Nisei Daughter

Miyamoto considers the title of Sone’s memoir about growing up in a Japanese immigrant family in early 20th century apt because it positions her experiences in the context of the Nisei, second-generation Japanese Americans. The Immigration Act of 1924 prevented fresh generations of Japanese immigrants from entering the United States. This meant that there was a substantial generation gap between the Issei, first-generation Japanese Americans who had “permanent alien status” and clung to the language and habits of Japan, and the Nisei, who were citizens by birth and saw themselves as American (viii). While fluency in the Japanese language and customs generally eluded the Nisei, according to Miyamoto, “most Nisei absorbed more of Japanese culture than they realized” (xi). A distinctive generation, the Nisei organized their own clubs, conferences, and associations.

The Japanese community of 1920s and ’30s Seattle was “highly organized” and mainly located in the business center surrounding Sixth Street and Main Street, “where a dense cluster of shops and offices served the needs of an ethnic population” (ix).

Miyamoto opines that Sone, whose childhood name was Kazuko, was atypical in the Nisei generation because she was “more closely related to her mother” than to her peers (xii).