ABSTRACT
This study is based upon three-generational data collected by the Japanese American Research Project (JARP) at UCLA. One of the early purposes of JARP was to sample and to interview surviving members of the first generation (the Issei) on the U.S. mainland, most of whom were becoming quite elderly. An attempt was made in 1963 to list every Issei immigrant still living in the United States, excluding Hawaii and Alaska. The lists were derived from membership lists of various Japanese American voluntary associations and churches, and totaled about 18,000 persons. Undoubtedly, these lists were incomplete, leaving out people who had failed to join an organization. The Japanese immigrant community, however, was one of the most highly organized of immigrant groups and the error is not nearly as great as it would be for some other immigrant nationalities. 1
