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The Japanese Journal of American Studies, No. 16 (2005)

Crossing the Ocean, Dreaming of America,
Dreaming of Japan:
Transpaciﬁc Transformation of Japanese
Immigrants in Senryu Poems; 1929–1941
Teruko KUMEI *I INTRODUCTION
Thirty years have passed since Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian
American Writers was published in 1974.1 Today no one dares to “refuse
to recognize Asian-American literature as ‘American’ literature.”2 Yet,the rich heritage of the immigrant literature written in Japanese remains
little explored in literary scholarship and criticism, and thoroughly excluded from the literary histories of both the United States and Japan.3
The editors of Aiiieeeee! excluded Asian immigrant writers like Lin
Yutang, C.Y Lee, Yone Noguchi and Sadakichi Hartman because, they
considered, those writers did not share Asian American sensibilities—
their sense of distinctness as well as wounded feelings of having been
ignored and excluded.4 If the editors had reached out for immigrant literary works in Japanese, however, they might have had different attitudes. On the west side of the Paciﬁc, “Japanese literature” seems to beinterpreted as literary works by Japanese people in Japan.5 Japanese-language immigrant literature seems to have been suspended over the Paciﬁc, unable to ﬁnd a landing place either in the United States or Japan.
This paper explores Japanese immigrants’ senryu as historical documents in an attempt to shed some light on the transformation of Japanese
Copyright © 2005 Teruko Kumei. All rights reserved. This work may be used,with this notice included, for noncommercial purposes. No copies of this work
may be distributed, electronically or otherwise, in whole or in part, without
permission from the author.
*Professor, Shirayuri College

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immigrants from “birds of passage” to the Issei, the ﬁrst generation ofJapanese Americans.6 In order to place the immigrant senryu in literary
perspective, this essay will discuss what the Japanese immigrant writers
advocated for their literature, followed by a brief history of senryu in the
United States, and examples of senryu poems to see how the immigrants
personalized their life in the United States.
II

JAPANESE “IMMIGRANT LAND LITERATURE”

Kaigai hoji shimbun hattenshi (A History of Overseas Japanese-Language Newspapers) lists 56 Japanese language newspapers and magazines published in the United States during the period between 1886 and
1900.7 Taking into consideration the Japanese population in those days,8the number of the publications is remarkable. Having lost almost all ofthem, we know little more about them than their names. However
sketchy the information is, it suggests that those newspapers and magazines commonly carried a literature section like Shinonome Zasshi(Dawn: A Journal) in San Francisco, one of the oldest journals, publishedin 1886.9 Even in a remote lumbering mill camp like Eatonville,
Washington, the Japanese community managed to publish a coterie
literary magazine, Kyomei (Resonance).10 It is safe to say that Japaneseimmigrants were quite active in literary endeavors.
From the early stages of settlement, those participating in literary activities were aware that they had to create a new distinct literature reﬂecting the new life in the new environment. In 1909, Kyuin Okina, then an
aspiring immigrant worker-writer, advocated for imin-chi bungei (immigrant land literature), his own coinage, in an effort to encourage young
would-be “litterateurs” in and around Seattle to form a literary circle.11
He assumed that “[literature] should be a ﬂower grown naturally fromthe deep of the soil, from the heart of life.”12 To his eye the immigrants,“under a strained unnatural setting,” looked “the most miserable people
among the ﬁrst class nation of Japan.”13 As immigrants living in the
United States they felt they were not a part of the nation of Japan. Yet
they could not reconstruct their old home life in the United States. As
immigrants from Japan, they were not welcomed in the United States;
they were deprived aliens. They belonged neither to the United States
nor to Japan. This sense of non-belonging suppressed their life in the“strained unnatural setting.” However strained and miserable this life
may be, Okina thought, it was an unprecedented experiences for the4-Teruko Kumei(p81) 6/21 05.7.12 6:45 PM ページ 83

CROSSING THE OCEAN, DREAMING OF AMERICA, DREAMING OF JAPAN83

Japanese people, and should be recorded. He maintained that “the goalof immigrant land literature is to record or narrate what happened in theimmigrant land”. He argued:in the future our descendants will grow naturally in America. We have to tell
how their ancestors had struggled, what kind of life and thought they had.
Immigrant land literature has signiﬁcant meaning in this sense.14

Okina argued that immigrant writers should capture this “strained unnatural setting,” this suspended non-belonging in literature, so that future
generations would have a better understanding of the immigrant life andsentiments. He foresaw that the United States and Japanese cultures
would collide in immigrant homes as the immigrants rooted deeper in
the United States and their children grew up as American citizens. Eventually, he “[dreamed] a new stage of the union of the East and the West:a union which is conceived in the conﬂicts between the two races.” He
hoped that the immigrants’ non-belonging would evolve into a rich unionof Japanese and U.S. cultures.15
Other immigrant writers shared the same sense of unnatural suspension and unprecedented experience. Isshin Yamasaki compiled Horo noshi (Poetry of Wandering) in 1925, and three Japanese immigrant literature anthologies, Hokubei bungei senshu (Selected Works in North
America, 1927), Amerika bungeishu (Collection of Literary Works in
America, 1930), and Amerika bungakushu (Collection of American Literature, 1937).16 Yamasaki wrote in a postscript of Horo no shi that 25
wandering poets brought forth “this infant” [immigrant poems] which
would “remain in this immigrant land, even after our bodies become soil
for the weeds in an alien land.”17 He was very proud and hopeful for the
future development of immigrant literature. In the ﬁrst anthology, hewrote:
Wandering in this vast alien land, but still longing for arts and literature . . .
we created literary works, materials of which we draw on the lives of our fellow [Japanese] people in the peculiar immigrant land; even if our works are
unreﬁned and poor, they should be regarded as precious records of humanbeings; the records of the life every author had experienced; the records ofthe unprecedented environment our people created and lived in.18

Yamasaki admitted that quality of their works was still crude; yet he
maintained that the immigrant life was worth recording in a literary form
because of its unique unprecedented nature.

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By the publication of the third anthology, three leading immigrantwriters and poets had already passed away, and the average age of theIssei (ﬁrst generation) was 57. Yamasaki compiled the third anthology
as “the ﬁnal beacon” of Issei immigrant literature. He wrote:
At this turning point, I feel painfully that the achievements of Japanese in
America will be buried as the Issei pass away. Only unspeakable gravestones
are left in this alien land. . . . [This anthology] can be regarded as the ﬁnal
beacon of Japanese-language literature before the days of English-language
literature [of the Nisei (second) generations].19

A hopeful pride in the achievements of Horo no shi and the sense of mission in the ﬁrst anthology gave way to futility symbolized by a graveyard.
Yet Yamasaki kept the hope of handing the torch of immigrant literature to the Nisei generation. In the third anthology Yamasaki collected
English works. Referring to African American writers, some of whom
outshine white writers, he hoped that Nisei writers would cope with
racial discrimination, ﬁnd their place in the United States as citizens, andsomeday create great works, which they could proudly “claim as literature by Americans of Japanese lineage.”20 In the introduction to theEnglish section, Yamasaki expressed his hope more clearly:
We hope that from [the Nisei’s] ranks will come gradually literary work thatthe world will recognize as uniquely Nisei and not the aping of the literary
masters whose background and environment are so distinctly different.
They have inherited, through their parents access to the culture of ancientJapan and, by their birth, the stimulating environment of young America.21

In spite of their native-born citizenship, the Nisei did not enjoy full membership in U.S. society. Regarding this adversity as an opportunity,
Yamasaki expected the Nisei to retain pride in their Japanese lineage,combine their Japanese heritage with U.S. civilization, and create
Japanese American literature. Yamasaki hoped in the future the Nisei
would reverse the non-belongingness into doubleness, that is, the unionof Japaneseness and Americanness.
Following sections will show that Japanese immigrant senryu poets
personalized in their poems what Okina and Yamasaki articulated:transition from non-belonging into the union of Japaneseness andAmericanness in the Nisei generation.

