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Haley Bell
Dr. Knepler
UNST Portland
13 November 2014
Japanese In Portland: Contribution and Discrimination
Japanese culture began to arrive in Portland around 1834. The Japanese contributed to Portland
with their markets and especially with their labor. Japanese men arrived in portland mainly
looking for work. Work was easy to find in Portland because Oregon was a new place inhabited
by few. Although there were few people in Oregon, immigrants like Japanese, Chinese, and
African Americans filled the streets of Portland quickly. These immigrants helped shape Portland
to be the way it is today, but, immigrants such as Japanese were not treated well. Discrimination
such as curfews towards the Japanese were a common occurrence in Portland in the early mid
1900s.
When the Japanese first arrived in Oregon they mainly worked on farms. In 1905, 35%
of the Japanese were farmers(Stearns, 263). The Japanese helped Oregons produce like fruits to
grow immensely. Timothy Olmsted states that the majority of Japanese in Oregon lived in rural
areas such as Hillsboro and Hood River. Both of these places had local newspapers that wrote
about the Japanese. The Hillsboro Argus wrote mainly on how the Japanese were not welcome,
the Hood River News was more accepting towards the Japanese in the area.
Along with the Japanese contributing to Oregons produce development, the Japanese
also played a huge role in the development of the railroad systems in Oregon. Marjorie Sterns
states that 26% of the Japanese population in Oregon in 1905 were employed by the railroad

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system. Oregon in the early 1900s was a popular place to be due to all the labor it had to offer.
The Japanese, along with other immigrants, came to Oregon in this time to work for the railroad.
Because working for the railroad is not a very skilled job, immigrants tended to work these types
of jobs because they were not qualified to work any other job.
Japanese contributed to shape Portland through the work hey did. Soon, Japanese began
to run hotels, become tailors, and shoemakers. With the Japanese evolving through their work,
they stared to contribute to Oregons economy by paying taxes. As taxpayers they had not
figured very heavily, but since 1915 their holding had increased perceptibly(Sterns, 264).
Because the Japanese were paying small amounts of taxes at this time, they still did not have
much status.Status is determined by how much one contributes to society.The Japanese
contributed through their work but sings their race played the main role on how people perceived
them.
Around 1942, World War Two was going on in the United States. In Oregon, the Japanese
contributed to the war by serving and also by working in the shipyards in Portland. In the article
The Perspective of Two Oregon Weekly Newspapers by Timothy Olmsted, it is stated that
13,000 Japanese-Americans were serving in the armed forces for the United States. The Japanese
helped our military by serving in the war. It is very significant that we had Japanese and other
races fighting in the war. It was an asset to have immigrants fight for us because they were
uneducated force while educated force could stay home and work for the economy of the United
States.
Japanese contributed highly to the development of Oregon in the early 1900s. Although
they contributed to the economy and the well being of Oregon, the people of Oregon disliked the

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Japanese culture along with the Chinese and African Americans. Being anything other than white
in early Oregon was unfortunate. Immigrants of races other than white were discriminated in the
work they could do, where they could live, and eat. Immigrants moved to Oregon to find work
and hope for a better life. Japanese also found work, but, the work was limited to unskilled, low
paying jobs. Japanese also found housing, but, the area in which they were allowed to live was
run don and unsafe.
The Japanese were limited in the labor they were allowed to do. Just like any race, the
Japanese are capable of doing any job, but, according to white people in early Portland, people of
other races such as Japanese were limited to unskilled jobs. Japanese were allowed to work
markets, railroad, military, or every once in a while they could run small businesses. According
to Marjorie Stearns, once the older Japanese were gone and the younger American born Japanese
took over, a shift in the labor force for Japanese was near. With the American born Japanese
becoming educated, skilled jobs would soon become available for then.
The Japanese were also discriminated by where they could live. Because the Japanese
couldn't get high paying jobs, they had to live in shanty towns due to their low income. The
Japanese had low income, but, they also were not accepted in white communities. Due to race,
and status, Japanese and other races were segregated into low income parts or Portland.
Although Japanese population of Oregon was only three-tenths of a percent of the 1940 Nikkei
population of the United States, the states Japanese population was concentrated in a few
localities(Olmstead, 5). As Olmsted says in The Perspective of Two Oregon Weekly
Newspapers, Japanese could only live in few areas because of either farming area or because of
their low income.

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World War Two brought even more discrimination to the Japanese people despite their
contribution to the war. Japanese were forced to have a curfew. Americans were weary of the
Japanese because we were fighting against them. Constitutionality of military regulations
imposing a west coast curfew on all persons of Japanese ancestry and excluding them from
designated areas(Oregonian, 6). It is stated in the Oregonian in 1943 that Japanese were forced
to have a curfew. A curfew was imposed on the Japanese because we were at war with Japan
therefore, Japanese in America could not be trusted. The Argus newspaper depicted racist
cartoons and vicious illustrations throughout the war that made headlines of the paper. Racism to
the Japanese was common in the 1940s through out the country, not just in Oregon.
The primary source of the Oregonian of 1943 is very significant to showing how
Japanese were discriminated in Oregon. Imposing a curfew on the Japanese was an event that
showed just how racist Oregon was to the Japanese. Although the Japanese contributed to
Oregons economy, work force, and market, they were inevitably discriminated due to race. The
Japanese helped make Portland the way it is now by working through the discrimination and
striving towards equality. Now, Portland Oregon has great diversity and equality towards all
cultures and races.

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Works Cited
Curfew Rules on Japanese Argued Before High Court. Oregonian 11 May 1943: 6. Print.
Nettler, Gwynne. The Relationship Between Attitude and Information Concerning the
Japanese in America. American Sociological Review 1 Apr. 1946, Vol. 11, No. 2 sec:
177-91. Print.
Olmstead, Timothy. Nikkei Internment: The Perspective of Two Oregon Weekly Newspapers.
Nikkei Internment: The Perspective of Two Oregon Weekly Newspapers 1 Apr. 1984, Vol.
85, No. 1 sec: 4-32. Print.
Stearns, Marjorie. The Settlement of the Japanese in Oregon. The Settlement of the Japanese in
Oregon 1 Sept. 1938, Vol. 39, No. 3 sec: 262-69. Print.