Yoshiko Uchida Thesis

Yoshiko Uchida
On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by the Japanese. Yoshiko Uchida was a senior at the University of California-Berkeley. She and her family, as well as millions of other Japanese- Americans were uprooted from their homes and forced into internment camps. Yoshiko Uchida uses her experience living in the early 20th century as a Japanese American to show readers the struggle living during the time of World War II.
Yoshiko Uchida incorporates her experiences growing up as a Japanese American to bolster her stories. Yoshiko Uchida is the daughter of immigrant parents. “ Her father worked as a businessman for Mitsui and Company in San Francisco, and Iku wrote poetry , passing along her love of literature

to her girls” (Yoshiko Uchida). She started to keep journals on her thoughts and experiences growing up as a Japanese American. In her journal, she wrote of an experience that the white students at her high school wouldn’t invite her to parties or socialize with her. “ Even while attending the University of California at Berkeley, Yoshiko often faced the same dilemma of being ostracized” (Yoshiko Uchida). The white American students wouldn’t socialize with her so she found friendship in other Japanese students.After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Yoshiko and her family were sent to internment camps. “ Yoshiko and her sister were released in May of 1943, with her parents gaining release later that year” (Yoshiko Uchida). She was released in the spring of 1943 to go study at Spring Hill College. After she finished her studying, she got a job as a secretary and began writing in the evenings about her time in the internment camps. She had a mentor to help her publish her stories. Some of her books such as Journey Home and Journey to Topaz are written about her experiences living in internment camps during World War II. Uchida was resolute to tell the struggle of growing up Japanese American.
Even though Uchida grew up in America, her family continued to follow traditional Japanese holidays and traditions. “ Most of them still observed the Japanese custom of gathering on the anniversary of a family member’s death” (Uchida 102). In the book, Taro, Hana’s husband, is reluctant at first to allow Hana to get a job because he wants Hana to be a traditional housewife, taking care of his child and keeping the house clean. Taro doesn’t want Hana to get a job because he wants to be able to provide for her and their family. This shows part of the Japanese culture because many Japanese husbands want to be able to provide for their families without their wives working. Even though many Japanese- Americans want to follow the Japanese tradition as much as possible, they might have to adapt part of their lives to American culture to help them live easily. For example, Taro wants his shop to carry Japanese foods, but because his business isn’t doing well, he must adapt to American culture and sell more American foods. They will also pick up roles and responsibilities that they may have not done in Japan. For example, in Japan a man never does housework, it is usually a woman. “ Hana knew that in Japan a man never did a woman’s work in the kitchen, but Taro’s years in America had made him more understanding” (Uchida 102). Traditional Japanese Americans had to adjust gender roles and traditions to help make their lives easier and happier.
Japanese Americans never felt welcome in America because they felt like they were being seen as workers and aliens, not citizens. “ For some years now, Mary had known that her Japanese face denied her certain privileges. White people had their own special world, and the Japanese Americans were not a part of it, except perhaps as servants, day workers, gardeners, or cooks” (Uchida 104). Mary felt that even if she did become successful in her career ,she wouldn’t be accepted in America because she wasn’t white. Many Japanese Americans felt like they weren’t welcome in their community because they were of Japanese descent. “ She wondered if Kiku was as lonely as she sometimes was; as many Japanese , never more than unwelcome intruders in this land, were” (Uchida 98). All throughout the book, Uchida expresses feeling like adversaries. They would feel uncomfortable being around those who are not Japanese and leaving their community. In the book, Hana’s daughter marries a white man, who is the son of immigrants. “Joe was the son of immigrants too, and he knew what it meant like to be treated as something less than other white Americans. He understood Mary’s guilt at being ashamed of her heritage and the Japanese ways of her parents” (Uchida 117). People of all cultures who immigrated to America were made to feel ashamed of their heritage They would try to assimilate and then eventually stop following their traditions. Even the children who were Japanese that were born in America were punished after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They were sent to internment camps with their families. In the book, Kiku, Hana’s friend, was astounded when she found out her American born sons were to be sent to internment camps with them. “ The boys were American citizens. They had done nothing wrong, except to be born to parents who were of Japanese birth” (Uchida 132).Americans who were of Japanese descent were seen as outsiders and aliens rather than citizens of the United States.
Japanese Americans felt like they would be discriminated against for expressing their culture in America. They felt like they couldn’t wear their traditional clothing or eat certain foods without being ashamed of their heritage. For example, the minister at Hana’s church decided to move back to Japan, so their children could have a traditional life. “ Although she would still be the wife of an impoverished minister, in Japan she would be free to go anywhere without shame of being what she was “ (Uchida 103).In Japan, you were able to express your heritage and culture without being looked down upon. “ In a terrible flash Hana understood it was the smell of the pickled radish that was sending everyone away from her. Its odor was pungent enough to permeate her house. Of course, now the entire street car must be reeking with it. She was accustomed to its smell, it bothered her no more than the smell of roast beef would bother a white person”(Uchida 64). Hana felt embarrassed that a traditional Japanese food made the street car smell bad. After that she felt discouraged and never brought any Japanese food in the car because she felt like she would be looked down upon by the white Americans. Most Japanese Americans would only do traditional Japanese customs and traditions when they were in the comfort of their own homes. “ Even now the habit of living and working on the floor had not left her, for in Japan the floor was the ever-accommodating area that supported most of their activities, and she felt most at home working close to it” (Uchida 80). Most Japanese Americans felt most comfortable when they were at home so they could practice their beliefs without being looked down upon by the white Americans. “ She never spoke to a white person, unless she was spoken to, for the fear of being rebuffed. She could never be completely herself. It was as though she was going through life pressed down, apologetic, making herself small and inconspicuous, never able to reach out or feel completely fulfilled” (Uchida 98). Japanese Americans felt like they could never truly express themselves as Americans because of being judged and discriminated against by the white Americans.
Many Japanese Americans felt like they had to hide their traditions and stay in areas with their own race because they felt that Americans would discriminate against them.

