In This Great Land of Freedom: The Japanese Pioneers of Oregon
In 1993, the Japanese American National Museum organized In This Great Land of Freedom: The Japanese Pioneers of Oregon, one of its earliest exhibitions. Created by the museum in partnership with the Oregon Historical Society and the Japanese American community in Oregon, the exhibition tells of the early struggles and triumphs of the Japanese pioneers of Oregon from 1890 to 1952. Unfortunately, since the exhibition happened before the rise of common internet usage, online documentation of it is scant, as is online information about Issei history in general.
Discover Nikkei is pleased, therefore, to reprint the entirety of the catalog essay from the exhibition, along with its accompanying photographs. The essay traces the journey of Oregon’s first Japanese immigrants, from their arrival in the 1880s and their early struggles, through the development of Japanese farming communities, the disruptions wrought by the World War II incarceration, and the important postwar legal victories. It will be published here chapter by chapter in an effort, in the words of exhibition project coordinator George Katagiri, “to preserve the story of our parents and grandparents…a story that was fast disappearing.”
You can purchase the exhibition catalog at the Japanese American National Museum Store.
Stories from this series
Chapter 2 — Early Japanese Life in Oregon
Oct. 30, 2017 • Eiichiro Azuma
Working as a hop pickerIt is impossible toReturn to Japan Honda Fugetsu1 Before 1910, the majority of the Oregon Japanese population were male laborers who lived in a crude environment. Initially, most, if not all of them came to America not to settle, but to work and make money for their families in Japan. For these people, Portland was a temporary home to which they returned when they completed seasonal work. Until they found their next jobs, they stayed at …
Chapter 1 — The Issei Arrive in Oregon
Oct. 23, 2017 • Eiichiro Azuma
The History of the Issei Pioneers in Oregon, 1880 – 1952 Between 1843 and 1860, more than 250,000 pioneers began the journey across the Oregon Trail heading west. In 1859, Oregon became one of the United States and was still a young state with undeveloped forests and virgin farmlands when the Japanese immigrants arrived in the 1880s. Called Issei, the first generation, Japanese immigrants, like all pioneers, struggled to survive in their new environment. Unlike most other immigrants, the Issei …
