My great grandparents are Japanese and immigrated to America. My great grandpa immigrated from Honshu, Japan to Seattle in 1913. It was a big risk leaving Japan since he was only 17 years old, and he didn’t know how to speak or write any English. Soon after, 6 years later, in 1919 my great grandma followed him to America. Their dream like many immigrants was to find an opportunity for a better life in America. One of the few items my family has left of my great grandpa is an antique Japanese calligraphy set. Inside there is a brush, a paper weight with Japanese writing on it, and a tray for the ink. This item is important because my great grandparents valued the importance of education. They knew education was a way to create opportunities for themselves and live a better life. There are not too many objects left that belonged to my great grandparents. They lost nearly everything because of the Japanese internment camps during WWII. This object is valuable to my family since it is one of the few remaining items that belonged to my great grandfather. 

– Devan Storms

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more