Sneaky Japan

Alright, so here I am again, having just barely done the beginning of the reading for tonight.  Takaki pages 53-57, which talks about the Koreans and the beginning of their immigration to Hawaii in 1903.  Now the story of why they immigrated is almost the same as why the Chinese and the Japanese came.  They were in hard economic times (and in the Koreans case, hard times under the Japanese), and were seeking a better life in "Gold Mountain," the "Land of Gold," or the "Flowery Flag Nation" as some called it.

The Koreans of the time were under the rule of Japan, but were allowed to immigrate in 1903, and many Koreans snatched up this opportunity without question.  And its a good thing they did too, because 2 years later in 1905, they would no longer be able to emigrate, as the Japanese were taking a more "formal control" over Koreans, as Takaki said.  Why would Japan not let Koreans emigrate to Hawaii? Why would they care?  Well... it's for the same reason that the US government put in action the Chinese Exclusion Act.  The Japanese, as Takaki says "prohibited Korean emigration to Hawaii in order to curb Korean labor competition with Japanese workers in Hawaii and to cut off the source of Korean independence activities in the US" (Takaki 57).  Wow! Wait one cotton-pickin' second! Doesn't that sound awfully similar to why we (America) no longer the Chinese to immigrate to the country? Because we didn't want the Chinese to take our jobs? Funny thing that one... to bad not many people will get to hear that story.  And kind of like Michael said today in class, "It's not racist because they aren't white." Well... I just wanted to mention this so that everyone who didn't catch it in the reading could think about it for awhile.