“The Finest Example of Nisei Service”

The Japanese government seized the opportunity to stage an expensive and elaborate display at San Francisco’s 1939–40 Golden Gate International Exposition. Pulling off such a spectacle required the labor of hundreds, including the dozens of young Nisei (American-born children of Japanese immigrants) men and women who worked in the Japan Pavilion. One such employee, Clara Sasaki, documented her time at the fair in carefully curated photo albums; along with other sources, these albums offer insight into the shared experiences of the young Nisei women employed in the Japan Pavilion. Japanese cultural and religious institutions and the Japanese-language press tied together far-flung Japantowns and brought young women like Clara Sasaki to cities like San Francisco for employment and education. Growing up immersed in both American and Japanese cultures equipped these women with the skills they needed to interpret the Japanese exhibit for all visitors. Although the most well-educated of any ethnic group in the state, the combination of racial and gender discrimination severely limited their job opportunities. But their membership in the Japanese transnational community prepared them to work at the fair. Their labor did support Japan’s imperial project, but it also offered them a social mobility unavailable elsewhere. Sasaki and her peers earned good wages in highly desirable jobs that introduced them to new people and new elements of Japanese culture. Their very presence at the fair challenged stereotypes about the place of Japanese American women in California. They forged relationships that endured long past the fair. Examining the pre-fair lives of Sasaki and her peers offers insight into the vibrant transnational Japanese American community of pre–Pearl Harbor California.