Rural Isolation & Dual Cultural Existence The Japanese-American Kona Coffee Community David K. Abe Rural Isolation and Dual Cultural Existence David K. Abe Rural Isolation and Dual Cultural Existence The Japanese-American Kona Coffee Community David K. Abe Kanazawa University Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan ISBN 978-3-319-55302-3 ISBN 978-3-319-55303-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55303-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017946088 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. Cover Photo from the personal collection of David K. Abe Cover design by Thomas Howey Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The majority of the research for this book was done during my time at Nagoya University for my doctoral dissertation; therefore, I would first like to thank my advisor, Professor Takeshi Higashimura, for his guidance, kind advice, and support. Thank you for your patience and belief in my abilities. Particular thanks go to Professor Ayako Uchida for her direction and continuous words of encouragement, especially for the long discus- sions on Japanese ethnic identity literature. Appreciation is also extended to Professor Kimi Takahashi for his friendly candor and instruction. I am especially grateful and pleased to have Professor Atsuko Ohashi as one of my readers; thank you for your suggestions and questions. I am grateful to my colleagues at Graduate School of International Development: Eiji, Vika, Emiri, Ed, Kelsey, Kumi, Juna, Penghuy, and Mary Angeline Da-anoy. I would like to thank Christopher Wood for the insightful discussions that helped move this research forward. I would especially like to thank John Ertl for his expertise on and guidance with anthropological theories. I am grateful for the support of Bunei Kohara, Yuki Masami, Hisao Ueda, and Shohei Sato. In addition, I am also grate- ful to Allison Imamura for help with editing, commenting, and lots of support. Finally Edward Chan, I could not have done it without you. This research was financially supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI grant numbers 15K03035 and 26884023). I would especially like to thank the Kona community along the Kona Coffee Belt Road who participated in this study. Their willingness to share their experiences growing up as a member of the Kona community made v vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS this research possible. My thanks also go to Elsie Colon, Shelia Colon, Arthur Murata and his wife Sachie, Donn Kawabata, Gladys Fukumitsu, Susumu Oshima, Rev. Mary Beth Jiko Oshima-Nakade, Akinori Imai, Clifford Tanouye and Megan Mitchell for their assistance with this research. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Kona Historical Society in their research data collection for this project. I give special thanks to my parents and brothers, Nathan and Michael, their wives, Michelle and Kathleen, and their families, particularly my nephew Jonathan, and my niece, Dawn Marie, for their continuous support with this research over the years. My son Julian, who I dragged along with me while collecting these stories, thanks. Most importantly, I give thanks to my wife Tomomi for her continuous support and encouragement. Finally, I wish to especially mention Dr. John Embree who started this journey. CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 2 The Issei: In Search of Autonomy 43 3 Religious and Social Communities: The Importance of Ethnic Solidarity 103 4 The Nisei Experience 159 5 World War II 211 6 Rebuilding Social and Religious Communities: The Aftermath of the War 229 7 Conclusion 269 Bibliography 277 Index 289 vii LIST OF FIGURES aND PICTURES Fig. 2.1 Prefectural origins of Japanese in Kona (937 families in total). Source: Embree, John F. “Acculturation among the Japanese of Kona, Hawaii,” American Anthropologist 43, no. 4 (1941) 51 Fig. 2.2 Coffee prices in Kona, 1910–1960. Note: price quoted is for 100 lb. bag of coffee cherry 74 Picture 3.1 Inari shrine in Kona on a festival day (Embree, Acculturation Among the Japanese of Kona) 115 Picture 3.2 A shrine in Japan on a festival day (John F. Embree collection, Cornell) 116 Picture 3.3 Sumo wrestling at a shrine event (Imai, Akinori, Our Nostalgic Heritage) 118 Picture 3.4 Otokichi Abe Funeral, March 4, 1927 135 Picture 3.5 Beach rock headstone in Kona 139 Picture 3.6 Headstone in Japan (John F. Embree Collection, Cornell) 140 Picture 5.1 Yasu Abe (Abe Family Collection) 220 Picture 6.1 Renovated Kona Daifukuji Temple 238 Picture 6.2 Family ihai box 246 Picture 6.3 Graveyard in Kona 251 Picture 6.4 Mausoleum at Kona Daifukuji 253 Picture 6.5 Granite headstone viewed from the front 254 Picture 6.6 Granite headstone with home address in Japan written on the side 255 Picture 6.7 Wedding ceremony held at Buddhist temple (1985) 257 Picture 6.8 Buddhist wedding ceremony at a hotel (1999) 259 Picture 6.9 Wedding ceremony held at a hotel 260 ix x List of Figures and Pictures Picture 7.1 Buddhist temple wedding 274 Picture 7.2 Buddhist ­temple wedding ceremony 275 LIST OF TaBLES Table 2.1 Occupations held in the late 1930s 52 Table 2.2 Ethnic composition in Kona (number of individuals, and as a percentage of total population) 59 Table 4.1 The assimilation of the three Nisei groups 163 Table 4.2 Landownership in Kona, 1953a 196 xi CHAPTER 1 Introduction THE LIFE OF JAPANESE IMMIGRANtS IN KONA Kona coffee, known for its distinctive strong flavor, is grown on the Big Island of Hawaii on the slopes of Hualalai. For the past 100 years the descendants of Japanese immigrants have produced the majority of Kona coffee on small-scale family farms which were carved out of the mountain- side by those who fled the terrible conditions of the archipelago’s sugar plantations seeking a better life. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, before immigration was restricted due to the Immigration Act of 1924, Japanese men and women immigrated to Hawaii to work in the sugarcane plantations, with the idea of making money and returning to Japan. The conditions in Hawaii were worse than they had expected and it was nearly impossible to save money with which to return home. Faced with the harsh conditions of the plantations, many of the Japanese working along the Hamakua coast on the Big Island broke their contracts and fled to the remote region of Kona. In Kona, they began to farm along the Kona Coffee Belt Road. In the beginning, they attempted to grow various crops—they later settled upon coffee as the most suitable for the conditions of the land. As the years passed, the number of Japanese coffee farmers living along the Kona Coffee Belt Road grew, until they accounted for 80 percent of the coffee farming population. As the eth- nic Japanese community grew and aged, they built three Buddhist tem- ples—the Hongwanji Jodo Shin-shu, the Daifukuji Zen Soto-shu, and the Daishi-do Shingon-shu—and two main shrines—Inari and Shinto. They © The Author(s) 2017 1 D.K. Abe, Rural Isolation and Dual Cultural Existence, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55303-0_1 2 1 INTRODUCTION were able to practice their religions openly, with little outside resistance, due to the large proportion of Japanese in Kona, as well as the rural isola- tion of the community. It was only after the attack on Pearl Harbor that the outside world took notice of the community’s religious practices, and soon after the attack federal officials came and destroyed the shrines they had built. During the following years, the Japanese community in Kona faced an increased stigmatization; yet, instead of destroying their com- munity, the hardships they faced during the war not only strengthened their community, by bringing them together in mutual support, but also saw them adapt and reach out to those outside of their ethnic community. Otokichi Abe was one of many Issei (first-generation) immigrants who came to Kona in this manner, and who became a part of the Japanese cof- fee farming community. Otokichi was the second-born son of rice farm- ers in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Despite the democratization of Japan at the time, there were few opportunities for young men in the country. Moreover, as the second son he knew he would not receive anything from his parents in the way of inheritance.