I have conducted research on the education of the "Nikkei citizen" in the prewar period by focusing on textbooks and teaching materials used in Japanese language schools in California, Washington State, and Hawaii. Textbooks compiled in the 1920s in the mainland US, including Seattle, California, and Hawaiian versions and reprints of some of these versions have recently been published in Japan. Foreign Language School Control Laws in these states compelled Nikkei educators to compile locally-edited textbooks. However, the research I have conducted reveals that the extent to which the locally compiled textbooks were used differs from region to region. While, in California, Mombusho or the Ministry of Education compiled textbooks tended to be used widely as opposed to the Californian version, the opposite was true to Hawaii.
Based on the research results stated above, in a prospective research, I would like to shift my research focus to the during-the-war period regarding what kind of Japanese language and cultural maintenance education was conducted in the ten internment camps, if any, and in other Japanese communities in inland states such as Utah, Colorado, and Idaho as well as in Hawaii.