Japanese American Culture Essay

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Japanese Americans Entering this exhibit was an amazing experience for me. The reason why I find this culture so important was because I was able to relate it to so many other cultures and traditions, even mine as well. So today I would like to share my experience about the Japanese-American culture and traditions. The Japanese had immigrated to America before any other Asian immigrants, beginning in the 1840’s. They came to America like any other immigrants, hoping for a dream and willing to work for it. In 1882, The Chinese Exclusion Act did not allow Chinese laborers into America so now bosses began to recruit Japanese workers. In the workforce, many Japanese were working for cheap labor. Plantation owners began to believe that women made the workforce more stable. In fact, they had encouraged Japanese women to immigrate. It was not until the early 1900’s; an anti-Japanese movement in California began leading to the “Gentlemen’s…show more content…
A butsudan is a small wooden box that opens outwards and inside the box is a small thin paper on the left that has a few Japanese words. In front of the butsudan lies candles and a few other materials that I am not familiar with. Most butsudans are kept inside households to memorialize ancestors, it was a tradition that the Japanese Americans preserved as a connection to their culture. The reason why I chose this item was because it had reminded me of my own culture, The Mexican-American culture. On November second of every year, most Mexican Americans celebrate ‘Dia de la Muerto’s; Day of the Dead. Some families make a retablo, which is usually made out of a wood. Most retablos hold a picture of family members who had passed away. In front of the retablo may be a variety of items such as sugar or chocolate skulls, paper mache, or favorite foods that that loved on had like. This is a tradition for a way for Mexican Americans to connect to their culture and

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