among over 100,000 individuals imprisoned for four years, there was not a single proven instance of sabotage or collusion with the enemy. When the Supreme Court lifted the west coast exclu- sion zone in January 1945, most internees were granted $25 for resettlement. Typical internment camp for How far could you stretch that in today’s dol- Japanese during WW II lars, about $375? Many Japanese-American individuals and families could not envision returning to their pre-war homes where they had faced the basest harassment – arson, vandalism, and betrayal by “friends” who had promised to look after their interests while they were in the camps. Because of the Alien Land Laws, not all Japanese-Americans had been allowed to own the property that they farmed and thus had no home to return to. Hence many moved far away from their former homes, with both fear and KONJO (grit and determination) Only about 30% of the Japanese-Americans living on Vashon before exile returned here after Order 9066 was lifted. On Vashon, the Mukai Family and a few others did return to farming, but the economics of agriculture were changing and a virus would destroy many Vashon strawberries in the coming decade. Vashon farmers Heisuke and Yunichi Matsuda Glimpse ahead to 1985: The last large-scale commercial strawberry harvest on Vashon took place at the Matsuda Farm in 1985. After that time, the large strawberry farms were gone, re- placed by U-pick farms and other smaller farms with crops sold through farm stands and local markets. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1952 Court Invalidates the Alien Land Laws The “Alien Land Laws” were state laws enacted during the early part of the 20th Century to prevent non-whites, especially Japanese farmers, from owning property. Some Japan-born (Issei) residents in the U.S. circumvented this prohibition by putting the land title in the name of a U.S.-born child (Nisei). BD Mukai, the head of the Mukai household, did just that: bought the Mukai Farm in the name of his American-born son, Masahiro Mukai. After World War II, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the alien land laws, first ruling in Oyama v California, Fred Oyama's right as a U.S.-born citizen to own property even though his father had purchased the land in his name in order to get around California's alien land law. With the 1952 Sei Fuji v. California ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the remaining alien land laws, deter- mining that they were a violation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. By the 1950’s, however, many Japanese farms had already been lost, and the agriculture was transitioning from small family farms to big business. Today there are small number of Japanese-owned farms in America. But these hard-fought gains allow more recent immigrants the opportunity for a chance at the American dream. Ross Koda and Robin Koda of Koda Farms in South Dos Palos, California continue their century-old family’s business growing popular stains of Japonica rice that their family developed. Ross Koda of Koda Farms with his Japonica rice plants Otow Orchard of Granite Bay, CA proudly maintains a tradition of dried persimmons in the Japanese style. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1960 The U.S.—Japan Security Treaty A New Kind of Relationship Japan’s economy received a significant boost in the 1950’s when the U.S. used military bases in Japan to stage its operations on the Korean Peninsula. In the 1950’s Japan remained insular and focused on recovery and economic growth. Emigration to the U.S. continued to be restrained, and the Japanese American community became more assimilated, often losing touch with their Japanese roots. U.S. Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan The US-Japan Security Treaty of 1960 showed that there was an ever-strengthening connection between the US and Japan that would create a different kind of exchange. Japan had committed to de-militarize after WWII. But the threats to its security were still there. The Japanese government adopted a policy to allow U.S. military bases to remain on Japanese soil. In a new sort of gentleman’s agreement, Japan could rely on a “nuclear umbrella” from the U.S. without having to build a military. From the occupation onward, many U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan would build ties there and marry Japanese women. Japanese spouses and their children became a new demographic in Japanese America, but were often shunned by the Japanese-American community. Japanese War Brides and their Families KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1984 Friction over U.S.—Japan Trade Japan’s Success Re-ignites the Ugly Side of U.S. Populism The U.S. auto industry had long been suffering from the delusion that it could not be challenged by foreign competition. Japanese vehicle design improved year by year, and Japanese quality control and productivity had become arguably the best in the world. Japan had taken measures to protect its auto industry, and many U.S. cars were not suitable for the Japanese market. This led to a re-emergence of anti-Japanese sentiment in the U.S. In 1984, Democratic Presidential Candidate Walter Mondale emphasized the loss of jobs in the U.S. to foreign competition. