Citizens, Immigrants, and the Stateless: A Japanese American Diaspora in the Pacific

More than 50,000 young second-generation Japanese Americans (Nisei) traveled to the Japanese Empire from the 1920s to 1941 in search of better lives, but instead faced anti-Asian racism in the American West. Michael R. Jin's book recovers their stories, exploring how they redefined ideas about home, identity, citizenship, and belonging as they encountered multiple social realities on both sides of the Pacific.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 248 pages
Publication date: 16 November 2021
Publisher: Stanford University Press

From the 1920s to the eve of the Pacific War in 1941, over 50,000 young second-generation Japanese Americans (Nisei) embarked on transpacific journeys to the Japanese Empire, seeking to escape pervasive anti-Asian racism in the American West. Born U.S. citizens, they were treated as unwelcome aliens, constituting one in four U.S.-born Nisei. Despite their aspirations for better lives, they encountered a world shaped by increasingly volatile relations between the U.S. and Japan.

This contingent of Japanese Americans, who traversed the United States and Japan, offers a unique perspective on the intersection of U.S. and Japanese empire. Through transnational and bilingual research, Michael R. Jin recovers their stories, shedding light on their experiences from the Jim Crow American West to the Japanese colonial frontiers in Asia, and from internment camps in America to Hiroshima on the eve of the atomic bombing.

Citizens, Immigrants, and the Stateless delves into the intricate histories of Asian exclusion in the United States, Japanese colonialism in Asia, and the geopolitical changes that converged in the lives of Japanese American migrants. It explores the ways in which these individuals redefined notions of home, identity, citizenship, and belonging as they navigated multiple social realities on both sides of the Pacific.

By examining the experiences of the Nisei, this book contributes to our understanding of the complex and multifaceted relationship between the United States, Japan, and the broader Pacific region. It sheds light on the enduring legacies of racial discrimination and the struggles of immigrants and stateless individuals to find their place in a rapidly changing world.

Weight: 388g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503628311