SHIPS - Japanese Immigration and Picture Brides with Kelli Nakamura, Part II

Summary

The video continues a discussion of Japanese immigration to Hawaiʻi, focusing on picture brides, women’s labor, domestic violence, wartime incarceration, and citizenship.

Japanese Immigration and Picture Brides

From 1885 to 1924, more than 200,000 Japanese immigrants—mostly single men—came to Hawaiʻi to work on sugar plantations. More than 20,000 later sought picture brides: women selected through exchanged photographs and recommendations from relatives or friends. Steamships brought these women across the Pacific, and newspapers such as the San Francisco Call reported on their arrivals.

Some brides were as young as 14. Nakamura emphasizes that while some marriages were successful, many women faced a difficult life they had not anticipated.

Women’s Work and Sacrifice

Picture brides often had little local support and carried an exceptionally heavy workload. A woman might rise around 3 or 4 a.m. to prepare and sell boxed meals to single men, then care for her children and husband, work in the fields, manage the household, and do laundry for extra income.

Women were paid less than men and were often expected to combine paid labor with most childcare and domestic duties. Nakamura describes this as a “double day,” while stressing that these women’s sacrifices should not be romanticized: many had limited choices.

Domestic Violence and Divorce

Nakamura discusses accounts of severe abuse found in divorce records, including women describing beatings, threats, and fleeing to neighbors for safety. She notes that domestic violence was—and remains—underreported, particularly in immigrant communities, where language barriers, financial dependence, citizenship concerns, and cultural stigma can make seeking help difficult.

Historical records also show that women could face hardship after a spouse’s death, especially if he had been the household’s main provider.

Plantation Hierarchy and Discrimination

Plantation owners maintained divisions among workers and encouraged competition by assigning different ethnic groups different pay scales. White managers occupied the top of the hierarchy, followed by Portuguese overseers. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean workers occupied other positions, with Filipinos at the bottom.

Workers also lived in ethnically separated plantation camps. Many families’ lives were centered on the plantations, with limited movement between them.

World War II and Incarceration in Hawaiʻi

U.S. officials worried about Japan’s expansion and the large Japanese population in Hawaiʻi, which was close to Pearl Harbor. Before the attack on December 7, 1941, authorities had lists of people they considered potential security threats. After the attack, officials arrested prominent members of the Japanese community, including teachers, business leaders, newspaper editors, and others.

About 1,200 people in Hawaiʻi were detained during the war, while roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans on the mainland were incarcerated. Nakamura explains that Hawaiʻi’s Japanese residents were not removed en masse partly because they made up a large portion of the population and were needed for labor. Martial law also meant that civil and constitutional protections could be suspended.

Citizenship and Loyalty

First-generation Japanese immigrants, or Issei, were barred from naturalization until the 1952 McCarran–Walter Act. Renouncing Japanese citizenship before then could leave someone stateless, without the protections of either country.

Second-generation Nisei, born in the United States, had birthright citizenship and often held dual citizenship, but still faced suspicion and pressure to prove their loyalty. Many served in units including the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

Continuing Relevance

Nakamura presents picture-bride immigration as a topic that connects personal relationships and migration to broader issues of labor, race, gender, and citizenship. She notes that matchmaking through photos and profiles has modern parallels in online dating.

Speakers and Sources Featured

Speakers

• Aimee Bachari — Education Director at the Steamship Historical Society of America and interviewer.
• Dr. Kelli Nakamura — University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa professor of History and Ethnic Studies.
• Unidentified narrator — Provides the opening historical context.

Sources and Materials Referenced

• The San Francisco Call, cited for its reporting on ship arrivals and picture brides.
• Historical divorce records, discussed as evidence of domestic violence and marital experiences.
• The film Picture Bride, recommended by Nakamura as a depiction of the picture-bride experience.
• The Steamship Historical Society of America, the organization presenting the program.