Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on existentialism
The Philosophy Of Existentialism
The Philosophy Of Existentialism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essays on existentialism
Yoshiko Uchida was born into a nice Japanese-American Christian family in Alameda, California. She had one sister and they lived in a rented home in an area which had previously been restricted to whites in Berkeley. Yoshiko Uchida was able to experience a cheerful childhood by taking piano lessons, going to concerts, visiting museums, and traveling on memorable vacations to the East Coast and Japan. Yoshiko attended Sunday school at Japanese Independent Congregational Church of Oakland with her family. Although Yoshiko and her older sister spoke Japanese at home (their parents still spoke and read English well), during the week, they did not go to a Japanese language school like other Nisei. Yoshiko grew older and her life changed. She graduated
Matsumoto studies three generations, Issei, Nisei, and Sansei living in a closely linked ethnic community. She focuses her studies in the Japanese immigration experiences during the time when many Americans were scared with the influx of immigrants from Asia. The book shows a vivid picture of how Cortex Japanese endured violence, discriminations during Anti-Asian legislation and prejudice in 1920s, the Great Depression of 1930s, and the internment of 1940s. It also shows an examination of the adjustment period after the end of World War II and their return to the home place.
'Even with all the mental anguish and struggle, an elemental instinct bound us to this soil. Here we were born; here we wanted to live. We had tasted of its freedom and learned of its brave hopes for democracy. It was too late, much too late for us to turn back.' (Sone 124). This statement is key to understanding much of the novel, Nisei Daughter, written by Monica Sone. From one perspective, this novel is an autobiographical account of a Japanese American girl and the ways in which she constructed her own self-identity. On the other hand, the novel depicts the distinct differences and tension that formed between the Issei and Nisei generations. Moreover, it can be seen as an attempt to describe the confusion experienced by Japanese Americans torn between two cultures.
Her father was a fisherman in Long Beach with her two oldest brothers working as his crew on his prideful fishing boat. The family lived in Ocean Park, a small town in Santa Monica, where they were the only Japanese family in their neighborhood. Her father liked it that way because the label of being Japanese or even Asian was trite. When the news that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Jeanne and most of her family found themselves asking the same question: " What is Pearl Harbor?" (Houston 6) When the news came, her father seemed to be the only one to understand. He proceeded to burn his country's flag that he brought to the US with him wh...
Issei, first-generation Japanese immigrants in the America, would give birth to their children within the United States, giving them automatic citizenship. This new generation of Japanese-Americans would be given the name “Nisei”, as society would question their loyalty, while being racially and legally discriminated against, by their community and government.
Nisei Daughter is a memoir of the author, Monica Sone’s experience growing up as a Japanese American in the United States prior to and during World War II. Born in America to Japanese immigrant parents, Sone is referred to as a Nisei, a second-generation Japanese American. Sone’s parents, Issei, the first-generation Japanese immigrants to America. Because Nisei were born in the United States they were considered to be an American citizen, but due to immigration laws any Issei was forbidden from becoming a U. S. citizen. Sone recollection of this time period of her life illustrates many themes throughout the memoir. One of these themes that Sone touches upon is the conflict between old and new, the Issei and Nisei.
Written by Margaret K. Pai, the Dreams of Two Yi-min narrates the story of her Korean American family with the main focus on the life journeys of her father and mother, Do In Kwon and Hee Kyung Lee. Much like the majority of the pre-World War II immigrants, the author’s family is marked and characterized by the common perception of the “typical” Asian immigrant status in the early 20th century: low class, lack of English speaking ability, lack of transferable education and skills, and lack of knowledge on the host society’s mainstream networks and institutions (Zhou and Gatewood 120, Zhou 224). Despite living in a foreign land with countless barriers and lack of capital, Kwon lead his wife and children to assimilate culturally, economically, and structurally through his growing entrepreneurship. Lee, on the other hand, devoted herself not only to her husband’s business but also to the Korean American society. By investing her time in the Korean Methodist Church and the efforts of its associated societies, such as the Methodist Ladies Aid Society and the Youngnam Puin Hoe, Lee made a worthy contribution to the emergence and existence of Hawaii’s Korean American community.