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III

85

SHORT HISTORY OF SENRYU IN THE UNITED STATES

Senryu is a popular form of Japanese poetry consisting of 17 syllables, 5–7–5, like haiku. Both senryu and haiku are derived from renga,a sequence of collaborative poems composed by the group of poets. Ina renga gathering, popular among the rising merchant class of the sixteenth century, each participant offered his own hokku, 5–7–5 syllables,
hoping his hokku would be chosen as a starter of renga. Hokku eventually
evolved into haiku and senryu. At the early stage of development, bothhaiku and senryu were sporty, folksy, and humorous, like the English
limerick. It should be noted, however, that unlike traditional English
poems, both haiku and senryu are very short, written in one line. They
have no rhyme scheme, no foot, no meter, no assonance, no consonantal
repetition.
Under Basho’s inﬂuence, and with the constraint to include one kigo
(certain words expressing seasons), haiku had evolved into a sophisticated and spiritual nature poetic form by the end of seventeenth century.
Senryu, on the other hand, became recognized as an independent poetic
form in the latter half of the 18th century. Without any requirements
except the syllable formation, 5–7–5, it kept the original feel of folk poetry. A good senryu poem captured a crucial moment of life with keenobservation and wrapped it in witty, sometimes satirical, but light everyday expressions. In the nineteenth century, senryu devolved into cliched,often vulgar wordplays. The “new senryu movement” emerged at theturn of the century with stronger interests in the inner sentiments of thepoets. Senryu regained popularity in Japan in the 1920s, and among
Japanese immigrants in the Untied States in the 1930s.
Yakima, Washington, is said to be the place where senryu reading
circles originated in the United States.22 Several young literature enthusiasts, supposedly seasonal farm laborers from the valley, gathered andenjoyed various amusements. One autumn day in 1910 or 1912 they helda senryu gathering in a Japanese boarding house or a restaurant to readtheir senryu poems. At the ﬁrst gathering, a poem by Kentsuku(Shigetaka) Kurokawa won the ﬁrst rank.
その明日酒が一人で罪を背負い23(sono-ashita/ sake-ga-hitoride/ tsumi-wo-seoi)24
The literal meaning: The next morning, sake shouldered all the sins.

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Next morning,
all sobered up. Damn.
Sake brewed brawls.

This senryu poem evokes a scene: immigrant workers come out of a laborcamp on a Saturday night to a Japanese sawdust parlor; friends meet andhave a nice chat over drink after drink; drunk, they have a brawl over a
triﬂe; the next morning, they meet, feeling ashamed, and apologize;“Sorry, it was because of sake. Sake drove me insane.”
In this senryu poem, sake is treated like a comrade, one of the drinking friends. But “he” is blamed for all the wrongdoings. In those days,
the immigrants were without family. Sake was the most potent diversion. Immigrants who came to the senryu gathering understood exactly
what the poem meant, and they ranked it as the best.
Senryu composition had been a popular pastime among Japanese, and
it is natural to assume that it was popular among Japanese immigrants
well before this gathering in Yakima, Washington. Indeed, Japanese-language newspapers occasionally carried senryu poems. What distinguished the Yakima group from the rest was that senryu activities there
were organized and lasting while others remained personal and sporadic.
After the ﬁrst meeting, the Yakima workers held gatherings on Saturdays, named the Yakima Ameikai (Yakima Croaking Society), for two
years until the leading member, Kaho (Shinjiro) Honda left for Japan. In
July 1929, when Kaho Honda returned from Japan, the Hokubei Senryu
Gosenkai (Senryu Society of North America)25 was organized in Seattle,
Washington, and most members of the Yakima Ameikai joined the newsociety and also restarted their own circle in the Yakima Valley. As themembership grew, other senryu circles were formed in Seattle, Longview, and Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, as well as in Portland, Oregon.
Those circles maintained close relations and held several get-together
parties with senryu tournaments and matches. The Hokubei Senryu
Gosenkai held weekly meetings continuously until the outbreak of thewar. Their selected senryu poems were featured in the senryu section of
the Hokubei Jiji Shimbun (North American Times) and later in othernewspapers.26
As the senryu became popular, Honda sought recognition from authorities in Japan. Leading members of the society started contributing theirsenryu poems to the Senryu Kiyari Ginsha, one of leading senryu reading societies in Tokyo.27 They regularly ranked high enough to obtainfull membership, and the Hokubei Senryu Gosenkai was recognized as

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CROSSING THE OCEAN, DREAMING OF AMERICA, DREAMING OF JAPAN87

the ﬁrst branch society of the Kiyari Ginsha in the United States. Yakima
Heigen Nihonjin-shi (History of the Japanese People in the Yakima
Valley) expressed proudly that their immigrant senryu poets were recognized as equal or superior to leading senryu poets in Japan.28
In 1935, the Hokubei Senryu Gosenkai published Hokubei Senryu, theﬁrst senryu collection in the United States. In 1938 the society held asenryu exhibition in Seattle, Washington, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the society.29
Senryu poets in California also worked to secure a tie with the Kiyari
Ginsha and were admitted to form a California branch no later than July
1939. The Kashu Mainichi Shimbun (Japan California Daily News)
started a senryu section, the Kamai Senryu, in 1938, with Shikai Asega
as the ﬁrst judge. In 1939, the group published a collection of senryu
poems to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Kamai Senryu,30 andin 1940 the leading poets31 established the Senryu Tsubame Ginsha(Senryu Swallow Society). Senryu became a popular activity in thewartime camps, and spread all over the United States after World War
II as the Japanese “resettled” in various places. By the end of the twentieth century, however, the senryu poet population declined like otherJapanese-language literatures, and most groups were disbanded. The
Senryu Tsubame Ginsha and the Hokubei Senryu Gosenkai are among
the remaining few.
IV

CROSSING THE PACIFIC

Although they sought recognition from Japan, the immigrant poets
were not mere imitators. Kicho (Ataru) Shimizu, one of the leading senryu poets in Seattle, Washington, and later in Los Angeles, California,
once challenged a judge of the Kiyari Ginsha on his selection of immigrant senryu poems. The senryu poem he questioned is:
米妻がきて親友が変わつて来る様姿(yankii-ga-kite/ tomo-ga-kawatsute/ kuru-sugata)
Meaning: My best friend has changed greatly since a Yankee (Americanwife) came.

Adding kana, Japanese syllabary, as superscript to Chinese charactersfor “American wife,” the poet indicated “American wife” to be read as
Yankee. Shimizu argued that reading Chinese characters for “Americanwife” as Yankee was an insult to the Japanese language. He suspected4-Teruko Kumei(p81) 6/21 05.7.12 6:45 PM ページ 88

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the judge chose the poem because of his curiosity about the marriage ofa Japanese man and a white woman. He wanted the readers in Japan tounderstand immigrants’ “sincere emotions and [to] read their poems asa record of their desperate life under persecutions and insults in completely different cultures and environments.” He insisted that “the local
color,” which the Kiyari Ginsha encouraged, should not emphasize
exoticism but appreciate the reﬂection of the daily life and sentiments ofa people who were struggling to root themselves in a hostile land.32
Shimizu later encouraged beginners to compose senryu poems as “arecord of life and a poem of sentiments.”33
Given that a senryu poem consists of 17 syllables, can it be longenough to be of any value as “a record of life and a poem of sentiments”
of the Japanese immigrants in the United States? The sheer number of
immigrant senryu poems compensates for the shortness of each work.
So far collected in my computer are more than 15,000 senryu poems written by Japanese immigrants between the late 1920s and the end of WorldWar II. They are selected from Japanese-language newspapers and collections of senryu gatherings.34 The poets were ordinary people, ranging
from immigrant leaders to seasonal workers, male and female, young
and old. Collectively, they tell of the life and sentiments of the immigrants.
A sample of the senryu poems is selected below. The poems express
how Japanese immigrants felt about homesickness, sense of non-belonging, labor, discrimination, marriage, community, Nisei children, cultural collisions, Japanese national pride, U.S.-Japan relations, and their new
land.
Nostalgia
Kazuo Ito, the author of Issei, A History of Japanese Immigrants inNorth America, characterized the Japanese as a people prone to homesickness with strong nostalgia for their family and homeland.35 This is
an important theme throughout immigrant senryu poems in the UnitedStates.
見ても見ても母恋しさの増す写真

一笑36(Mitemo-mitemo/ haha-koishisa-no/ masu-shashin)
The more I look at the picture of my mother, the more I miss her.
Gazing and gazing,
still gazing, so dear, Mother,even in the picture.

