From Curiosity to Controversy: American Perception of Japanese Immigrants, 1853-1924

<p>In the mid-nineteenth century, as the United States reached the Pacific through westward expansion, Asia emerged as a new stage for commerce and power. Japan, long isolated under the Tokugawa shogunate, became an object of American fascination when forced into relations. While early depictions cast Japan as an exotic yet uncivilized nation in need of Western guidance, Japan’s rapid modernization and the growing number of Japanese immigrants on the West Coast transformed curiosity into anxiety. My paper traces this evolution of perception from 1850 to 1924, arguing that shifting views of Japan and its people reflected America’s ethnocentric notions of civilization and racial hierarchy. Using federal and state legislation as chronological anchors, this study relies primarily on West Coast newspapers as mirrors of community discourse. Rather than viewing the press as creators of opinions, I adopt George Lundberg’s sociological view that newspapers reflect the prevailing forces shaping public thought. By analyzing how Americans debated Japan’s global rise and Japanese immigrants’ place in society through education, labor, and health, this research reveals how racialized perceptions and fears of competition shaped exclusionary policies and reinforced the boundaries of White American identity.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

History

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History and Geography

Year

2025

Author dc:creator

• Curbelo, Chloe Elizabeth

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Doug Tompson
• Dr. Eric Spears
• Dr. Bobby Nixon

• Japan
• United States
• Tokugawa Shogunate
• Japanese Immigrants
• West Coast
• White American Identity
• History
• Japanese Studies
• Social History
• United States History

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/760

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:csuepress.columbusstate.edu:theses_dissertations-1750