the second-generation Japanese, were born in California. Yet, it did not stop some white Americans from segregating Japanese immigrants. The Issei were a role model of American citizens by being hardworking, law-abiding, devoted to family and the community. However, some Americans did not want to admit the virtues of the Issei. The Immigration Act of 1924 represented the Issei's failed struggle against the segregation. The experiences of the Issei extend from well before the period before 1 July 1924, when the Japanese Exclusion Act came into effect. The Issei, however, were very good at enhancing rice farming on "unusable" land. Japanese Californian farmers made rice a major crop of the state. The largest Issei community settled around Vacaville, California, near San Francisco. Internment When the Canadian and American governments interned West Coast Japanese in 1942, neither distinguished between those who were citizens (Nisei) and their non-citizen parents (Issei). When the apology and redress for injustices were enacted by the American Congress and the Canadian Parliament in 1988, most of the Issei were dead, or too old for it to make any significant difference in lives that had been disrupted. Notable individuals The number of issei who have earned some degree of public recognition has continued to increase over time; but the quiet lives of those whose names are known only to family and friends are no less important in understanding the broader narrative of the nikkei. Although the names highlighted here are over-represented by issei from North America, the Latin American member countries of the Pan American Nikkei Association (PANA) include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, in addition to the English-speaking United States and Canada. Kan'ichi Asakawa (1873–1948), academic, author, peace advocate, historian and librarian Jun Fujita (1888-1963), an early 20th century photographer Miki Gorman (1935–2015), a two-time winner of both the Boston and New York marathons Midori Gotō (1971– ), a violinist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize Makoto Hagiwara (1854-1925), a landscape designer often credited with having invented the fortune cookie Sessue Hayakawa (1889–1973), an Academy Award-nominated actor Mazie Hirono (1947– ), an American politician Shizuko Hoshi, Shin-issei (Japanese born), actress Rena Inoue (1976– ), a two-time U.S. National Champion pair skater Shin Koyamada (1982– ), a Hollywood film actor, philanthropist, entrepreneur and US martial arts champion Fujitaro Kubota (1879–1973), an American gardener and philanthropist Yoko Ono Lennon (1933– ) artist and