Japanese Stereotypes

The attacks on Pearl Harbor forever altered the course of American history,the attacks also changed the way Americans viewed and treated Japanese Americans. These resentments and mistreatments of Japanese immigrants, began long before the bombing of Pearl Harbor ever took place. These biases were even present here, in the state of Washington. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor, many viewed the Japanese- Americans as threats to the country and how they should be treated became a subject of debate in popular magazines at the time. Japanese, suppressed within the United States during WWII, still radiated hope of a bright future for them and their families even while facing many adversities. Prior to WWII Japanese immigrants in Washington state …show more content…
From the time President Roosevelt gave his memorable “Infamy” speech, where he outlined the coming war, the days and months following, American biases and prejudices towards Japanese citizens began to show. The LIFE article “ How to Tell Japs from Chinese”, gives us a glimpse of American’s attitudes towards the japanese during this time period. First, the fact that this article was published sets a certain tone of fear geared towards Japanese citizens. It represents fear because, it makes the readers feel as though they have to spot and identify Japanese people. This article cashes in on this fear towards Japanese, and even amplifies them with the way they represent the Japanese people as a whole with their illustrations. When comparing the “Japs” to chinese, they decided to let Gen. Tojo a fierce man who was universally hated during this time in America, represent all of Japan. The other image shows two Japanese soldiers frowning and miserable looking compared to happy Chinese brother enjoying their day. Representing the Japanese cultures with these two images, de-humanizes the Japanese people as whole, and LIFE magazine paints a picture of them being an enemy to America and it’s people. When we compare the rhetoric of the LIFE article to that of initiative #37 we can see some distinct similarities, while also noticing some unique differences. In both instances, the Japanese …show more content…
This was an individual passage from a collection of works of Japanese individuals that once lived in the state of Washington. This particular passage was titled “To our American Sons and Daughters” and was written for future generations of Japanese Americans. Miyazaki urges younger generations to look at their elders as people that you should aspire to be. He urges future generations to think of their ancestors as adventures, trying to better their lives by traveling to America. Within this text you are able to see the Japanese perspective of their roles and views of America. Compared to the wordage in initiative #37 they see their work in the fields as back breaking labor and that they were working to improve the agriculture of America. While the Veterans of Yakima valley tried to paint the Japanese and mischievous and trying to take work away from the white man. This passage also states that future generations should admire the work Japanese people did to help make this country what it is today. He points out that they helped build the railroads that united this country, worked intensely on plowing the fields that fed the nation. They paints a much lighter image of Japanese Americans then the magazine LIFE, which depicts them as potential threats to the nation and its