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鬼堂37

西空を仰いで泣いた二十年(Nishizora-wo/ aoide-naita/ nijunen)
For twenty years I have looked up the western sky and wept.
To the west, I looktwenty years, day after day.
Tears wet the sky.

Immigration Law of 1924
The sense of nostalgia turned sour when they thought of the immigration law of 1924, which stopped the inﬂux of “aliens ineligible to citizenship” until the McCarran-Walter Immigration and Naturalization
Act of 1952 reopened a nominal outlet for Japanese immigration. The
Paciﬁc separated husbands and wives, and parents and children. But at
the same time, the Paciﬁc gave them a sense of connection. However
wide it was, they knew that their old home was on other side of the ocean.
貧鳴38

忘れぬは別れし時の子の笑顔(Wasurenu-wa/ wakareshi-toki-no/ ko-no-egao)
The unforgettable is the smile of my child when we parted.
Never forget, that smile.
When we parted,
my child beamed at me.
迷舟398

移民法妻さへ呼べず無縁塚(Iminhou/ tsuma-sae-yobezu/ muenzuka)
Because of the immigration law, they could not call for their wives and ended
in the unknown graves.
Immigration law
keeps away his wife. Only a grave
unknown tells his life.
母と子が海を隔てゝ案じ合ひ

素念坊40(Haha-to-ko-ga/ umi-wo-hedatete/ anji-ai)
Both the mother and her child are worrying about each other on the both sidesof the ocean.
Care criscrosses
between child and mother,coming from opposite sides of the ocean.
故郷の海へと続く若水を汲み

鬼堂41(Furusato-no/ umi-he-to-tsuzuku/ mizu-wo-kumi)
I ladle water out of the ocean which leads to the seashore of my home.
For the New Year celebration,

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I draw water out of the ocean,over waves lies my home.

Labor
Many came to the “land of opportunity” to make a quick fortune andreturn home, hopefully within three years.42 Without any skills or language proﬁciency, however, the dream of success proved a mirage.
玉兎43

犬のやうな名前貰つて皿洗ふ(Inu-no-youna/ namae-moratsute/ sara-arau)
I was given a name like a dog and wash dishes.
Given a dog’s name,I do dishes. This is
my life in America.
其蜩44

五十なほジヨンと呼ばれて草をきり(Gojuu-nao/ jon-to-yobarete/ kusa-wo-kiri)
I am already ﬁfty and still cutting grass, and they call me John.
Already ﬁfty,
yet, they call out to me;“Hey, John, cut the grass.”
渡り鳥鼻歌低くいちご摘む

白雀45(Wataridori/ hanauta-hikuku/ ichigo-tsumu)
Birds of passage are picking berries while humming low.
Humming low,
birds of passage46 move slow,
picking strawberries along a furrow.

Discrimination
The “melting pot” was not boiling for the Japanese immigrants. As a
non-white race from Asia, Japanese people were undesirable “aliens
ineligible to citizenship.” In 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, in
the Ozawa case, that the term “white” in the 1790 naturalization law
meant “race” instead of outward skin complexion. The decision killed
the long battles for equality by Japanese immigrants; the alien land lawson the west coast, ﬁrst introduced to California in 1913, were now legally unchallengeable. Discrimination diminished the opportunity of making money, and thus ironically delayed and eventually withered their
dream of returning home.
帰化不能てふ語に希望何処へやら

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CROSSING THE OCEAN, DREAMING OF AMERICA, DREAMING OF JAPAN91

The words, “ineligible to citizenship,” take my hopes and dreams away.
“Aliens ineligible to citizenship,”these cold harsh words
crush my hope.
松亭48

市民権ないまま何日も泣き寝入り(Shiminken/ nai-mama-itsumo/ nakineiri)
Without citizenship I always weep in bed. (I am forced to accept the unfair
treatments because I do not have citizenship.)No citizenship,
nowhere to complain.
Another night of bitter tears.
烏城49

三年の夢も空しく二十年(Sannen-no/ yume-mo-munashiku/ nijuu-nen)
The dream of three-years-and-return ended in vain. Twenty years havepassed.
Three years and return—a fond hope it was. Alreadytwenty years ﬂy away.
金の生る樹は亜米利加の何処にある

極道庵50(Kane-no-naru/ ki-ha-amerika-no/ doko-ni-aru)
Where is the money tree in America?
Oh! Money Tree,
where are you?
Are you really in America?

Marriage
Unlike Chinese immigrants, many Japanese immigrants married andraised children in the United States, thanks to the picture marriage practice, a variation of Japanese arranged marriage. After exchanging pictures and personal proﬁles, marriage arrangements were agreed upon byboth families in Japan; a “picture bride” was ofﬁcially registered as thewife in Japan and sent over the Paciﬁc to the husband in the UnitedStates.51 On landing, the couple met for the ﬁrst time.
実物で写真結婚アツト云ひ

雪頂52(Jitsubutsu-de/ shashin-ketsukon/ atsuto-ii)
With the real person, a picture marriage couple shout Oh! at the pier.
Oh, look!
taken aback,a picture couple at a dock.

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Disillusioned by the “American” life—they often started their newlywed
life at a seasonal labor camp with primitive facilities—and disappointed
by their much older husbands, some brides ran away. The Japanese-language newspaper carried reward notices with the picture of the ﬂed bride.
褌一貫53

キヤンプから懸賞も出る艶な事(Kyampu-kara/ kenshou-mo-deru/ tsuya-na-koto)
A reward notice comes out of the camp. It is erotic. (A reward notice reveals
another love affair in the labor camp.)
Reward guaranteed!
Glossy gossip from the camp,bride blown away. Wanted!

But most couples overcame initial frictions and made a new home together. Wives worked tirelessly in and outside of their homes, in ﬁelds,
in factories, or as domestic day workers, while attending to the family.
女房も家賃を稼ぐ夜業の灯

鏡水54(Nyoubou-mo/ yachin-wo-kasegu/ yagyo-no-hi)
I see the lights of night work. (My) wife is working as a night shift to earn
the house rent.
The plant is alight,
my wife is there on a night shift,earning our rent.
泣ひててもかばつてやれぬ苺摘み

鏡水55(Naitetemo/ kabatsute-yarenu/ ichigo-tsumi)
She cannot take care of her baby because she is busy picking berries.
Baby is crying,
berry picking is pressing.
Poor kid, your mom is busy.

Because of strong attachments to home, many still felt that they sojourned in the United States. Unable to own or lease the farmland formore than three years, many worked as seasonal workers, moving restlessly from labor camp to camp. But they became parents.
旅と云ふ落ちつかぬ家で親となり

迷舟56(Tabi-to-iu/ ochitsukanu-ie-de/ oya-to-nari)
I became a parent in the house of journey (I became a parent while I am still
wandering in this country).
Moving here and there,
house unsettled, a sojourner
settled as a father.

