The First Steps in America...

In 1869 two small groups of Japanese agriculturalists found their way to California. Even at that it was another fifteen years before the Japanese government permitted laborers as a class to emigrate. These initial steps notwithstanding it was not until 1891 that the number of Japanese coming to the United States exceeded a thousand a year.

The majority of these new arrivals were young, unmarried men who were under twenty-five years of age. Many of these Japanese workers found employment on the America’s expanding rail system or as seasonal agricultural workers in the West’s fields. They were dekaseginin, a term that described individuals who temporarily left their native places to seek employment and supplement their family incomes. Later, the word Issei came into popular usage; the first generation of Japanese in the United States—the pioneer generation.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, these Issei employed throughout the west, especially in agricultural. The goal of these young immigrants was to work hard, save their money and eventually return to Japan. In this respect they saw themselves as sojourners. As time passed, it became apparent to the Issei that the attainment of their financial goals would take longer than they had anticipated.
These were healthy young males who were the product of a society that placed strong value on filial piety, progeny and the continuation of the family line. A major impediment facing these men was the disproportionate distribution of Japanese males to females. Other constraints on marriage included strong cultural morays regarding marriage with non-Japanese and from 1905 on, racially restrictive state miscegenation laws.

Issei men married prior to emigration simply called their wives to join them. Others, who had the financial resources returned to Japan to be married and then accompanied by their new partners returned to the United States. The third and most numerous group relied on the Shashin Kekkon, or picture marriages. Brokered by families or friends, photos and letters were exchanged with no obligation by either party implied. If agreeable to both parties and their families the woman’s name would be entered in her new husband’s family register or koseki, as his wife. Under Japanese law, this administrative transfer constituted a legally concluded marriage. The newly registered wife was then eligible to apply for a passport for the purpose of joining her husband in the United States, avoiding the restrictive immigration laws put in place by the 1907 Gentlemen’s Agreement. In 1924 Congress ordered a cession of all Japanese immigration. [Read More]

Printable version of a complete historical summary of "The Road To Poston"
by Don Estes, Ph.D., Professor Historian, Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego.

More resources could be located on the Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA) web site.