The Buddha in the Attic

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. The Buddha in the Attic follows the stories of Japanese immigrants (mainly women) to America from the turn of the 20th century until the start of World War II. What is the history of Japanese immigration? How did Japanese immigrants create new communities in America, and what barriers did they face as they established cross-cultural identities?

Teaching Suggestion: You might consider defining the terms issei, nisei, and sansei, as they are essential vocabulary to understanding the ways that Japanese Americans consider the relationships between generations. Additionally, it may be helpful to introduce the themes of The Unique Place of Japanese Women in Racist America and Second-Class Citizenship and Family Dynamics while discussing these questions.

• “A Community Grows, Despite Racism” from Densho, a nonprofit organization that documents oral histories of Japanese Americans, summarizes the history of Japanese immigration to the United States.
• “Looking Like the Enemy,” also from Densho, follows the above resource and explores the xenophobia and wartime panic that led to the systematic incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.