Japanese Museum

One of the things I learned visiting the Japanese American National Museum was the Alien Land Laws from my impromptu guide James Tanaka. He told me about the Alien Land Laws that were developed in 1913 and 1920. He explained that the law prohibited individuals who were ineligible citizens to own land. Interestingly enough, the Japanese on a few occasions tried to give their land rights’ to their children, who were citizens. This attempt to circumvent the law was eventually stopped in 1920 with a new rule that disallowed such action. He went on to explain that the Japanese were the main target for the law, mainly due to the fact that Californian farmers feared they would become unable to compete economically against the vastly superior farming methods of the Japanese.

There was an interesting piece of art that Mr. Tanaka showed me that really touched me. Deep in the exhibit on the 2nd floor, there is an art painting with unoccupied bar stools. Hanging above them are several menus from different diners. The message, as James explained was that these diners did not allow Japanese Americans to be served. He went on to tell a heart-felt story about how he was in a restaurant with his family, and that other people were helped and served over them. In fact, no one ever came to take their order. I felt so hurt and bad for him. He explained that he had to ask for the waitress to come, and all he got was a half hearted apology and no service; they had no choice but to leave. This event occurred post World War II, and it is really a shame that people can treat other people this way.

Another fascinating piece of the exhibit was the apology letter from George Bush Senior. The letter, while a little short, conveyed the sorrow for denying the Japanese of their civil rights and liberties. The letter also recognizes that the interment camps were a serious injustice. While I can never truly imagine how terrible, heartbreaking, and depressing it truly was to live through that period, I can only hope that the recognition and monetary sum can somehow heal the anger and injustice. Perhaps the ultimate insult to this letter was after September 11th, 2001 the mass hysteria and ill-feelings towards a new minority resurfaced. Despite it all, we truly have learned nothing from our history.

One of the displays that I really enjoyed viewing was the Manzanar miniature camp. While the idea of such a camp is repulsing, seeing the display on how many of the barracks were squeezed together like that was really helpful visually. James Tanaka explained that the United States Government used Manzanar