Lesson 2: The Immigration Years

Lesson 2: The Immigration Years

Organizing Question

What were the experiences of early Japanese immigrants to the United States like?

Introduction

This lesson familiarizes students with the experiences and struggles of early Japanese immigrants to the United States, known as issei (a Japanese word meaning "first generation"). Included is an activity based on selected episodes from the book, The Four Immigrants Manga. In this activity, students examine three historically significant events in Japanese American history.

Note to the Teacher

In this lesson's activity, students are introduced to the experiences of four Japanese immigrants in the early 20th century. Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama depicted these experiences in comic strip form and published them as a book in 1931. Each Japanese who immigrated to the United States has a unique story. It is important to point out to students that although we cannot make generalizations about Japanese immigration experience in the United States solely based on Henry Kiyama's depictions, the comic book covers many significant episodes in early 20th century Japanese immigration history and offers a unique glimpse into that history.

Objectives

knowledge

to learn about the experiences of early Japanese immigrants to the United States
to learn about significant episodes in early 20th century Japanese immigration history

attitude

to appreciate the experiences of immigrants

skill

to work effectively in small groups

Reading: The Issei Immigrants and Civil Rights

Debrief The Issei Immigrants and Civil Rights with the following questions:

In what ways do you think the issei were disadvantaged by not being able to join labor unions?
Do you think U.S. society was fearful of the Japanese? Why or why not?
In what ways did policymakers use the term "aliens ineligible to citizenship" to deprive the issei of certain civil rights? Why do you think they opted to use the term and not the term "Japanese" or "Asians"?
What do you think were the advantages or disadvantages of cooperating with federal authorities?
What do you think were the advantages or disadvantages of resisting federal authorities?

Activities

Activity 2-1: A Japanese Immigrant Experience

Students examine the historically significant issues of segregation, alien land acts, and the Immigration Act of 1924 as depicted in three episodes from a comic strip by Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama.