Immigrant Letter Home Research Paper

Words: 995
Pages: 4

Immigrant Letter Home Dear Family, It has been a great time since I have seen you at home in Japan. I hope you are doing well during the cold, frostbite, harsh winter back home. The weather in Hawaii is entirely different from Japan. The winter here is barely breaking 60 degrees, it is warm throughout the season. The last time I saw you, you were in the house with the little lantern that lit up our house. I left for Hawaii to support all of you during the rice famine and escape the devastation. Although I am worried about all of you, I still held hope and slowly sailed away to Hawaii from the Hokkaido shoreline. During those times, I have heard rumors about many deaths in Japan from the incoming immigrants. I was scared that you may have starved to death and I would …show more content…
The attraction of this job in Hawaii, along with the various benefits of working on the plantation such as free housing, healthcare, and a paid trip to get here, was an opportunity I could not pass up. I had to get income to support myself and all of you back home. In reality, I had to pay for everything while on the plantation. Earning money was not easy as the life necessities cost me a large amount of money, subtracting it from my monthly income. Instead of the 3-year contract, I was promised I couldn’t leave the plantation until I paid for all of the expenses that the plantation promised to pay off for us. I am paid about $9 a month but it is deducted from the necessities they promised would be provided so we barely get anything left at the end of the month. The harsh environment while working on the plantation is grueling. With a 6-day work week, 10 hours a day with a minimum break time in between. To keep us all going, we start to sing and joke around with each other to keep our minds off of the grueling work. The lunate who are the people who make sure we are working are ruthless and often beat us to the