[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 114 (Thursday, September 14, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE ANNIVERSARY OF SAN FRANCISCO'S JAPANTOWN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 14, 2006

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to our San 
Francisco Japantown and celebrate with them on their 100th anniversary 
as a community. Affectionately called J-town, San Francisco Japantown 
is the oldest and joins San Jose and Los Angeles as the only remaining 
Japantowns in the continental United States. A century ago, there were 
more than 50 in California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. 
Japantown is more than just a physical location where Japanese people 
migrated after the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, a 
distinctive area where Japanese culture is on display, or a tourist 
destination. Japantown represents more than 100 years of a unique 
immigrant experience, which started with the arrival of the first 
generation--the Issei.
  Prior to 1906, Japanese immigrants gravitated to ethnic enclaves 
where rents were affordable and they felt accepted. The arrival of 
picture brides through Angel Island Immigration Station in San 
Francisco Bay after 1906, many of them meeting their future husbands 
for the first time, was the genesis of the second generation--the 
Nisei. The 100 years included the emergence of the activist third 
generation the Sansei--who are now ``baby boomers'' and the parents and 
grandparents of the fourth and fifth generations--the Yonsei and Gosei.
  As the younger generation makes their mark on our global society, I 
hope they will recognize the critical role of family and community in 
their successes. I was recently made aware of an example of what is 
possible. NASA Astronaut Daniel Tani represents the next generation of 
Japanese Americans in space, following the tradition of Astronaut 
Ellison Onizuka, who tragically lost his life on the same mission as 
teacher Christa McAuliffe in 1986. Astronaut Tani flew the 2001 
Endeavour mission. He is a shining example of the boundless 
possibilities of the immigrant experience. His family has roots in J-
town.
  The road was not always easy: in fact, Japanese Americans often 
persevered under great hardship to overcome prejudice. In its 100 years 
in San Francisco's Western Addition, the community suffered segregation 
in local schools, a racially motivated exclusionist immigration policy, 
and a shrinking community with each redevelopment. During World War II, 
eligible Nisei men volunteered for military duty while their families 
remained behind barbed wire without due process, many of them United 
States citizens. Our government under the guise of war forced Japanese 
Americans from their homes and escorted them under armed guard to 
internment camps throughout the United States. Most of the San 
Francisco Japantown community was interned in Topaz, Utah. It took 
three generations until redress was made in the form of monetary 
reparations and our government's apology, though no amount of 
compensation or apology could ever adequately replace or repair what 
Japanese Americans lost. The lessons that we learned during the 
internment should serve as a reminder of how we must continue to fight 
for our freedoms today. Protecting civil liberties must be a constant 
priority of our government.

  As San Francisco's Representative in Congress, and House Democratic 
Leader, I am grateful that I can count on the steadfast strength of our 
San Francisco Japantown community and its extraordinary leaders, too 
many to name individually.
  Congratulations Japantown for more than 100 years in San Francisco.

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