Hawaii's Japanese (1946)

This book examines Hawaii specifically in relating to WWII, and is one of not very many books that does that. It examines the worries about a “fifth column” of Japanese, whether or not the island Japanese were friend or foe, problems both whites and Japanese faced, and even includes some information on the immediate post-war situation in Hawaii.

Keep in mind that the situation in Hawaii in relation to persons of Japanese ancestry was handled very, very differently from the situation on the West Coast of the U.S., and books like this help us to understand why.

The mainland big business interests that were largely responsible for Hawaii's legitimate government being overthrown were the main driving force that brought in the Japanese immigrants. Reception was nice at first but, as their numbers increased and they moved from plantation workers into other forms of independent work, some people began to oppose their presence.

When the U.S. took over Hawaii, it ended any chance of the area belonging to any other country. It also allowed Nisei to become American citizens.

The whites who owned the businesses liked the Japanese immigrants as long as they knew their place and kept to it.

Very important. Hawaii has developed a history of racial tolerance (generally). Such an approach helped to prevent the wild anti-Japanese movements found on the mainland.

The school system of Hawaii has played a major role in how things turned out, which is not at all surprising. This also fit very well into the Japanese appreciation for a good education.

It seems a lot of haters don't understand just how important a good education is, and what effects it will have. Some of the anti-Jewish arguments have been very similar to the anti-Japanese arguments. One reason for the success of both groups was their emphasis on education. If you get a good education, then you have a much, much better chance of getting a decent job and having a fairly good life. Those who have turned away from a good education, not willing to make the effort to get one, are often the ones who end up being the greatest haters of all.

The Nisei were also allowed to vote. Again, this is of critical importance, because if someone feels that they have no say at all over what happens, they will become bitter and more likely angry towards those in power. People who can have a direct say over who the politicians are will be much more likely to actually care about who is “ruling” them and many will take a more active interest in what is actually going on in their area.

This is not to say that everything concerning the Japanese immigrants went perfectly. There were a series of strikes.

There was another strike, this one in 1920.

The author goes on to talk about the Japanese language schools, and the opposition that existed to them. He then talks about the various Japanese papers and other things that irritated the whites, but also points out that, as the Nisei generation grew, they became more “Americanized,” and the importance of Japanese papers and radio broadcasts from Japan shrank. The Nisei were not totally turning their backs on their heritage, but Japanese culture was no longer as important to them as it was to their parents.

He also discusses some problems that arose because of a couple of criminal cases that involved Japanese persons.

This is not a throw-away bit of information. If people come into contact with other races on a daily basis, this will, in all probability, help over time to lower racial prejudice. On the Pacific Coast at the time, whites generally did not have frequent contact with Japanese, so it was easier to hate what they had never seen.

This is another of the earlier books that actually mention the eta.

The Nisei are divided into two groups, depending on whether they have stayed in Hawaii or in the U.S. all their lives, or whether they were born here, then returned at some point to Japan for schooling. The ones who stayed her the entire time seem to have adapted much better to the American culture.

How the typical California refers to a Japanese.

How the Japanese viewed Hawaii.

The author then goes on to talk about the time just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He notes that the upper-class white homes were wondering which side the Japanese on the island was going to take. The military, who had less experience with the Japanese in Hawaii, assumed the worst. They were concerned about the access of Japanese to military bases and potentially sensitive areas.

After the attack, there were various rumors of Hawaiian Japanese treachery. Each rumor, though, was fairly quickly denied and denounced.

The denials became official.

There is, however, a very interesting complexity to the rumors. The ones that were circulated in Hawaii were disproved quickly, and ended up with the general noting that people shouldn't believe that type of trash talk. Yet, rumor continued to pop up on the mainland about sabotage, and went beyond the rumors that had originated in Hawaii itself.

The author believes that these false rumors did have an effect on the pressure for evacuation of persons of Japanese ancestry on the Pacific Coast, though.

