By Tazuko Shibusawa - I was born in Japan, but spent my earliest childhood years in Michigan with my family. Since World War II, the image of Asians as a model minority has held, with increasing numbers of immigrants from all over Asia. But we Asian Americans are under tremendous pressure to prove ourselves, and we continue to be on guard against outbreaks of racial hatred.

The experience of Asian immigrants is often characterized as a classic rags-to-riches tale. Yet for all the stories of success and assimilation, there's another, less publicized, Asian immigrant story—one remote from the image of the idealized "model minority."