San Jose's Japantown

Title

Description

San Jose's Japantown emerged alongside the Chinatown that had been in the area called Heinlenville since 1887 after the original Chinatown had burnt down. Japanese had started arriving in the area in larger numbers after the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act banned Chinese laborers from coming to America. Previously many Chinese had worked in agriculture at one of the many orchards and farms in the Santa Clara Valley, but as the Exclusion Act reduced the number of Chinese workers available the Japanese started to take their place. With the influx of Japanese into the area many businesses were started to cater to the needs of the community which was mainly comprised of bachelors. The early form of Japantown was largely made up of gambling dens, pool halls. bathhouses, general goods stores, lodgings, and brothels. By the turn of the century the area had over 200 Japanese living there not counting those who were migrant workers. After the 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco had devastated the Japantown there many Japanese moved to San Jose which did not suffer as much damage as San Francisco to restart their lives. However, due to the earthquake in San Francisco tensions rose between different groups in the city and Japanese students were forced to attend the Oriental school with Chinese students. Many Japanese were outraged and pressured the Japanese government to intervene. In 1907 the two countries reached an agreement where Japan would not issue out passports to Japanese who wanted to work in America and the United States would allow the Japanese students to attend any school that the wanted. The Gentlemen's Agreement as it was called reduced the number of Japanese laborers but led to an increase of women coming in their place who would be called the picture brides. Many Japanese men who came to American and wanted to settle down would write back to their families in Japan sending a picture of themselves and ask for them to arrange a marriage. Once a suitable wife was found she would be married to her husband by proxy in Japan and then be issued a passport that allowed her to come over to America to live with her new husband. The arrival of the picture brides changed the makeup of Japantown as it switched from a haven for bachelors to one that was more suitable for families. In 1908 the Japanese Association of San Jose was created to help the local community and those new to the area. Over the next few years Japantown grew exponentially as many more businesses were setup to appeal to the changing demographic of the area.

Creator

Jason Bowman

Source

Japanese American Museum of San Jose
San Jose State University Library Special Collections & Archives
Japantown Business Association
Curt Fukuda
History San Jose