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, on a trip to Detroit, threatened to “fix the Japanese like they’ve never been fixed before.” U.S. auto workers held events where they smashed Japanese vehicles Already in 1982, Vincent Chin (a 27 year-old Chinese- American) had been beaten to death with a baseball bat by white auto workers outside of a bar in Detroit because they thought he was Japanese. In 2017, journalist Frances Kai-Hwa Wang Vincent Chin of Detroit was beaten wrote for NBC, to death by “Chin's death brought Asian Americans white auto workers together across ethnic lines to form multi- ethnic and multiracial alliances, to organize for civil rights, and to advocate for change.” With the 1985 Plaza Accord that strengthened the yen against the currency of the U.S. and other major nations, plus the opening of Japan’s markets to U.S. goods, the anti-Japanese narrative became submerged—for awhile. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1988 Reparations Although second generation Japanese-Americans, the Nisei, were often reluctant to discuss their experience in American internment camps, the third generation of Japanese-Americans, the San- sei, were outraged. They grew up with the Civil Rights movement and saw the WWII experience as inexcusable violations of civil rights. By 1978, the Japanese American Citizens League officially launched the campaign for redress. Led by Senator Daniel Inouye and three Congressmen, Robert Matsui, Spark Matsunaga and Norman Mineta, Congress appointed in 1980 The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. The group conducted a three year study of the internment and its impacts, then recommended a formal apology and financial reparations to former internees. Although it initially faced heavy resistance from President Ronald Reagan and Senate Republicans, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988, which offered a formal apology and paid $20,000 (about $40,000 in today’s dollars) to each living survivor… more than 40 years after the internment camps had closed. President Ronald Reagan signs Civil Liberties Act in 1988 Part of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act reads: Acknowledge the fundamental injustice of the evacuation, relocation, and internment of United States citizens and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry during World War II; Apologize on behalf of the people of the United States for the evacuation, relocation, and internment of such citizens and permanent resident aliens; KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration 1980 to 2020 The Post-War era sparked a new age of activism in America including the civil rights movement, feminism, and the anti-war movement. America was moving forward, and numerous programs were put into place to advance racial and gender equity. Coming out of this period was a growing movement of Asian- American activism. In 1968 Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee formed the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) in Berkeley. Soon, similar organizations sprang up throughout America. Asian American activists joined African American, Latinx and Native Americans to lobby for Asian-American activists were ethnic studies programs and arrested during a demonstration community reinvestment. The work of these activists helped save Japantowns and Chinatowns from urban renewal and launched a renaissance of scholarly research on Asian American history, art and literature focused on the Asian American experience. Japanese Americans became interested in documenting their WWII experience. During this period of extensive migration from Southeast Asia, the Philippines and South Asia there came growing concern about the influx of immigration. In the beginning there was bi-partisan support for racial equity, then America’s grassroots became more noticeably divided. Demonstration Against Japanese Americans have joined with Asian- Recent Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Pacific communities and others in strong opposition to anti-immigrant discrimination, which is evident in increased acts of hostility against Asians, as well as government practices that have imprisoned countless Latinx people seeking entry into the United States. The mantra is NEVER AGAIN. KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration Today The story of Japanese Americans on Vashon Island is a complex legacy founded on the hope of a unique people and culture, nurtured with strength and struggle. The story is shaped within the context of world events that allowed prejudice to overpower American values. Today’s Japanese-American population on Vashon reflects the larger diversity of persons of Japanese heritage in America. In addition to descendants of Vashon’s original Japanese settlers, today’s community includes third and fourth generation residents, war brides, persons of mixed race, and Japanese nationals who have chosen to live and work on Vashon. Japanese heritage is celebrated For all of us, Vashon is home. at Mukai’s annual Japan Festival Nisei struggled to join the American mainstream by putting the past behind them. Even though Japanese strived mightily to be accepted as equal Americans, they still looked different—and their presence was often condensed into stereotypes—often portrayed in media as the Japanese houseboy or gardener, the man-pleasing Geisha, or the “model minority.” During the 1960’s, winds of political change and protest swept through America, reaching the third generation, Sansei, who lobbied to rediscover their histories and grow their political voice. Racism is not gone, and today ethnic identity is a matter of pride, not shame. For the Japanese-American community, that identity is evolving. All call Vashon home. The authentic restoration of the Mukai Home and Kuni Mukai’s North Garden KONJO: The Japanese-American Journey of Immigration