Takaki-Chapter 10

The chapter’s main point is that Japanese immigrated to the United States and the how and why behind it. Takaki explains how Japanese originally came here to be laborers and that for the most part it was men who made the journey but gradually women began to come to the United States as “picture brides.” Takaki also explains how women were valuable as workers in the western United States.

In this chapter Takaki talks about Japanese workers migration to the United States and the fact that they were moved to California and Hawaii. Takaki also explains that in Japan Women were well educated and became workers when they were brought to this country. Takaki writes about the high demand of Japanese that Californian plantation owners wanted to work their fields.

The Chapter was very well organized and fairly easy to read. Takaki used witness accounts and explained them in context. This was in my opinion one of the simplest things we’ve had to read all year. I had very little trouble reading this chapter. It was also different from what we’ve been reading most of the semester. It was a nice change of pace to read about another ethnic group.

This chapter was very interesting and I thought that the fact that Japanese women were well educated was very fascinating. I did not know that Japanese women worked as well as the men and I think that even though Japan was not as industrialized as the United States they were much farther ahead of this country socially. In this country it was still for the most part unheard of that women worked with their husbands but in Japanese culture it was encouraged