California State University Japanese American Digitization Project: An Exhibit

Immigration

Japanese Government Passport, 1909 (CSUDH)

Between 1890 and 1920, Chinese immigration to California declined, while Japanese immigration increased.  A flurry of discriminatory state immigration bills introduced between 1907-09  were largely defeated. However, in 1907, at the urging of the state, national diplomacy had forged an agreement between the U.S. and Japan restricting passports for laborers while allowing them for family reunification (Gaines,  Brian  and Wendy K. Tam Cho. 2004. On California's 1920 Alien Land Law: The Psychology and Economics of Racial Discrimination. State Politics and Policy Quarterly. 4, no. 3: 274). This Imperial Japanese government passport was issued for Koyuta Masukawa, in 1909. 


 

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