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Race, Labor, and Migration in the Transpacific West, 1900-1945

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Asian Americans at the Movies: Race, Labor, and Migration in the Transpacific West, 1900-1945 A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies by Denise Khor Committee in charge: Professor Yen Le Espiritu, Co-Chair Professor Nayan Shah, Co-Chair Professor Ross Frank Professor Natalia Molina Professor Lesley Stern 2008 Copyright Denise Khor, 2008 All rights reserved. This Dissertation of Denise Khor is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm: Co-Chair Co-Chair UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO 2008 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page……………………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………iv List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………..v Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….vi Vita……………………………………………………………………………………….ix Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….xiii Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter One Pacific Theatre: Japanese Showmen and the Empire of Cheap Attractions, 1907-1942………………………………………………..18 Chapter Two Filipinos Positively Allowed: Race, Property, and Dispossession in the Migrant City, 1924-1940s…………………………………………66 Chapter Three Social Reform, Plantation Amusements, and the Asian Labor Problem in Rural Hawaii, 1909-1930s……………………………………114 Chapter Four Dangerous Amusements: Labor, Sociability, and Asian Immigrant Counterpublics……………………………………………………….152 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...192 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………197 iv LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 Advertisement for Atlas Theatre in Seattle, Orientale May 1950…………………...43 1.2 Sanji Abe…………………………………………………………………………….62 2.1 Advertisement for Japanese owned Star Theatre and Imperial Theatre , Philippine Examiner 30 July 1938…………………………………...82 2.2 Advertisement for Lincoln Theatre and Nippon Theatre, Philippine Examiner 30 July 1938……………………………………………………….84 2.3 Advertisement for “Rose of Manila” at Imperial Theatre, Philippine Examiner 18 Oct 1935…………………………………….86 2.4 Advertisement for “Buenavista” at Sierra Theatre, Philippine Examiner 30 Nov 1940………………………………………………………91 2.5 Advertisement for midnight showing of Philippine films at Rialto Theatre, Philippine Examiner 31 May 1945……………………………………...92 2.6 “Filipino Show Parade of California,” Filipino Pioneer 1 July 1938…………………………………………………………….96 2.7 Ink portrait of Shigeaki Hayashino…………………………………………………110 3.1 Program of Philippine films in Hawaii, Philippine News Tribune 9 Oct 1937…………………………………………………...148 3.2 Movie Billing for “Mga Daliring Ginto”…………………………………………...148 4.1 Photograph of the Honolulu Theatre, ca. 1935……………………………………..158 4.2 Photograph of Honolulu Theatre…………………………………………………...159 4.3 Advertisement for “The Stage Coach Driver” at Stanley T. Miyamoto’s Empire Theatre, Hilo Tribune Herald 13 Feb 1926……………………………………………………..179 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank first and foremost my two dissertation advisors. Yen Le Espiritu has mentored me since I first arrived at UCSD. She always provided the right dose of rigor and support and I owe much of my growth as a scholar to her example. Nayan Shah has challenged and inspired my thinking from the moment we met. I thank him for the many conversations we have had over the years and the constant and meticulous attention he has given to the research and writing of this dissertation. My committee members deserve special thanks. I am grateful to Ross Frank for always keeping his office door open and helping me with the arduous process of locating research materials. Thanks to Natalia Molina for her insight into archival collections in California as well as her advice over the years regarding the murky waters of graduate school life. I have learned a great deal about film studies from Lesley Stern and would like to thank her for sharing her passion for Bruce Lee with me. In addition, I want to acknowledge and thank Jane Rhodes for her mentorship during my first several years as a graduate student. The guidance and expertise of many archivists, librarians, and researchers made this project possible. In Hawaii, I extend my gratitude to the staff at the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Plantation Archive at the University of Hawaii; Brigham Young University; Hawaii State Archives; Bishop Museum; and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii in Honolulu. I am particularly grateful to University of Hawaii archivist Joan Hori and theatre historian Lowell Angell. In California and Washington, I thank the staff at the California State Archives in Sacramento; the National Archives and Records vi Administration in San Bruno; Special Collections at the University of California, Los Angeles; Labor Archives at San Francisco State University; Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences; Washington State Archives; Special Collections at the University of Washington; and Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle. In addition I want to acknowledge the exceptionally helpful assistance of theatre historian Eric Flom of Seattle and John Taylor of the National Archives, D.C. Numerous fellowships and grants supported the research and writing of the dissertation. At UCSD, I am grateful for research funding from the Department of Ethnic Studies, Center for the Humanities, and Dean’s Social Science Research Fund. I thank the UC Pacific Rim Research Council for supporting my travel and research in Hawaii. The completion of the dissertation was supported by the UC Fletcher Jones Foundation and the Charles Gaius Bolin fellowship from Williams College. In particular I would like to thank K. Scott Wong at Williams College for his mentorship and critical insights into my scholarship and the field of Asian American history. Lastly, a postdoctoral fellowship in the Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Program at Yale University has given me the good fortune of meeting Stephen Pitti and Charles Musser whose support during the final leg of dissertation writing has been immeasurable. An early dissertation group with May Fu and Jesse Mills helped me jump start the road to research and writing. Ramon Gutierrez deserves special thanks for opening his home to us and offering supportive feedback. I thank Lauren Cole for an afternoon conversation that helped me a great deal in the early stages of the project. Diana Aram provided me with a place to stay (and many good laughs) during research trips to D.C. For commentary on various stages of writing, I am grateful to Kazuyo Tsuchiya, Karin vii Velez, Jose Amadour, Alejandro Velazquez, and Christina Hanhardt. In the final hour, Michael Tan read the entire manuscript and provided feedback and much needed encouragement. Rose Khor offered especially astute insight into the final stages of the manuscript. Benita Brahmbhatt has been with this project from the start. She endured prolonged research trips with me and offered countless critical readings of the dissertation. My gratitude is due to the many good friends who made graduate school feel like home. For their friendship, I thank kindred spirits and fellow pisces Morelia Portillo and Jinah Kim. More than anyone, they have shared in the laughs and heartaches of the past years. Julie Hua has been a dear friend from the first day we met. Good times in San Diego and beyond were also shared with Neel Ahuja, Peter Holderness, Irmary Reyes- Santos, Tania Triana, Su Yun Kim, Neda Atanososki, Kara Lynch, Monika Gosin, Kyla Schuller, L. Chase Smith, Alex Tom, Jon Salunga, Michel Sam, Natchee Blu Barnd, and Mona Brahmbhatt. My endeavors – academic and otherwise—would not be possible without the unwavering support of my family. My parents, Chin Choon and Margaret Khor, have taken many risks in their own lives. They set the stage for me and I thank them deeply. My brother, Victor, has always cheered me on and helped me stumble with a little more ease. My sister, Rose, has been a source of inspiration. Even though I am older, she is wise and brilliant beyond my years. Of course, I do not relinquish big sister privileges in such a statement. Final thanks go to Benita Brahmbhatt, my love. viii VITA Education Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies Winter 2008 University of California, San Diego Research Interests: Race and Ethnicity, Asian American History, Social and Cultural U.S. History, and Cinema Studies M.A. in Ethnic Studies Spring 2003 University of California, San Diego B.A. in English and Women’s Studies Fall 1999 University of Florida, Gainesville Academic Awards 2007-2009 Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University 2006-2007 Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation Fellowship at Williams College 2005-2006 University of California Fletcher Jones Foundation Fellowship 2005-2006 University of California Pacific Rim Research Program Mini-Grant 2004-2005 UCSD Dean’s Social Science Research Travel Grant 2004-2005 UCSD Center for the Humanities Graduate Student Fellowship Conferences and Presentations “Movie House Culture, Asian Immigrants, and Rural Hawaii, 1909-1930s” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference (SCMS) Philadelphia, PA (Mar. 6-9, 2008) “Segregation, Migrancy, and Asian Moviegoers in California, 1930-1942” Pacific Worlds and the American West Conference, American West Center, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT (Feb. 8 and 9, 2008) “Dangerous Amusements: Japanese Showmen and the Moving Pictures in Rural Hawaii, 1923-1940” Bolin Fellow Lecture, Multicultural Center, Williams College Williamsburg, MA (Feb. 21, 2007) “Discipline and Leisure: Asian Laborers and the Work of the Movies” Asian
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