The attacks against the Japanese Americans continued to be quite vicious on the mainland throughout the war.

Attacks against the Japanese on Hawaii were the result of hysteria or mainland feelings. Drunkenness led to some attacks, but being drunk can lead to attacks on anyone. The Filipinos had a particular dislike for the Japanese after the Philippines were invaded and conquered by the Japanese military.

There had been rumors that the Japanese on the islands would be isolated on one island, somewhat like being in an internment camp. Some people thought this would have a negative effect on the general island spirit.

Now this seems to be a darned sensible way to view things.

It seems that more than one person in Hawaii had their head screwed on right.

The first of the proclamations aimed at the Hawaiian Japanese.

Meanwhile, the military was making statements like this, trying to prevent problems from arising, and trying to treat the Japanese at least halfway decently.

The Army was basically trying to treat everyone pretty much equally.

Not everyone wanted the Japanese to stay on the island, though.

There were some Japanese arrested, but most of them had something to do with the consular staff and that's a group to be naturally suspicious of. Otherwise, there weren't many arrests or internments.

The initial targets on the military's “grab them” list. In addition, Kibei were suspects.

Another intelligent Army individual, saying that there haven't really been any problems with the Japanese, no one's planning to kick them out to internment camps, but, just the same, the Army is keeping its eye on them. It's a statement to mollify those made nervous by the presence of the Japanese on the islands, but also mollify the same Japanese somewhat. Everyone gets treated equally, and is innocent until proven guilty. On the mainland, of course, the persons of Japanese ancestry were considered guilty until proven innocent which, incidentally, they really weren't in a position to do until well into the internment period.

Another reason not to kick the Japanese out was their economic importance to the island. I'll repeat the numbers here, the job being first and second the percentage of workers in that job who were Japanese:

Sugar plantation workers: 30%
Clerical and sales: 39%
Craftsmen: 51%
Restaurants, bars: 53%
Food and dairy stories: 59%
Retail trade owners: 62%
Farmers, farm managers: 73%

Plus what seems to have been a large percentage of the domestic servants.

Losing the workers is only part of the problem, the other part being replacing the workers lost, and that would have been a really, really hard thing to do. It's quite obvious from the numbers that food production and sale would have taken a major hit if the Japanese had been kicked out.

The concept they were working with was basically that, if you treat everyone equally, everyone will probably be able to adapt (assimilate). Everyone will be having the same gripes, everyone will be having the same shortages and inconveniences, and, with everyone in the same boat, everyone will probably get along fairly well, and that is exactly what happened (with, of course, a few exceptions here and there.) People will often live up to (or down to) the expectations placed upon them.

There was a Public Morale Section, set up with a Haole, a Japanese, and a Chinese. Again, something that made sense.

Another sensible thing done to make the Japanese feel more a part of the community. This is especially interesting in that it helps to show one reason why American schools are not doing well. There is virtually no attempt to make the community take an interest in them, nor for them to take an interest in the community.

The author then goes into the program for getting Nisei to join the American military. The non-Japanese could get behind this, also. For those who liked the Japanese, it showed them what they knew all along, that the Japanese on the islands were loyal Americans who would fight for their country. For those who didn't like the Japanese, it allowed them to say, basically, that if the Japanese are as good as they claim to be, and like America as much as they claim, then let them prove it. A win-win position.

There was a problem, though, in the serviceman from the mainland who came to Hawaii (to be shipped elsewhere, usually). They sometimes had the anti-Japanese prejudice from the West Coast and from the movies and other media, so they didn't care much for the Japanese they encountered on the islands.

As time went on, and as some of them spent more time with the island Japanese, their attitudes started to change. A good bit of this ended up revolving around male/female relationships.

The author also talks a little about how some of the Issei had difficulty accepting the fact that Japan had lost the war, a few of them making up all sorts of strange ideas to try and prove that Japan had really won the war.

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