Japanese Immigration to Hawaii Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Japanese Immigration to Hawaii - Essay Example He initially called the group of islands as Sandwich Islands. Hawaii has abundant tropical vegetation, beautiful beaches and volcanic mountains. The main agriculture in Hawaii includes Sugar cane, pineapples, orchids, and flowers. The main plantation work in early Hawaii was in the sugar cane field. Hawaii is located 2,397 miles west-southwest of San Francisco. It is a chain of islands of about 1,523 miles. Due to their increase in political affairs and in the sugar production sector, Hawaii became a native kingdom in the nineteenth century. â€Å"The main islands of Hawaii ruled by independent chieftains were conquered and/or united by Kamehameha, the Great as a kingdom†. They began trading through the pacific having Hawaii as a center point for carrying provisions and other supplies. During this time, a new industry which came into existence was the sale of sandalwood in overseas markets, mainly in China. The sandalwood was cut from the flourishing Hawaiian forests. The Japa nese Entry Initially, the Japanese neither came to Hawaii islands as immigrants nor as settlers. They came as drifters on boats. They were either driven ashore in the Pacific Ocean or they were taken by sailing vessels on the seas. Hawaii is said to be the first kingdom which had maximum immigrants from Japan, there was a great transformation seen due to this prevalence of Japanese immigration. Hawaii was way behind transforming into an independent state when business men in Hawaii vigorously fixed Japanese as laborers to work in sugar cane fields (â€Å"Hawaii: Life in a Plantation Society,† n.d.). This was mainly because the Hawaiian people did not have an inclination toward working. They had the practice of working only when... One key concept that can be understood from the history of the Japanese immigration in Hawaii is the intensity of the role played by the working community in improving the political economy in Hawaii. The Japanese labor society in Hawaii proves the potential of the working class. This also gives an opportunity to the organizations to understand and be aware of the potential and importance that is given by the labor community. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries visualized the growth and awareness that the Japanese immigrant workers had. At each stage of their struggle they learnt to respond rightly to the owner community. It was between 1826 and 1850 that there were more thoughts which cropped up in the minds of political authorities in Hawaii to convert commoners into labor force to improve the economy of Hawaii. For the Japanese the entry into Hawaii and the problems that they faced in the inter relationships between the Japanese and the Americans proved to be an ultimate event. This gave birth to a new era in Hawaii. In Hawaii, the Japanese immigration and their settlement marked a time of compulsion in terms of both politics and social backgrounds. The Japanese were forced to live with a certain compulsion in Hawaii whether they were happy with it or not. The Hawaii was an American society where the Japanese could not expect any rewards or support for improving their Japanese culture. Annexation was one way which put forth limits on how the Japanese were treated by the Hawaii’s Americans in Hawaii. The end of the labor contract was seen as a trouble by many plantation owners in Hawaii.