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Community
By the mid-1930s, many west coast cities had developed a Japantown
section, like Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Wives helped create theJapanese “town,” and within their close-knit communities, they recreated old home life to a certain extent and enjoyed small local delights
in the hostile land.
自適57

教会のバザーあしたへ昆布煮汁(Kyoukai-no/ bazaa-ashita-he/ kobu-ni-jiru)
Because a charity bazaar will be held tomorrow at the church, (a wife is cooking) kelp and vegetable stew.
Kelp-stew is readyfor tomorrow.
A charity bazaar at the church.
玉兎58

排斥があらうと松茸飯の味(Haiseki-ga/ arou-to-matsutake/ meshi-no aji)
However harsh exclusion is, I treasure the taste of this matsutake rice.
Exclusion, so what!
Excellent matsutake,this rice is the world’s best.
河武流59

一街は俺の町なりうどんそば(Ichigai-wa/ ore-no-machi-nari/ udon-soba)
First Street (in Los Angeles) is my town. Here I smell and taste Japanese noodles.
First Street is MY TOWN.
Japanese noodles—udon, soba—
ﬁll the street and me.
小太郎60

鯉幟異国の空は五月晴れ(Koinobori/ ikokuno-sora-wa/ satsuki-bare)
Crape streamers [for Boys’ Day]. The sky of this alien land is clear like a
May sky (in Japan).
Crape streamers sway,high up in the foreign sky
on a clear May day.

Japanese holidays and Japanese cultural events reminded them of theirhome.
杵の音故郷が恋しい年の暮

桂芳61(Kine-no-oto/ kokyo-ga-koishii/ toshi-no-kure)
The sound of rice cake pounding reminds me of the end of year in my hometown.

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Rice cake pounding
sounds “New Year’s coming.”
How are they doing at home?
沙都男62

色も香も祖国と同じ桜花(Iro-mo-ka-mo/ so-koku-to-onaji/ sakurabana)The color and smell of the cherry blossoms here are same as those in Japan.
Cherry blossoms
bloom out, all the same,color and smell of home.

Japanese Heritage
They told Nisei children about the life of their old home and Japanesecustoms, hoping the children would maintain Japanese culture.
柳雨63

屠蘇の膳子供へ話す郷里の春(Toso-no-zen/ kodomo-he-hanasu/ sato-no-haru)
At the table of the New Year’s morning feast, I tell to my children how theycelebrate the New Year in my home town.
New Year’s morning feast.
Now you know
our old home in Japan.
活花の姿やさしい二世の娘

風人64(Ikebana-no/ sugata-yasashii/ Nisei-no-ko)
Nisei girls look elegant when they arrange ﬂowers in traditional Japaneseway.
Nisei girl arranges
fragile ﬂowers in Japanese way.
She looks elegant today.

Americanization
While they recreated “Japan” in the United States, U.S. ways of life
crept into their own “Japanese” homes. They relished U.S. dishes, andcelebrated children’s birthdays and U.S. holidays.
バースデーケーキへ小さい客が寄り

迷舟65(Baasudee/ keeki-he-chiisai/ kyaku-ga-yori)
Little guests gather around the birthday cake.
Birthday party.
To the sweet cakeswarm the small guests.

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自適66

血のたれるロースビーフにある味覚(Chi-no-tareru/ rousubeefu-ni/ aru-mikaku)
A certain taste of bloody roast beef.
Roast beef looks bloody.
Really it’s juicy and tender,racy, unforgettable taste.
玉兎67

賑やかな子等の夜となるハローイン(Nigiyakana/ kora-no-yo-to-naru/ harooin)
A happy Halloween is the night for lively children.
Halloween night,
Children’s night,
Merry fun night.

The immigrants participated in U.S. community activities in order todemonstrate that they were also good members of U.S. society, expecting that their participation would soothe anti-Japanese sentiments.
入れさせて子に言ひ聞かす社会鍋

華芳68(Iresasete/ ko-ni-ii-kikasu/ shakai-nabe)
I have my child donate some money to the pot of the Salvation Army andexplain its importance.
My dear, put this money
into the pot of the Salvation Army.
Remember the spirit of the holiday.
独立祭何はすておき日本山車

潮風69(Dokuritsu-sai/ nani-ha-suteoki/ nihon-dashi)
Independence Day. Let’s go to see the Japanese ﬂoats ﬁrst.
Independence Day,
full of ﬂoats, but ﬁrst of all,a Japanese ﬂoat.

They seemed to try to hold onto both “Japan” and “America” in theirhomes.
琴の音をかこみて和む感謝祭

一流70(Koto-no-ne-wo/ kakomite-nagomu/ kanshasai)
We pass our Thanksgiving day peacefully, listening to the koto music.
Gathering around the koto play,
graceful time, peaceful tune.
Thanksgiving Day is passing.

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Cultural Collisions
U.S. manners and Japanese manners often collided, however. Nisei
children would not yield to their parents. Issei parents sadly suspectedthat Nisei children slighted them because the parents seemed inferior totheir U.S.-born children in legal status and in linguistic ability, and theparents were thus more vulnerable to racism.
森村71

お小言へアメリカですと逆らう子(Okogoto-he/ Amerika-desu-to/ sakarau-ko)
When I scold my children, they protest that we live in America.
When I chide,kids strike back:“We are in America.”
無笑72

銭のない親へ二世が目をそむけ(Zeni-no-nai/ oya-he-Nisei-ga/ me-wo-somuke)
Nisei children look away from their parents who have no money.
Nisei kids look awayfrom parents
without money.
子の肩身狭くして居る父兄会

兎児傘73(Ko-no-katami/ semaku-shite-iru/ fukei-kai)
At PTA meetings, Nisei children feel ashamed (of their parents.)
PTA meeting.
my son is sitting stony,
never smiles back at me.

Issei parents, on the other hand, took a dim view of the “Americanization” of Nisei children.
其趣味はジヨーイ、ライドにダンスなり 剣突74

(Sono-shumi-wa/ jooi-raido-ni/ dansu-nari)
Their hobbies are joy rides and dancing.
Nisei children—
their favorites are nothing
but joyrides and dancing.
ギヤスリンが無くなる頃に父を乗せ白津75(gyasurin-ga/ nakunaru-koro-ni/ chichi-wo-nose)[Nisei] gives a ride to his/her father when the gas is running low.
My kid offers a ride.
But I know
the gas is running low.

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かの子76

爪染めし二世の指にシガレツト(Tsume-someshi/ Nisei-no-yubi-ni/ shigaretsuto)
A Nisei [girl] holds a cigarette and her ﬁngernails are painted.
A cigarette in hand,nails garishly red,Nisei girl.

Nisei CitizenshipNisei children were, however, the mainstay within U.S. society for the
Issei parents. Using names of the children, native-born citizens, the parents, the “aliens ineligible to citizenship,” evaded the alien land laws andother legal forms of discrimination.
藤枝77

永住の土地を買はせる市民権(Eijuu-no/ tochi-wo-kawaseru/ shiminken)
Citizenship allows (me) to buy the land for permanent settlement.
My citizen childhas a title to the landand settles me down.
悟朗78

法律が変るたんびに子に頼り(Houritsu-ga/ kawaru-tanbini/ ko-ni-tayori)
Whenever the law changes, I depend upon my children.
Another law change,
again I rely on
an American citizen, my boy.
子のリース権へ駈引き強く出る

露昌79(Ko-no-riisu/ ken-he-kakehiki/ tsuyoku-deru)
As my son has a right to lease, I take a stronger stance on negotiation.
Land lease dealing,
I push harder. My kid,citizen, stands behind me.

