ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews existing theories about the process of immigrant adaptation to a new society and to recapitulate the empirical findings that have led to an emerging perspective on the topic. The study of immigrant groups in the United States has produced a copious historical and sociological literature, written mostly from the assimilation perspective. Immigration to the United States before World War I was, overwhelmingly, an unskilled labor movement. Primary labor immigration and middleman entrepreneurship represent two modes of incorporation that differ from the image of a homogeneous flow into low-wage employment. The specific features of Japanese immigration differ significantly from the movement of European Jews, but their subsequent adaptation and mobility patterns are similar. Japanese immigrants were initially welcomed and recruited as a form of cheap agricultural labor. Their reputation as thrifty and diligent workers made them preferable to other labor sources.
