4 Immigrants Manga is written by the Japanese author Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama. Manga is the name given to Japanese comic books that focus on adults and children. 4 Immigrants Manga revolves around the experiences of the author and his three friends who arrive in San Francisco as immigrants. “It is one of the first modern-format comic books ever published in the United States, especially with all-new material and a documentary, autobiographical theme” (L, 2013).
Section1: Context
Born on January 9, 1885, in a little village called Neu, in Western Japan, Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama was a good artist and a story teller. He won a scholarship in the New York Arts Student League. At the age of nineteen, he set off to San Francisco. In 4 Immigrants, he details his experiences amongst the student-worker community in San Francisco. In 1931, while visiting Japan, Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama published his collection of 52 episodes of the Manga, called as Manga Yonin Shosei. The consul General of Japan had contributed to the foreword section. Kiyama’s intention was to publish each episode, which was a two page spread, in comic strips of Japanese newspapers. This did not materialize. Fredrick L. Schodt started to translate the manga in 1997 and finally in October 1998, “it was published by Stone Bridge Press (Berkeley, California), retitled The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924” (L, 2013). Kiyama’s work was republished in 2012 by Shimpu. The selection is a complete copy of all the 52 episodes written by Kiyama, translated by Fredrick L. Schodt, with copious notes and commentaries added for all the episodes. The topic of the source is The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924.
Section 2: Content
The autobiographical story gives the readers a sense of Asian American History. The main content is the experiences of the four boys who arrive on the American shores and survive as immigrants from 1904 to 1924. The four students are excited to arrive in USA. They change to American names, namely, Henry, Frank, Charlie and Fred. While Henry’s ultimate dream is to emerge as an artist, his friends want to pursue business, farming and studies. The story proceeds with all of Henry’s three friends becoming rich and successful, with Henry struggling to carve his name in the American world. The four boys undergo many hardships as immigrants under various American employers. The socio-economic issues that torment immigrants, namely prejudice, apathy and racial discrimination have been illustrated in graphic detail. Poverty and misery are conveyed by citing that immigrant farmers are forced to work and live in a place full of mosquitoes and fleas that “houses penniless paupers” (Henry, Schodt, & Kiyama, 1999). The story ends with Henry proclaiming his desire to go back to Japan, get married and settle down. His friends are equally desirous to visit their homeland. The attitude of resignation and withdrawal is brought about when one of the friends says, “I just can’t support a family of eight working the way I am now” (Henry, Schodt, & Kiyama, 1999).
Analysis from context of author’s biography
The book represents a first person account of various landmark events in the period cited, including the major earthquake in 1906, the Panama Pacific International explosion in 1915 and the hazardous epidemic of influenza in 1918, to mention a few. Racism is depicted in many parts of the book. While the immigrants converse in Meiji era Japanese, English and Cantonese are spoken by the Americans and the Chinese. The immigration problems start getting worse and Charlie goes crazy on seeing carts full of “immigrant workers entering via Hawaii” (Henry, Schodt, & Kiyama, 1999). April 2nd, 1907 is observed as the first day of the ban on immigrants. The prohibition measures introduced are rebuked by common men. The fact is well-portrayed when the author shows Charlie singing “abstinence only makes us blue” (Henry, Schodt, & Kiyama, 1999). The readers are made to understand that the measures only fleece the poor while the rich have already stocked up on their liquor barrels.
Teaching tool for American Asian History
Racial discrimination is explained well when the author says, “socializing freely with respectable white women was extremely difficult” (Henry, Schodt, & Kiyama, 1999). The book helps the readers to understand history by depicting life in the Japantowns of America, great events like the Panama Pacific International Exposition and the Great War in Europe that began in 1914. The eagerness to participate in the war is brought about when the author mentions that “students in all the universities are signing up” for the great war in Europe (Henry, Schodt, & Kiyama, 1999).
Conclusion
The book can be used to explain the history of pro-exclusionist forces in California, the visit of the Atlantic Fleet in San Francisco and the war-time tensions between America and Japan. The portrayal of potato farming in Sacramento Delta which employs blanket-boys, the range of entertainment offered to young men, from gambling to sex, gives the readers deep insights into the daily lives of Japan’s immigrants in America. The book is a good platform that can be used to teach Asian American history to students. The adventures faced by the young boys have been elucidated in a humorous way that makes the story interesting.
References
Henry, Y., Schodt, F. L., & Kiyama, H. Y. (1999). The four immigrants manga: A Japanese experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924 (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.
L, F. (2013). The Four immigrants Manga. Retrieved January 30, 2017, from http://www.jai2.com/HK.htm