Between Japan and the United States
Still the immigrants seemed to vacillate between the United States andJapan. So much concerned them about so many things before theyreached their ﬁnal decision.
生活の安易帰国か永住か

白峯80(Seikatsu-no/ an’i-kikoku-ka/ eijuu-ka)
Which life is easier, returning home or to stay here permanently.
Which is easier to live?

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To return home?
To settle down here?

The immigrants were caught in quandary between their aging parents inJapan and their growing children in the United States.
親達を迷ひ子にする第二世

華芳81(Oya-tachi-wo/ maigo-ni-suru/ dai-nisei)
The Nisei turn their parents into strayed children.
Nisei children
turn parents
into strayed children.
白峯82

子の愛に故郷へも帰れず四季数え(Ko-no-ai-ni/ kuni-hemo-kaerezu/ shiki-kazoe)
Because of love for my children I cannot return home and count the seasons.
So much love for my children,
unable to return.
Seasons pass, how many?

Future of the Nisei
One of the reasons for their vacillation was racism in the United States.
Despite their children’s citizenship, the immigrant parents worried thatNisei citizens would face racial discrimination when they went out into
the world. The Nisei were often unable to ﬁnd a suitable occupation outside the Japanese community. They wanted the children to master theJapanese language either for the day of return, or for a chance of gettinga job in the Japanese community.
英語だけ知つて通れぬ皮膚の色

涼子83(Eigo-dake/ shitsute-toorenu/ hifu-no-iro)
Knowing only English, they cannot pass through the barrier of skin color.
Nisei children,
English, they pass,
but not skin color.
卒業は就職難の一里塚

五街人84(Sotsugyo-wa/ shuushokunan-no/ ichirizuka)
Graduation is a ﬁrst mile stone in the difﬁculties of ﬁnding employment.
Graduation,
a ﬁrst milestoneof job discrimination.

Nisei children were reluctant to study Japanese, however. Additional
after-school classes seemed nothing but a tedious ordeal.

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玉兎85

国校をやめたがる子に迷わされ(Kokukou-wo/ yametagaru-ko-ni/ mayowasare)
I do not know what to do, as my kids want to quit the Japanese-language
school.
What to do,
Japanese lessons.
Let them quit, as they want?

“Rising” imperial Japan seemed to offer better opportunities for the
Nisei, if only they had the language skills.
花兄86

修学へ父の慈愛は日本行(Shuugaku-he/ chichi-no-jiai-ha/ nihon-yuki)
Out of fatherly love for my child, I send the child to Japan for education.
Go to Japan,
with your father’s love,for your education.
玉兎87

就職は日本と決める電工科(Shuushoku-ha/ nihon-to-kimeru/ denkou-ka)
An engineering major declares that he will ﬁnd a job in Japan.
After graduation,
I’ll go to Japan,
asserts an engineering major.

National Pride
The Japanese offensive in China, which the immigrants misunderstood as a successful challenge to Western powers, swelled their prideas Japanese nationals, not inferior to the white race.
日の丸へ国威はつきり異土に見る

凡才88(Hinomaru-he/ kokui-hatsukiri/ ido-ni-miru)
Looking up the rising sun ﬂag, I feel the power and prestige of Japan in thisalien land.
The rising sun ﬂag
ﬂutters sublime and strong
in this foreign land.
躍進の御旗気強く異土に住み

松風89(Yakushin-no/ mihata-kizuyoku/ ido-ni-sumi)
The rapid advance of the (Japanese) ﬂag makes me feel assured in this alien
land.
The mighty ﬂag marches on,
power and pride boost me up
in this alien land.

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日章90

排日がなんだ大和の血に生きる(Hainichi-ga/ nanda-yamato-no/ chi-ni-ikiru)
I am not affected by anti-Japanese exclusion. I live proudly as a man ofJapanese race.
Anti-Japanese,
so what! I live proudof my Japanese blood.

Hard Life in Japan
But they were well informed about difﬁculties in Japan. The difference in living conditions between the United States and Japan widened
as Japan waged war in China. They sent daily necessities—rice, sugar,
cotton-goods—to families in Japan.
雀喜91

朝の屠蘇先づ東京の子を想ひ(Asa-no-toso/ mazu-toukyou-no/ ko-wo-omoi)
At the table of the New Year’s morning celebration, I remember, ﬁrst of all,of my child in Tokyo.
New Year’s morning celebration:
I remember my son
in Tokyo. Has he enough?
玉兎92

勿體なく白米食べる別世界(Mottainaku/ hakumai-taberu/ betsusekai)
I eat white rice with much gratitude as I live in a different world. (In Japanthey cannot eat white rice.)
White rice,
now too rare to Japanese.
I eat it in a foreign land.

Even if they were fortunate enough to save money and visit Japan, theymust have been surprised to ﬁnd that even their sweet old homes now
seemed foreign to them.
故郷も旅心地なり新帰朝

松亭93(Furusato-mo/ tabigogochi-nari/ shin-kicho)
A new returnee come back home but feels he is still traveling.
New returnee,
now at home, but still sojourns
in a strange land.

As a Japanese National
But they were not helplessly torn between the United States and Japan.

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In the 1930s, as Sino-Japanese relations ruptured into open hostilities,
the immigrants expressed their loyalty to Japan, by collecting tin foil,
sending comfort packages and letters to the Japanese forces, and raisingmoney for the Japanese war effort out of their meager earnings. Throughsuch contributions, the nagging inferiority complex of the “discarded”
transformed into pride in being a Japanese in the United States.
石州94

在米の吾も銃後の一人なり(Zaibei-no/ ware-mo-juugo-no/ hitori-nari)
I am living in America but I am among the home front of Japan.
A Japanesein America, count me
as one of the home front.
桂馬95

慰問金応募の後の酒の味(Imon-kin/ oubo-no-ato-no/ sake-no-aji)
The taste of sake after I donate some money to the Japanese army.
Comfort money sent,out of my meager wallet. Now I taste
sweet hot sake.
隆年96

慰問文特に英語もいれて書き(Imombun/ tokuni-eigo-mo/ irete-kaki)
I write a comfort letter to the Japanese army, including intentionally someEnglish words.
Comfort letters to the front,
here and there,
bright English words ﬂaunt.

As a Parent of a U.S. Citizen
It should also be noted that at the same time, the immigrants were
proud of being parents of American citizens. The Issei were convincedthat the Nisei would be good soldiers for the United States because theIssei believed the Nisei inherited courageous Japanese spirits. Nisei soldiers were sent off in the Japanese way.
排斥の中に育てた子も兵士

吾以知97(Haiseki-no/ naka-ni-sodateta/ ko-mo-heishi)Children I raised under hostilities become (U.S.) soldier.
With tender care and anxiety,we raised a son under hostile adversity,
now drafted into the army.

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軍服の我子肩身広い母 鏡水98

(Gumpuku-no/ wagako-katami/ hiroi-haha)
As a son is in uniform, his mother feels that she has broader shoulders. (Amother is proud of her son in U.S. uniform.)
Sons in uniform.
Swelling and expanding
Mothers’ proud shoulders.
泉家99

入営に日系の持つ大和魂(Nyuuei-ni/ Nikkei-no-motsu/ Yamato-damashii)
A Nikkei (a person of Japanese ancestory) joins the (U.S.) army withJapanese spirits.
Nikkei joins the army
with Japanese spirit
deep in their heart.
みどり100

席皆軍歌で送る壮行会(Seki-minna/ gunka-de-okuru/ soukoukai)
All the people at the send-off party sing (Japanese) battle songs to send off(Nisei) soldiers.
Send-off party, cheer the draftee
all in one voice,sing Japanese battle songs.

