1996: 152. A group of Japanese immigrants is seen as inferior in
The Music Lesson
, they are isolated, controlled and oppressed by white people that is the dominant group there. Blauner, as cited by Kitano in
Race Relation
, theorizes about domestic colonial perspective which has the same basic concept with the
idea of gender stereotype in term of marginalized group. Generally, domestic colonialism is a form of unequal institutionalized contact and resembles a master-
servant, paternalistic relationship Kitano, 1985: 46. In the other words, domestic colonialism is a term to describe the exploitation of minority groups within a
wider society which seems to be acceptable and considered normal since prejudice and discrimination are universal and have to be faced by all who are strangers
Kitano, 1985: 48.
C. Review on Historical Background
1. Japanese Immigrant in the USA
The Issei or first-generation Japanese immigrant came to the USA between 1870 and 1924. By 1884, Japan allowed the immigration to the Hawaiian territory
and California. They came primarily from southern Japan , particularly the prefectures of Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Wakayama, and Yamaguchi and
found jobs in agricultural sectors. Some
Issei
men returned to Japan in those early days after considering themselves successful and looked for a wife to bring to the
US. Men and women were brought together through an exchange of photos, and many young women were called “picture brides”, this practice, of course, made
their settlement in the USA more permanent. Kitano, 1996: 239.
Furthermore, the Anti-Japanese demanded the United States government to restrict the immigration, which discouraged the first-generations immigrants.
Taylor Sakamoto in
The Triumph and Tragedies of Japanese Women in America: A View Across Four Generations
says that, in 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt negotiated an agreement with Japan to prohibit any further male
laborers from emigrating to Hawaii or the United States; the United States only accepted the members of laborers family who were already in the USA. This was
reducing the number of males and picture brides, because that was the only way for Japanese women to legally emigrate to the USA Sakamoto, 2007: 98.
Because of their status as an immigrant, the Issei had to experience prejudice, discrimination and segregation. The majority of the Japanese settled in California
had to face prejudice because the state had just passed through a period of a strong feeling against Chinese. The Bureau of Sociological Research Colorado River
War Relocation Center in
The Japanese Family in America
states that The Japanese were accused of lowering the “American Standard of Living” and of
unfair competition of white laborers. In 1920, Japanese could not apply for citizenship due to their racial characteristics and incapability to assimilate to
American culture, therefore, they were not qualified as good citizen. In 1924, the US government also prohibited interracial marriage between Japanese and
Caucasians and forbidded the Japanese to own land which made their lives in the US even worse 1943: 152-153.
