Arrival

Labor contractors transported workers from Japan to work on Hawaiian sugar plantations. Many Japanese then emigrated to the mainland and worked for lumber companies, railroads, and canneries. In the early 1900s these immigrants began to establish families through the picture bride system (shashin-kekkon, literally "photograph marriage"). Immigrant bachelors sent photographs and information about themselves to go-betweens (baishakunin) who arranged meetings with the families in Japan. Marriage ceremonies took place in Japan (without bridegrooms), then the new brides traveled to the United States to join their husbands. Many arrived to discover that their husbands had misrepresented their appearances or situations.

Immigration and citizenship (431)
Arrival (199)

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199 items

vh Floyd Shimomura Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-466-2)

Grandfather's family background: working in the U.S. as a sharecropper

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-466-2/

vh Bob Suzuki Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-452-1)

Father's family background: snuck into the U.S. as an illegal immigrant

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-452-1/

vh Gene Akutsu Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-1-1)

Immigrant parent's arrival in U.S. and means of making a living

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-1-1/

vh Isami Nakao - Kazuko Nakao Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-68-1)

Sam's family background, working for the Port Blakely mill

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-68-1/

vh Isami Nakao - Kazuko Nakao Segment 5 (ddr-densho-1000-68-5)

Kay's family background: parents' arrival in the U.S., getting into farming

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-68-5/

vh Isami Nakao - Kazuko Nakao Segment 8 (ddr-densho-1000-68-8)

Description of "picture bride" system

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-68-8/

vh Toshi Nagamori Ito Interview Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-309-2)

Mother's immigration to the United States: becoming director of a shelter for "picture brides"

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-309-2/

vh Kenge Kobayashi Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-37-1)

Family background: making a living before the war

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-37-1/

vh Betty Morita Shibayama Interview Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-152-1)

Family background: grandfather "jumped ship" on way to Mexico and landed in Seattle, Washington

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-152-1/

vh Tom Akashi Interview Segment 4 (ddr-densho-1000-164-4)

Parents met and married in California

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-164-4/

vh Tom Akashi Interview Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-164-3)

After immigrating to the United States, father attends school to learn English, then graduates from college in three years

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-164-3/

vh Amy Iwasaki Mass Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-470-1)

Family background: immigration to Seattle, then moved to Los Angeles

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-470-1/

vh Marjorie Matsushita Sperling Interview Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-273-3)

Mother's arrival in the U.S. as a "picture bride": "it was a shock for her"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-273-3/

vh James Yamazaki Interview Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-175-3)

Father's arrival in the U.S.: an atypical immigrant

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-175-3/

vh Irene Najima Interview Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-226-2)

Mother's arrival in the United States

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-226-2/

vh Mitsuko Hashiguchi Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-12-3)

Parents' immigration story: marriage

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-12-3/

vh Mitsuko Hashiguchi Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-12-2)

Father's arrival in the United States, working on the railroad

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-12-2/

vh Mako Nakagawa Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-66-1)

Father's background: eking out a living in an Alaskan cannery

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-66-1/

vh Mako Nakagawa Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-66-2)

Mother's immigration story: born in Hawaii

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-66-2/

vh Mako Nakagawa Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-66-3)

Parents' meeting and marriage

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-66-3/

vh Frank Yamasaki Interview I Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-107-1)

Description of parents' early life adjusting to the U.S.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-107-1/

vh Cookie Takeshita Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-465-1)

Father's family background, getting into the gardening business

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-465-1/

vh Kay Matsuoka Segment 14 (ddr-densho-1000-48-14)

Mothers stories of adjusting to life in America

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-48-14/

vh Kay Matsuoka Segment 13 (ddr-densho-1000-48-13)

Mother's stories of arrival in America

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-48-13/

vh Mary Hirata Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-22-2)

A picture bride's arrival in the United States

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-22-2/