War Clouds
U.S.-Japan relations deteriorated more drastically and rapidly, however, than Japanese immigrants had feared. After repeated warnings, inJanuary 1940, the U.S. government terminated the 1911 commercial
treaty granting Japan most favored nation status and guaranteeing a protection of Japanese interests and, and tightened economic sanctions
against Japan. On July 25, 1941, Japanese assets in the United States
were frozen.
継続を願ふ條約遂に切れ

三十坊101(Keizoku-wo/ negau-jouyaku/ tsuini-kire)
Despite our wish for continuation, the treaty (of 1911) terminates after all.
How much we prayed forthe treaty to go on.
Cut off today, alas.
アメリカと平和を祈り種を蒔き

勝水102(Amerika-to/ heiwa-wo-inori/ tane-wo-maki)
I plant seeds, praying for peace with America.

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CROSSING THE OCEAN, DREAMING OF AMERICA, DREAMING OF JAPAN103

With sincere prayer
I seed peacein American soil.
一本気103

凍結へ泣くにも泣けぬ日本店(Touketsu-he/ naku-nimo-nakenu/ nihon-ten)
It is all over for Japanese stores because of the Frozen Assets Order.
Poor Japanese storesattest their tears are frozen
by Frozen Assets Order.
芳夫104

日本船来ない波止場に或日立ち(Nihonsen/ konai-hatoba-ni/ aruhi-tachi)
One day I stand on a pier where no Japanese ships enter.
I linger on a pier,waiting. But I know.
No ships coming from Japan.

War clouds also cast dark shadows over Nisei citizens. Many of themstill held dual citizenship, in spite of the fact that the Japanese nationality law of 1924 allowed them not to hold Japanese nationality.105 Theirdual citizenship status, one of the causes of the anti-Japanese movement,
aroused strong suspicion about their loyalty to the Untied States. The
Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) advocated for giving up
Japanese nationality in order to demonstrate absolute and single allegiance to the United States. Some responded to the call, but many hesitated. In spite of the Nisei’s U.S. citizenship, Issei parents were still
uncertain of the Nisei’s right under the U.S. laws. The citizenship of
Nisei children was all they had, however, for protection.
国籍の離脱淋しく今日も読み

鈍突106(Kokuseki-no/ ridatsu-sabishiku/ kyou-mo-yomi)
I read sadly the notice of renunciation of Japanese nationality.
Today’s paper,I read sadly
another renunciation notice.
二重籍思案ばかりで未だ思案

巴川107(Nijuuseki/ shian-bakari-de/ mata-shian)
I think over and over again about dual nationality without any conclusion.
Dual nationality.
Thinking, reﬂecting, speculating,and still wondering.

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北海108

無條約二世依存の覚悟きめ(Mujouyaku/ Nisei-izon-no/ kakugo-kime)
No treaty. I made up my mind to depend on the Nisei.
No treaty!
No way but to stay.
I trust Nisei’s rights, my mainstay.
志行109

踏止る覚悟かすかな子の権利(Fumi-domaru/ kakugo-kasukana/ ko-no-kenri)
I made up my mind to stay. I cling to my children’s rights, however unreliable they are. (This poem can also be interpreted: Decision to stay is frail
because children’s rights are not clear.)
I will stay.
Staking my choice on Nisei’s rights.
Do I play too high?

Looking back on their life in the United States, Japanese immigrants
found the United States a cold land.
世界一楽土に荊棘の住心地

吾以知110(Sekaiichi/ rakudo-ni-ibara-no/ sumigokochi)
I feel thorns in this world’s best paradise.
I feel thorns
living in this land,
the world’s best hope.
やつと根を下した土も冷た過ぎ

玉兎111(Yatsuto-ne-wo/ oroshita-tsuchi-mo/ tsumeta-sugi)
At last I set down root in this land but I ﬁnd it very cold.
With toil,
I dig my root down
only to ﬁnd this cold hard soil.

My LandIt can be said, however, the immigrants felt peculiar affection for their
new country. This was the land where they had something to be proudof: achievements they brought forth under harsh discrimination. This
was the land where their children and grandchildren were born and growing.
住み憎く住んでアメリカ見切られず

丘太郎112(Suminikuku/ sunde-Amerika/ mikirarezu)
I live here uncomfortably but I cannot give up living in America.

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CROSSING THE OCEAN, DREAMING OF AMERICA, DREAMING OF JAPAN105

It’s harsh to live here,
but hard to give up
my life in America.
勝子113

汗を血を吸つて沙漠へメロンの香(Ase-wo-chi-wo/ sutsute-sabaku-he/ meron-no-ka)
The desert swallows sweat and blood, and now produces fragrant melons.
Sweat and blood soften the soil,
sweet melons smellin the desert of California.
もう此処が故郷である孫も出來

森村114(Mou-koko-ga/ furusato-de-aru/ mago-mo-deki)
Now this land is my home. I have a grandson.
I call this land my home,
holding in my arm
my sweet grandchild.
排斥の過去を笑つて今土着

海風115(Haiseki-no/ kako-wo-waratsute/ ima-dochaku)
I laugh at the past exclusions. I am a native now.
“Japanese exclusions?”“Tha’s an old story,” I laugh,“I am a native now.”

Here the immigrants became the ﬁrst generation of the JapaneseAmericans, even though they missed their homeland in their heart.
IV EPILOGUE
Browsing through newspapers for relevant articles to a current research topic, reel after reel, for hours and days is an exhausting task, or
one might even call it an ordeal. But the poetry section—tanka, haiku,
and senryu—in a Japanese-language newspaper seems to me a cozy café
where Japanese immigrants are still chatting genially. They say that these
Japanese-language literary works are important historical resources toan understanding of the daily lives and bare sentiments of Japanese immigrants in the United States.
It is true that in Japan Japanese emigration studies have produced agreat many important works, but those studies have focused on U.S.Japan relations on “Japanese immigration problems” based heavily on
government records, and Japanese association documents. Even social
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leaders unless the writer is lucky enough to ﬁnd immigrant diaries andletters. Japanese immigrant poetry—senryu, haiku, and tanka—is another archival resources of collective memory of the Japanese immigrant,
and it is readily accessible in Japanese-language newspapers.
The senryu poems translated in this article are only a small fragmentof Japanese immigrant poetry, but the fragment tells how the poets—mostly unknown immigrants—interpreted their lives and their transformation from birds of passage into the ﬁrst generation of JapaneseAmericans. The poems illustrate how the immigrants crossed the Paciﬁc
mentally, yet tried to embrace both Japan and the United States. Their
tragedy was that the United States pressed them to sever the Japanese
half, without admitting them as a member of the nation.
NOTESThis article is based on the paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Studies Association in Atlanta, GA, on November 12, 2004. The research was fundedby Grant-in-Aid Explanatory Research, 2002–2004. All translations are mine, unlessspeciﬁcally indicated.
1Frank Chin, Jeffery Paul Chan, and Lawson Fusao Inada, eds., Aiiieeeee! An
Anthology of Asian American Writers (Washington, D. C.: Howard University Press,
1974).
2
Ibid., viii.
3
Ippei Nomoto (Keizo Norimoto) sadly called the Japanese-language literature in the
United States “literature without inheritor.” Nomoto Ippei, “Densho no nai bungaku”[Literature without Inheritor], Nanka bungei [Southern California Literature] 18 (March,
1974), 49–55. Books on Japanese “immigrant land literature” are still handful: Matoshi
Fujisawa, Nikkei bungaku no kenkyu [A Study on Nikkei Literature] (Tokyo: Daigakukyoiku-sha, 1985); Fumio Kobayashi, Shimoyama Isso no shogai to sono geijutsu [Lifeand Arts of Isso Shimoyama] (Tokyo: Soun-sha, 1954); Satae Shinoda and Iwao
Yamamoto, Nikkei Amerika bungaku zasshi kenkyu—Nihongo zasshi wo chushin ni [AStudy on Nikkei American Literary Magazines: Mainly in Japanese Language] (Tokyo:
Fuji-shuppan, 1998). Kyuin Okina, an advocate for “immigrant land literature” in thelate 1910s and early 20s, is the most-studied “immigrant” writer, see a special issue for
Kyuin Okina in Ritsumeikan gengo bunka kenkyu [Ritsumeikan Studies in Language
and Culture] Vol. 5, Nos 5&6 (February 1994). For further reference on works in Japanesetill 1992, see Satae Shinoda, “Bungaku, non-ﬁkushon [Literature and Non-Fiction]” inImin kenkyu kai [Association of Immigration/ Emigration Studies]ed., Nihon no iminkenkyu: doko to mokuroku [Immigration/ Emigration Studies in Japan: A Bibliographical Resource Guide] 131–147; some works in English are, on Kyuin Okina, see Kazuyo
Yamane, “Kyu-in Okina’s Contribution to Japanese-American Literature Early in the20th Century,” New Perspective (1989), 2–7; on coterie magazines, Eri F. Yasuhara,“Voices from the Margins: A Preliminary Report on Two Issei Literary Journals,
1916–1919,” Ritsumeikan gengo bunka kenkyu, Vol. 4, No.6 (March, 1993), 97–106;
Eri F. Yasuhara, “Remonchoo: Early Japanese American Literature in Southern
California,” Ritsumeikan gengo bunka kenkyu, Vol. 8, Nos. 5 & 6 (March, 1997), 59–73;

