The Japanese in Hawai’i

The Gannen Mono, or the "first year men", arrived in Hawaii from Yokohama in 1868. They numbered approximately one hundred fifty men and women of diverse background, largely urban dwellers, displaced samurai and an assortment of rogues. Since the arrival of the first shipload of 153 Japanese contract labor immigrants in 1868, much has changed.  Treatment of Gannen Mono in Hawai'i by certain plantations caused a "distasteful impression" in Japan. Japan, therefore, blocked further migration until the Hawaiian government agreed to protect the laborers. It was not until seventeen years later, in 1885, after extended negotiations, that attempts to rejuvenate Japanese immigration proved successful. In February of that year the steamer City of Tokio brought nearly nine hundred Japanese immigrants to Hawai'i. Mostly young, single males working under three-year binding contracts, they came with the intention of making their fortunes in "Golden Hawai'i" and returning to Japan with status and wealth.

These immigrants were the first of what would become wave after wave of Issei, the first generation. Each Issei group was as anxious as the next to find new wealth in Hawai'i. By 1924 so many Japanese had come to the islands that they constituted over 40% of the population. Working for low wages in the sugar and pineapple fields, day-after-day, year-after-year, hauling, cutting, slashing and burning cane, the Issei gave their muscles, blood and sweat to buttress the great plantation fortunes.

Their lives were contained within the boundaries of their plantation camps. Yet even in the midst of poverty, a sense of community, a sense of pride and permanency began to be articulated. Picture bride marriages were arranged so as to perpetuate the traditional Japanese family. Nesei women, crossing an ocean to meet husbands they had never known, began not only to serve the home and give birth to the Nisei, the second generation, but to work alongside their husbands in the fields.

The early years of the Nisei were a complex period of cultural growth and "finding oneself". At home the second generation learned filial piety, respect for the family and the simple virtues of Japanese behavior, at Japanese language school they learned to speak the language of their parents. And in American public school, from the radio and movies, from other non-Japanese of all races, they learned goals of justice, equality, opportunity and the unique blending of ethnic cultures and pidgin language known as the local lifestyle.

War interrupted the education of the Nisei, as it did I almost all aspects of life in Hawai'i. The Japanese bombs that fell on Pearl Harbor that day in 1941 caused many sacrifices for Japanese-Americans.

Sacrifices are made only with a commitment. After World War 11 the Japanese-American Nisei were committed to provide for themselves and their families a secure, equal place in the island society. The war had wrought unprecedented changes in Hawai'i's political and economic structures and the Nisei sought to capitalize upon those changes. The educational level of the Nisei climbed as returning veterans took advantage of the GI Bill. A growing tourist industry in the post-war years offered jobs and business expansion. Nisei men and women swelled the ranks of professional occupations - doctors, lawyers, dentists, teachers or engineers.

In 1954, the Democratic party, comprised largely of Nisei politicians, took control of both Houses of the Territorial Legislature. From then until the present, the Nisei would play a major political role in the emergence of a modem Hawai'i responsive to ethnic ambitions for all people. On March 12, 1959, minutes after Congress passed the Statehood Bill, Emily Morisada was born at Queen's Hospital.  The first statehood baby was of Japanese ancestry.  Recently, according to the 2000 Government Census the total population in the state of Hawaii was 1,211,537.  Of that total, 296,674 are of Japanese ancestry.  The Japanese make up 24.5% of the population in the State of Hawaii.

Throughout the years, the dreams of success the immigrants once dreamt were now becoming a reality.  In the 1950's and 1960's many local Japanese entered state politics.  Three Japanese Americans sat in congress.  John A. Burns was elected governer in 1962, and won reelection in 1966 and 1970. Burns' lieutenant governor in 1970 was George R. Ariyoshi, who served two years as governor due to Burns' illness in 1972. Ariyoshi and Lieutenant Governor candidate Nelson Doi won the election in 1974. Ariyoshi was then reelected in 1978 and 1982. He held the office longer than any other governor. He was also the first American of Japanese ancestry to lead a state of the union.  Other Japanese American political officials were Senator Daniel Inouye, the late Congresswomen Patsy Mink, and the late Representative Sparky Matsunaga.  In a recent election, Mazie Hirono and Matt Matsunaga, son of Sparky Matsunaga, were running mates for governor and lieutenant governor.

Besides the successful accomplishments the local Japanese have achieved, culture and traditions are another important part of the Japanese life line.  Today, the local Japanese people still celebrate the many important events.  Bon Festival, a celebration honoring the deceased ancestors, is held annually on the Buddhist temple grounds.  Another is the Lantern Floating Festival held in July and August.  Girls' Day and Boys' Day, Cherry Blossom Festival and Shinto Thanksgiving Festival are some of the other events that the Japanese celebrate annually.  The welcoming of the New Year is the most celebrated event by the local Japanese.  Symbolic foods and major housecleaning before the New Year begins, promises health, prosperity, and happiness throughout the year. 

The folding of the 1001 gold cranes is a very significant tradition to many brides-to-be.  It is said that if the bride-to-be can have the patience to fold such an amount, then she would have the patience to her marriage.  These festivals and traditions not only benefit the people of Hawaii but also for the State Tourism.  Every year, thousands of visitors come to experience these special events. 

The Sansei (third generation of Japanese Americans) went through the unsteady decades of the 1960s and 1970s. They experienced world and national events including the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movements, women's rights, urban development and environmental pollution. These have all impacted Hawaii and its Japanese Americans.

Currently, most sansei are now middle-aged. Many hold positions of responsibility. They face the challenge of preserving the Japanese American unique heritage and yet assimilating to Hawaii's mixing pot of diversity. About half of all marriages in Hawaii today are "mixed," as families grow increasingly multiethnic. Most sansei (3rd generation), yonsei (4th generation), and gosei (5th generation) view themselves as "locals" in Hawaii. Most are fully "Americanized."

Looking back at the past century, the Japanese have gone through many difficult times.  But they managed to build up slowly the foundation of today.  The Japanese of Hawaii today are very fortunate to enjoy the traditions and events only because their grandparents and parents worked hard to keep them alive.

Political success is in many ways the symbolic culmination of the Japanese American saga - of the Imi's plantation experience, the wartime sacrifices, and the post-war striving for acceptance and success by the Nisei. But the Japanese American drama has not been totally played out The Sansei and Yonsei, the third and fourth generations, are beginning their own chapter of the Japanese-American story. They stand at the precipice of history, realizing that past accomplishments and cultural pride can sustain but cannot guide a generation. They search for new meanings and new values beyond their ethnic background, realizing that their human values and outlooks are being blended into an evolving multicultural Hawai'i lifestyle.