The manga drew from the experiences of Kiyama and his three friends when they were college-age Japanese immigrants to San Francisco between 1904 and 1924 . The year 1924 is chosen as it was when the " immigration laws stiffened and some of the protagonists elected to return to Japan " . Inspired by western comic strips , Hiyama drew '' Four Immigrants '' with each episode in a two page spread , ending at 52 episodes for a year 's worth of weekly newspaper comic strips . Jason Thompson notes that " each strip has sort of a punchline , but also tells a story ; it 's not so different from reading a '' yonkoma '' manga in which the story is broken up for gags every four panels . " Kiyama tried to have '' Four Immigrants '' serialized by a Japanese-language newspaper in San Francisco , but was unsuccessful . In 1927 , Kiyama exhibited the pages of the manga in a gallery of San Francisco 's Kinmon Gakuen ( Golden Gate Institute ) , with the exhibition titled " A Manga North American Immigrant History " ( Manga Hokubei Iminshi ) . The manga covered the immigrants ' arrival and quarantine on Angel Island as well as major events of the time : 1906 San Francisco earthquake , Panama – Pacific International Exposition of 1915 and the 1918 flu pandemic with criticism of " several Congressional acts designed to curtail Asian immigration . " Most of the manga " concentrates on student immigrant experiences prior to the Gentlemen 's Agreement of 1907 " . In 1931 , Kiyama had the book printed in Japan , then self-published it in San Francisco
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The Four Immigrants Manga