Japanese American Physical Activity Essay

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Physical activity. Most would think these two words would represent exercise or a way of enjoyment. However, physical activity can represent more than just these two ideologies. For instance, the Japanese American “Yamato Colony” in 1930 through 1945 used physical activity as a way to acculturate into a foreign community, help establish a cultural community as well as form camaraderie. These ideologies inspired from physical activity are not singular to the Japanese Americans, but can be compared and contrasted in the past from the slave quarters to when baseball was first established by the youth of America. In the early 1900s, Japanese migrated to America in hopes of prosperity. Several first generations of Japanese Americans, Issei, came to Livingston, California, - an agricultural rich community - in search of ownership of land and the possibility of citizenship (Regalado, 1992, p. 130). Though, much like…show more content…
132-133). Assimilation occurred in the Nesei, but they seemed to prefer American values more so than the Japanese values, which created a divide among the two generations (Regalado, 1992, p. 136). However, baseball, loved by both generations, helped heal this divide and form a strong community when the Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor (Regalado, 1992, p. 139). When released from the internment camps, physical activity was reduced as the Japanese Americans joined the service, pursued educational opportunities, worked in labor outfits, or re-established their farms (Regalado, 1992, p. 142). However, physical activity made its mark and, in a sense, helped Japanese Americans thrive in the beginning decades of arriving to America (Regalado, 1992, p.

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