An Early Transnationalism? The Japanese American Second Generation of Hawaii in the Interwar Years

Abstract

Differences between the transnational identities fashioned by Japanese Americans living in HI during the 1920s & by Japanese Americans living in the present-day US are studied. Demographics of HI's early-20th-century Japanese American population are overviewed, & of the federal government's rationale for acculturating this community are provided. Personal narratives produced by Japanese American high school students in 1926 are analyzed to determine how members of this community constructed transnational identities. The study revealed that many students desired to function as cultural intermediaries between Japan & the US, & perceived traditional American & Japanese societies as sharing similar values. It is concluded that the replacement of American society's concern with creating an international melting pot with regard for establishing a global multicultural space is partially responsible for alterations in Japanese American transnational identities. 10 References. J. W. Parker