In the book, Hana and Taro moved into a new neighborhood that was mostly white Americans, and neighbors started to complain.” There’ve been some complaints from the neighborhood about having a Japanese on this block” (Uchida 54). Japanese-Americans felt like they could not move to a better area so they could provide a better life for their children. They felt like they were not welcome to move to a new area because of the unflagging fear of discrimination. “ The fine white American ladies and gentleman have their own stores. They have no need to come to Seventh Street to buy pickled radish or soy sauce” (Uchida 20). The Japanese Americans didn’t even feel welcome to open a business in a white neighborhood because they feared discrimination. They even felt like they had to marry in their own race because they thought they would be looked down upon. “ By the time you read this, Joe Cantelli and I will be in Reno, and I will be Joe’s wife. Forgive me, but we had to do it this way. His parents would have objected and so would you” (Uchida 115). Japanese Americans didn’t want to marry outside their race because they wanted to follow Japanese traditions and have a traditional Japanese family. “ He was the conservative traditionalist, who expected her to be a submissive Japanese wife” (Uchida 114). Japanese Americans felt like they had to stay in areas with their own race and not show any part of their Japanese traditions because they felt like they would be looked down upon. All immigrants, in this case Japanese Americans, had a set of laws regulating what they could and could not do. This made them feel discriminated and unwelcome in America. People who moved to America could not own their own property. “ Someday, when Taro had accumulated enough money, he hoped to put a down payment on the shop and

buy it in Mary’s name. Because she was an American citizen, she could own property, even though her Asian parents could not” (Uchida 98). Since Japanese immigrants can’t own property, they would have to constantly pay rent and other bills, accumulating a large amount of debt and never being able to pay it back. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans had even more restrictions than they had before which was arduous for them to continue their regular lives. . “ She wished she could ask Taro to drive her to Livingston once more to see Kiku, but Japanese Americans could no longer travel more than five miles from their home. There was also an eight o’clock curfew imposed on them as well. Gradually, in bits and pieces, their freedom was vanishing” (Uchida 125).Eventually, many Japanese Americans would be relocated to internment camps across the United States. ” The orders to evacuate would come next, but no one knew when. In mid-April, the orders for their area came suddenly from the Western Defense Command, and the departure date was in exactly ten days” (Uchida 126). They had to sell their home, businesses , and most of their belongings, with little time to do it. “ Hana couldn’t understand why the young Japanese Americans who were born in the United States lost their freedom along with their alien parents” (Uchida 125). Japanese Americans felt betrayed and unwelcome when they had to sell all their belongings and move to internment camps across the country to prove their loyalty to America.
In the early 20th century Japanese Americans felt unwelcome in America. They had rules and regulations on what they were allowed to do. They felt like they weren’t welcome in their community. Yoshiko Uchida uses her experience living in the early 20th century as a Japanese American to show readers the struggle of being Japanese American during the time of World War II.