Title: The U.S. Mainland: Growth and Resistance | Japanese | Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress
Headings: The U.S. Mainland: Growth and Resistance
The U.S. Mainland: Growth and Resistance
The Nisei

Content: The U.S. Mainland: Growth and Resistance | Japanese | Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress
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The U.S. Mainland: Growth and Resistance
In the mainland of the United States, Japanese immigration began much more slowly and took hold much more tentatively than it had in Hawaii. While an initial handful of adventurers left Japan for California in the 1860s, the number of immigrants did not reach the thousands until the 1880s. By 1900 there were still fewer than 25,000 Japanese nationals in the U.S. These early arrivals scattered up and down the Pacific coast, forming small communities within small towns and larger cities, such as San Francisco's Japan Town. Farm labor was a common choice among the first immigrants, but they also could be found in lumber mills and mining camps, and sometimes established general stores, restaurants, and small hotels. The turn of the century saw the beginning of a great twenty-five-year surge of immigration, in which more than 100,000 Japanese nationals arrived in the U.S., and during which many of the foundational institutions of the Japanese American community were established. These newcomers at first found much of their employment in migratory labor, working the farms, mines, canneries, and railroads of the American West, sometimes becoming active in the labor agitation of the period. Eventually, however, many were able to launch their own businesses, at first serving the needs of their own community with Japanese restaurants, boarding houses, and shops, but soon opening department stores and tailoring chains that catered to the general public.