Japanese in Hawaii

The Japanese in Hawaii are one of the major and most influential ethnic groups in Hawaii. At one time they constituted 40% of Hawaii's population. They now number about 16.7% of the islands' population, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. (The U.S. Census separately categorizes mixed-race individuals, so the proportion of people with some Japanese ancestry is likely much larger.) [US Census 2000: [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US15&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_DP1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-_lang=en&-_sse=on] ] The Japanese enjoy continued economic and political influence in the islands.Fact|date=March 2007

The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii in 1885 as contract laborers for the sugar cane and pineapple plantations. [Kuykendall, Ralph S. (1967): "The Hawaiian Kingdom: Volume 3 - The Kalakaua Dynasty, 1874-1893", University of Hawaii Press, pp. 164-165, ISBN 9780870224331.] In the 1890s, worrying about the increasing Americanization of their US-born children, they set up the first Japanese schools in the United States. By 1920, 98% of all Japanese children in Hawaii attended Japanese schools. Statistics for 1934 showed 183 schools taught a total of 41,192 students. [Harada 1934: 43] [M. Takagi 1987: 18] [Asato 2005] Today, Japanese schools in hawaii operate as supplementary education (usually on Friday nights or Saturday mornings) which is on top of the compulsory education required by the state.

See also

* Japanese American
* Japanese American internment
* Nisei Japanese American
* Issei Japanese American

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