About this artwork

Miyamoto Musashi was an ambidextrous and lethal Samurai, “The seventeenth-century swordsman Miyamoto Musashi was ambidextrous, and a particularly lethal swordsman. (Conlan, 2008). This painting pays homage to the Japanese railroad workers in the Western United States. According to the US Library of Congress, there was a great 25-year surge of immigration, 100,000 Japanese nationals arrived in the U.S, “The turn of the century saw the beginning of a great 25-year surge of immigration, in which more than 100,000 Japanese nationals arrived in the U.S, and during which many of the foundational institutions of the Japanese American community were established,” (Library of Congress, 2023). The Japanese are warriors at heart and helped make the United States Railroad system strong in the West. As a country, the United States is a country filled with warriors. According to the Library of Congress, it was by 1920, Japanese immigrant farmers controlled more than 450,000 acres of land in California, “By 1920, Japanese immigrant farmers controlled more than 450,000 acres of land in California, brought to market more than 10 percent of its crop revenue, and had produced at least one American-made millionaire,” (Library of Congress, 2023).