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CROSSING THE OCEAN, DREAMING OF AMERICA, DREAMING OF JAPAN107

on senryu, Sachiko Honda, “Issei Senryu,” in Gail M. Nomura et.al, eds, Frontiers ofAsian American Studies: Writing, Research, and Commentary (Seattle: Washington
State University Press, 1989)169–178; Marvin K. Opler and F. Obayashi, “Senryu Poetry as Folk and Community Expression,” Journal of American Folklore, (JanuaryMarch, 1945), 1–11; Stephen H. Sumida, “Hawaii, the Northwest, and Asia: Localism
and Local Literary Developments in the Creation of an Asian Immigrants' Sensibility,”
Seattle Review, (Summer, 1988), 9–18.
4
King-Kok Cheung and Stan Yogi questioned this exclusion and they listed those
excluded writers in their bibliography, maintaining, “national and regional allegiance,
which often vary with time, cannot easily determind.” King-Koku Cheung and Stan
Yogi, Asian American Literature: An Annotated Bibliography (NY: Modern Language
Association of America, 1988), v. The deﬁnitions of Asian American Literature havechanged since Aiiieeeee! was published in 1974. See Sau-ling C. Wong and Stephen H.
Sumida, A Resource Guide to Asian American Literature (NY: The Modern Language
Association of America, 2001) 1–9. Elaine H. Kim explained why she changed her stancein her “Foreward” for Shirley Geok-lin Lim and Amy Ling, Reading the Literature of
Asian America (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992) xi–xvii.
5
However, a little change can be observed recently with rising interests in Japanese
language literature in Taiwan.
6
Some senryu are translated in Honda; Kazuo Ito, Issei: A History of Japanese
Immigrants in North America, trans. Shinichiro Nakamura and Jean S. Gerard (Seattle:
Japanese Community Service, 1973); Wakako Yamauchi, “The Poetry of the Issei on
the American Relocation Experience”, in Isamu Reed ed. Calaﬁa: The California Poetry(Berkeley: Y’Bird Books, 1979) xxi–xxviii. As for translated haiku, Violet Kazue deCristoforo ed. and trans., May Sky: There Is Always Tomorrow: An Anthology ofJapanese American Concentration Camp Kaiko Haiku (LA: Sun and Moon Press, 1997);
as for tanka, Lucille M. Nixon and Tomoe Tana trans. Sounds from the Unknown: A
Collection of Japanese-American Tanka (Denver: Alan Swallow, 1963).
7
Hachiro Ebihara, Kaigai hoji shimbun hattenshi [History of Overseas Japanese
Language Newspaper] (1936; rpt. Tokyo: Meicho Fukkyu kai, 1980), 169–172, 185–87.
8
The U. S. census of 1900 counts 2,990 Japanese in Seattle, 1,781 in San Francisco.
House of Representatives, Japanese Immigration Hearings before the Committee on
Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives 66th Congress (1922; New
York: Arno Press, 1978), 281.
9
Yukihide Aikawa, “Nazo ni tsutsumareta Meiji hojishi no genkei” [A Forgotten
Archetype of Japanese Language Newspapers in Meiji Period] Han [Pan], (January,1986), 203–274.
10
Itonbiru Nihonjin Kurabu [Japanese Club of Eatonville], Kyomei [Resonance],(Eatonville, WA: Itonbiru Nihonjuin kurabu) Vol. 2, No. 2 (April, 1926) is in Special
Collections at the University of Washington Libraries.
11
Okina achieved a considerable success as an immigrant writer and a journalist, but
for family reasons he returned to Japan in 1924. He was a very proliﬁc writer and his
autobiographical stories, essays, short stories, and novels are available in ten volumesof Kyuin Okina, Okina Kyuin Zenshu [Complete Works of Kyuin Okina] (Toyama:
Okina-Kyuin-zenshu-kankokai, 1971). His arguments for immigrant land literature arein Vol. 5.
12Okina, “Iminchi bungei no shimei” [The Mission of Immigrant Land Literature],
Okina Kyuin Zenshu, Vol.5, 196–198.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid., 177.

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Ibid., 181.
Isshin Yamasaki ed., Horo no shi [Poetry of Wandering] (LA: Horo-no-shi-sha,
1925); Isshin Yamasaki ed., Hokubei bungei senshu [Selected Works in North America](Tokyo: Bungei-hikyo-sha, 1927); Isshin Yamasaki ed., Amerika bungeishu [Collectionof Literary Works in America] (Tokyo: Shinko-do, 1930); Isshin Yamasaki ed., Amerika
bungakushu [Collection of American Literature] (Tokyo: Keigan-sha, 1937).
17
Horo no shi, postscript.
18
Ibid.
19
Amerika bungakushu, 2.
20
Ibid., 3.
21
Ibid., ii.
22
Sanyu Bito ed., Senryu sogo jiten [Encyclopedia of Senryu] (Tokyo: Yuzankakushuppan, 1984), 380–382; Dontsuku (Chujiro) Ueno, Senryu shikan [Historical View ofSenryu] (Private Printing,1964), 206; Yakima Heigen Nihonjin-kai [Japanese Association of the Yakima Valley], Yakima heigen Nihonjin shi [History of the Japanese People
in the Yakima Valley] (Yakima, WA: Yakima Nihonjin-kai, 1935), 282.
23
Yakima heigen, 282. All senryu poems are written ﬁrst in Japanese, secondly in
Romanization, and lastly in English translation.
24
A dash is inserted between Japanese words, and a slash indicates cluster of syllables, 5/7/5.
25
Gosenkai means a group without any judge. At gatherings, the members rank senryu poems.
26
Ibid, 282–283. Taihoku Nippo [Great Northern Daily News], Rodo [Labor], andTaishu [People] also featured a senryu section.
27
Senryu Kiyari (a monthly coterie magazine), carrying regular correspondence fromthe senryu poets in the United States, is now one of the most valuable historical documents on senryu activities in the United States.
28
Yakima heigen, 283.
29
Kaho Honda ed., Hokubei senryu [Senryu in North America] (Seattle: Hokubei
Senryu Gosenkai, 1935). As for the accounts of the exhibition, Hokubei Jiji [North
American Times], July 2, 5, 16, 18, 19, 20, 1938; Reiha Isobe, Senryu Kiyari gojunen
shi [A History: 50 Years of Senryu Kiyari] (Tokyo: Senryu Kiyari gin-sha, 1970), 70.
30
Shikai Asega ed., Isshunen kinen Kamai senryu dai ichi go [One Year Anniversary:
Kamai Senryu No. 1] (Los Angeles: Kamai senryu jimusho, 1939).
31
The founding members are Taishu Shiode, Shiro Kunitsugu, Keizan Yagata,
Hakujaku Takehara, Hakkaku Kodama, Hasui Takigawa, Tomeo Hanami, and Keiho
Yamanaka.
32
Kicho Shimizu, “Fudoshoku mondai to rubi tsuki senryu” [Local Color Issue andSenryu with Kana Alongside Chinese Characters], Senryu Kiyari (February, 1934),
14–15.
33
Kicho Shimizu, Suzuhebi [Rattlesnake] (1943: LA: Keiho Yamanaka, 1996) 3.
Originally mimeographed for the beginners of senryu in the Jerome Relocation Centerby Japanese inmates in 1943.
34
From the senryu section of Hokubei Jiji Shimbun [North American Times], 1934–41;
Kashu Mainichi Shimbun [Japan California Daily News], 1938–41; Yuta Nippo [UtahNippo: Japanese Daily News], 1942–45. From senryu collections, Kaho (Shinjiro)
Honda ed., Hokubei Senryu [Senryu in North America] (Seattle: Hokubei Senryu
Gosenkai, 1935); Shikai Asega ed., Isshunen kinen Kamai senryu dai-ichigo [One Year
Commemoration: Kamai Senryu, No. 1] (Los Angles: Kamai senryu jimusho, 1939);
Santanita senji kari-shuyojo umagoya senryu [Stable Senryu Poems at Santa Anita
16