Ronald Takaki was Japanese- American whose forefathers had immigrated to Hawaii to work in the sugar plantations. Having grown up in Hawaii among other Asian Americans and Hawaii Islanders, Robert never felt out of place. Why would he? He always blended in. It wasn’t until Robert moved to Ohio to attend college that he realized the truth behind how he looked. He was one of only two Asian Americans in the university. He stood out and soon this experience set him on the path of finding his identity as an Asian and as an American.
During the Genpei War, a young women who name was Tomoe Gozen was a Japanese women Samurai. She was born in 1157 to 1247 and in Japanese standards. She died at the age of ninety-one years old. Tomoe Gozen was one of the few women Samurai legends. She fought alongside her husband, Minamoto no Yoshinaka, then against her cousin Taira. Tomoe Gozen was famous as a swordswomen, a skilled ride, and a superd archer. She was her husband, Minamoto, first captain. Tomoe Gozen at least took one person head off during the battle of Awazu in 1184. Late in the Genpei war was a conflict between two Samari clans, the Minamoto clan and the Taira clan. Both of the families wanted to control the Shogunate. At the end, the Minamoto clan won and then established the Kamakura Shogunate in 1192. After the war, some people say that Tomoe stayed in the fight and died. Others say she rode away and carrying a man’s head. Still others says she married Wada Yoshimori, then she became a nun.
into their own dialect. One example of how Japan was influenced culturally from the Diary of
Monica Sone's memoir shows how growing up was like as a Japanese American in the United States before and during World War II. As the War was upon the U.S it was by no means an easy time for any American citizen, especially the Japanese Americans who dealt with persecution all along the West Coast. Kazuko was born in America to Japanese immigrant parents, known as Nisei which means second-generation Japanese American. While her parents are Issei which is first-generation Japanese immigrants to America. Nisei Daughter primary focus is on the family's strength in the face of challenges ahead, and their capability to give up everything for the country they love. Sone provides the process of assimilation, which is members of a minority group adopting to the behaviors and attitudes of the majority population. In Nisei Daughter, the issue of assimilation becomes especially complex. That is due to the fact that Japanese Americans including the Ioti’s are
..., determined to please their families to prove that they in fact could live a life of their own. However, as a part of the immigrant experience, emphasized throughout Uchida’s Picture Bride, immigrants faced numerous problems and hardships, including a sense of disillusionment and disappointment, facing racial discrimination not only by white men, but even the United States government. Immigrants were plagued with economic hardships, and were forced to survive day by day in terrible living conditions. After the tragedy at Pearl Harbor, the government further stripped Japanese American’s rights, as seen in internment camps. Japanese immigrants had to quickly realize that they had to tolerate these conditions and put their fantasies and illusions aside in order to build a new life for themselves and future generations.
In Monica Sone’s memoir, “Nisei Daughter”, her experience in the camps ran by the United States during World War II alters her perception of the U.S, causing her to embrace her Japanese roots. In 1941 Japans attack on the U.S creates a discriminatory environment for Japanese’s Americans. In the time of horror, Sone finds herself relating more to her Japanese heritage. The structure of the memoir focus mainly on Sone’s life before World War II, as a Nisei Japanese living the American dream. In the beginning chapters, Sone lives a typical American life. However, the last portion of the memoir gives an insight to the drastic change caused by Pearl Harbor. This forces Sone to identity as a Japanese, and later leads her to embracement of her Japanese
Takashi Murakami is an incredible, talented Japanese artist whose modern artwork has attracted even the biggest names in the industry for collaborations, such as Kanye West and Louis Vuitton. Although Murakami does not think of his artwork as Pop Art, his work does have a Pop Art feel to it. To people without the knowledge of history behind his work, they will think that his work is happy and colorful, but behind the bright colors and the happy caricatures, Murakami tells a story that was inspired by the struggles of discriminated people.
In addition, shortly thereafter, she and a small group of American business professionals left to Japan. The conflict between values became evident very early on when it was discovered that women in Japan were treated by locals as second-class citizens. The country values there were very different, and the women began almost immediately feeling alienated. The options ...
Ever since I was a child, I have had the privilege to go to Japan annually because of my father’s work. Although the duration of these trips were around two weeks on average, there was a time eleven years ago that I had stayed in Japan for two months. During these two months, my mother had decided to sign me up to attend a Japanese elementary school. Here, I would experience school as my mother had, and pick up on a little more Japanese than I did at home. Surprisingly, what I learned was not limited to