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Issei

Issei (, first generation) is a Japanese language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people first to immigrate. Their children born in the new country are referred to as nisei (second generation), and their grandchildren are sansei (third generation). (In Japanese counting, "one, two, three" is "ichi, ni, san." See: Japanese numerals).

The direct migration of Japanese to the United States started with the arrivals of student-laborers during the 1880s. The earliest of those migrated to San Francisco in 1885 and their numbers constantly expanded in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Their purpose of moving to America was to gain advanced knowledge and experience in order to develop the modern society at home. Both students and laborers were attracted by the image of America as a country that welcomes foreigners. When they first arrived in the U.S., they had no intention of living there permanently and were merely students or laborers whose purpose was to learn from Americans and to bring knowledge back to their own country.

Japanese society they left

Japan was a closed country for more than two centuries, 1636 to 1853, since military rulers from the Tokugawa family wanted to keep foreigners away from Japanese society. The only exceptions were Chinese and some Dutch people, but even they were discouraged from associating with Japanese citizens. Also, it was strictly prohibited by law for ordinary Japanese citizens to go abroad. Change came around the early 19th century when the visit of an American fleet commanded by Commodore Perry caused the new Japanese government to replace the Tokugawa system of economics and politics during the Meiji era in order to open its door to trade and contact with the outside world. As a result, the new Japanese government decided to send students and laborers to the U.S. in order to bring back the knowledge and experience necessary for the nation to grow strong.

Japanese immigration by decades

Table 1:

Source: Few Issei came as immigrants at first and most of them came to gain new experiences and to make some money and then go back to Japan.

Type of Issei occupations in the U.S., 1909

Table 2:

Source: Many Issei immigrated as laborers and worked in employment sectors such as agriculture, mining, and railroad construction.

Americans' first impression of Issei

Americans generally viewed the Issei as a crude, ill-educated lot. Possible reasons for this may be the fact that most Japanese were forced to work in menial jobs in the U.S., such as farming. Since there were many immigrants working in the U.S., Americans were relatively predisposed to have a negative view toward the immigrants. In fact, most of the Issei were well-educated. Most of them were better educated than the general Japanese public, and also compared with the average American population back then. Sixty percent of them actually completed middle school, and 21 percent were high school graduates.

Crime rate of Issei

Whether Christian, Buddhists, or nonbelievers, the Issei almost never caused trouble in the civil authority. The arrest rate for the Issei from 1902 to the 1960s was relatively lower than for any other major ethnic group in California. The only exceptions were that some young Issei committed crimes relating to gambling and prostitution, which stemmed from different cultural morals in Japan. The following table shows the crimes committed by the Issei in California from 1900 to 1927.

Table 3:

Source:
Since Buddhist social morals were deeply ingrained, the Issei tended to refrain from antisocial behavior. Also, they were concerned about the Japanese government, that the national image should not be sullied by misbehavior in the U.S.

Racial segregation and immigration law against Issei

The post-1900 cause to renew the Chinese Exclusion Act became generalized protests against all Asian immigrants, including the Issei. Since many Chinese immigrants left the U.S., hostility fell on the Issei. American labor organizations took an initiative in spreading Anti-Japanese sentiment. White Americans wanted to exclude them since they did not want any Asians to take their jobs away. As a result, they formed the Asiatic Exclusion League that viewed Japanese and Chinese as a threat of American workers. The protest of the league involved picketing and beatings of the Issei. In October of 1906, amid this anti-Japanese milieu, the San Francisco School Board, carrying out a campaign promise of the mayor, ordered all Japanese and Korean pupils to join the Chinese students at a segregated school. The Issei were not pleased with the situation and some reported to Japanese newspapers. This caused the Japanese government to protest against the former President, Theodore Roosevelt, and as a result, they signed the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907. This agreement led the period of settling and family building to come.

By 1911, almost half of the Japanese immigrants were women who landed in the U.S. to reunite with their husband. After the Gentleman's agreement, the number of Nisei, the second-generation Japanese, were born in California. Yet, it did not stop some white Americans from segregating Japanese immigrants. The Issei were a role model of American citizens by being hardworking, law-abiding, devoted to family and the community. However, some Americans did not want to admit the virtues of the Issei. The Immigration Act of 1924 represented the Issei's failed struggle against the segregation.

The Issei, however, were very good at enhancing rice farming on "unusable" land. Japanese Californian farmers made rice a major crop of the state. The largest Issei community settled around Vacaville, California, near San Francisco.

During World War II, many Issei living in the western United States were interned with their children, (Nisei Japanese Americans), and grandchildren, (Sansei Japanese Americans).

They were excluded from the labor unions and it was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court that they had no eligibility to U.S. citizenship or to own land. Although the anti-Japanese segregation prevented the Issei to assimilate into the U.S. society, they still had a hope of fulfilling their enduring desire: they left the task of building a true friendship with Americans with the U.S. born children, the Nisei.