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CROSSING THE OCEAN, DREAMING OF AMERICA, DREAMING OF JAPAN109

Assembly Center] [Originally mimeographed by the inmates at Santa Anita AssemblyCenter in 1942. Retyped by Keiho Yamanaka in 1988]; Shigarami Ginsha [Shigarami
Senryu Circle], Senryu shigarami [Senryu Weir] (Originally mimeographed by theinmates in the Jerome Relocation Center in 1943. Retyped by Keiho Yamanaka, ca
1990); Nissho Yoneoka ed., Senryu (Newell CA: Tule Lake Segregation Center, 48 ku
senryu ginsha, 1945) mimeograph. The following three magazines are reprinted in Satae
Shinoda, Iwao Yamamoto eds., Nikkei Amerika bungaku zasshi shusei [Collection ofJapanese American Literary Magazines] (Tokyo: Fuji Shuppan, 1998): Haato Maunten
bungei [Heart Mountain Literature] (Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Wyoming) Jan.
1944-Sep. 1944; Poston bungei [Poston Literature] (Poston Relocation Center, Arizona)
May, 1943-Sep.1945; Doto [Raging Billows] (Tule Lake Segregation Center, CA) July
1944-June 1945.
35
Kazuo Ito, Zoku Hokubei hyakunen zakura [Issei: History of Japanese Immigrants
in North America II] (Tokyo: Nichibo shuppan, 1973) 91.
36
Issho (1931) collected in Honda.
37
Kido (1934) collected in Honda.
38
Hinmei (1930) collected in Honda.
39
Meishu (1930) collected in Honda.
40
Sonembo (1932) collected in Honda.
41
Kido, North American Times, January 1. 1939.
42
The idea of a three-year stay and return probably is derived from the labor contractsystem in Hawaii, which initiated Japanese immigration to the United States.
43
Gyokuto (1933) collected in Honda.
44
Kicho, North American Times, June 26, 1939.
45
Hakujaku, California Daily News, April 4,1939.
46
In this poem, birds of passage means Japanese seasonal workers.
47
Imosaku (1932) collected in Honda.
48
Shotei (1933) collected in Honda.
49
Ujo, Japan California Daily News, July 6, 1941.
50
Gokudoan (1932) collected in Honda.
51
The picture marriage practice became popular after the Gentlemen’s Agreement of1908. In order to appease anti-Japanese sentiments, however, the Japanese government
terminated passport issuance to picture brides in 1920.
52
Seccho, Sacramento Daily News, February 8, 1911.
53
Fundoshi Ikkan, Japanese American News, October 6, 1912.
54
Kyosui, California Daily News, August 7, 1940.
55
Kyosui, California Daily News, May 26, 1940.
56
Meishu (1932) collected in Honda.
57
Jiteki (1933) collected in Honda.
58
Gyokuto, North American Times, December 2, 1940.
59
Kaburyu, California Daily News, May 4, 1941.
60
Kotaro, North American Times, July 24, 1940.
61
Keiho, North American Times, February 1, 1940.
62
Satsuo, North American Times, June17, 1939.
63
Ryuu (1934) collected in Honda.
64
Fujin, North American Times, June 17, 1939.
65
Meishu (1931) collected in Honda.
66
Jiteki (1933) collected in Honda.
67
Gyokuto, North American Times, November 30, 1939.
68
Kaho (1933) collected in Honda.

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110
69

TERUKO KUMEI

Shiokaze, California Daily News, June 13, 1941.
Ichiryu, North American Times, December 28, 1940.
71
Shinson, North American Times, February 22, 1940.
72
Musho, April 17, 1938, collected in Asega.
73
Tojigasa, North American Times, February 22, 1940.
74
Kentsukku (1929) collected in Honda.
75
Hakushin (1933) collected in Honda.
76
Katsuko, North American Times, October 21, 1939.
77
Fujie, North American Times, September 28, 1939.
78
Goro, ibid.
79
Rosho, North American Times, February 12, 1941.
80
Hakuho, North American Times, August 28, 1939.
81
Kaho (1929) collected in Honda.
82
Hakuho, North American Times, July 25, 1940.
83
Ryoko, North American Times, September 28, 1939.
84
Gogaijin, June 19, 1938, collected in Asega.
85
Gyokuto, North American Times, August 26, 1939.
86
Kakei, North American Times, August 7, 1940.
87
Gyokuto, North American Times, August 23, 1941.
88
Bonsai, California Daily News, January 1, 1940.
89
Shoufu, ibid.
90
Nissho, California Daily News, May 4, 1941.
91
Jakki, North American Times, January 1, 1940.
92
Gyokuto, ibid.
93
Shotei (1932) collected in Honda.
94
Sekishu, North American Times, December 134, 1937.
95
Keima, North American Times, September 23, 1939.
96
Ryunen, North American Times, March 15, 1941.
97
Goichi, North American Times, March 18, 1941.
98
Kyosui, North American Times, August 16, 1941.
99
Senke, North American Times, October, 22, 1941.
100
Midori, California Daily News, May 11, 1941.
101
Sanjubo, North American Times, June 6, 1940.
102
Shosui, North American Times, June 20, 1940.
103
Ippongi, California Daily News, September 21, 1941.
104
Yoshio, North American Times, September 25, 1941.
105
Without registration within 14 days of the birth, a child born in the United States
could not hold Japanese nationality.
106
Dontsuku, North American Times, July 22, 1941.
107
Hasen, North American Times, May 21, 1941.
108
Hokkai, North American Times, December 4, 1939.
109
Shiko, North American Times, March 26, 1941.
110
Goichi, North American Times, November 30, 1940.
111
Gyokuto, North American Times, June 15, 1941.
112
Kyutaro, North American Times, July 23, 1938.
113
Katsuko, California Daily News, June 15, 1941.
114
Shinson, North American Times, January 1, 1940.
115
Kaifu, North American Times, June 26, 1941.
70