Although Asian Americans enjoy the image of a "successful minority," they also have endured hardships and prejudices. This report traces the history of the Japanese and Chinese experience in the United States. Some similarities are discernible in the immigration patterns of the two ethnic populations. The first wave of immigrants provided cheap laborers and railroad construction workers. It was followed by a transitional stage of new immigrants who came largely from an entrepreneurial class and/or a class of accomplished intellectuals. The current stage commenced with the easing of the Chinese immigration rules, the dispersion of the Japanese after the war, suburbanization, and the rise of a new Asian middle class. Their children are not satisfied with material achievements and are increasingly concerned with social inequality. These stages are discussed in detail. The development of new psychological identities is discussed also. (PS)