Takaki Chapter 10

In chapter 10 of “A Different Mirror” Ronald Takaki takes up the America’s history of oppression and discrimination surrounding the Asian race and the Japanese in particular. It is scathing incitement of those in power’s manipulation of the Japanese in the unending quest for profit.

The first section of chapter 10 discusses the differences in the Chinese and Japanese cultures that affected immigrants to the US and specifically Hawaii. Chinese immigrants were typically male and relatively younger. The Chinese immigrants took on something of a bachelor culture. This would lead the proud Japanese government to have more stringent standards for potential immigrants. Due to cultural institutions such as arranged marriages, Japanese immigrants were much more prone to relocate with wives and families. After arrival Chinese and Japanese found agricultural work in Hawaii. Takaki outlines strategies by wealthy landowners to keep the ethnic groups at odds with each other, and specifically to disrupt attempts by Japanese laborers to organize. Other ethnic groups such as Koreans, Philippians, Portuguese and Puerto Ricans were put into the mix to further complicate the organization and striking process. The landowners finally relented and improved conditions for the Japanese. They provided housing as well as other amenities to pacify the Japanese laborers. Takaki points out that Japanese immigrants in Hawaii were relatively successful compared to their counterparts in California. Due to racially motivated exclusion from the labor market, Japanese immigrants turned to agriculture and private ansulary enterprises for subsistence. The self-imposed racial seclusion proved to be a big hindrance to assimilation. Meanwhile a generation of native Japanese Americans were born, and educated. They faced most of the same discrimination their parents did. The chapter ends shortly before the start of World War II with Japanese Americans not seeing much progress in rolling back the specter of discrimination.

The second section of Chapter 10 makes no real mention of the Great Depression as a factor for the racial intolerance of the Japanese Americans. The conditions faced by Japanese Americans of the time period must have been very similar to those faced by Blacks in Reconstruction Era America. Takaki makes no attempt to connect the tight economic market and increased competition for scarce funds as a contributing factor for Congressional enactment of immigration restrictions. He even goes so far as to say that the success the Japanese enjoyed was due to an expanding economy, and downplays the entrepreneurial genius they clearly had.

I found Takaki to be not very thorough in this chapter. He clearly overlooks the economic factors of the day and conveniently ends with the start of World War II. He usually covers most if not all the contributing factors with great attention to detail. This chapter left me with an incomplete feeling. He should have covered the internment of the Japanese Americans in this chapter. However I did find the first half of the chapter very informative. His explanation of labor practices in Hawaii was fascinating and I felt totally plausible. He could have explored the cross-racial discrimination the Japanese had for the Chinese and the Koreans a little, but I guess the book is indeed about race and culture in the United States.