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Article: Japanese Americans
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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JAPANESE AMERICANS
JAPANESE AMERICANS
have contributed significantly to the political strength, economic development, and social diversity of the United States. Like all Asian Americans, they are a heterogeneous group, the most obvious distinction being between those from the Japanese home islands and those from Okinawa, which was an independent kingdom until 1879, when Japan incorporated it as a prefecture. In 1970, Japanese Americans were the largest group among Asian Americans in the total U.S. population, but Chinese and Filipinos had passed them by 1990, In 2000, the Census Bureau asked respondents to identify themselves as one or more races in combination. Japanese Americans were ...