CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE EARLY JAPANESE IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES DURING MEIJI TO TAISHO ERA (1868–1926) By HOSOK O Bachelor of Arts in History Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 2000 Master of Arts in History University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, Oklahoma 2002 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December, 2010 © 2010, Hosok O ii CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE EARLY JAPANESE IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES DURING MEIJI TO TAISHO ERA (1868–1926) Dissertation Approved: Dr. Ronald A. Petrin Dissertation Adviser Dr. Michael F. Logan Dr. Yonglin Jiang Dr. R. Michael Bracy Dr. Jean Van Delinder Dr. Mark E. Payton Dean of the Graduate College iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For the completion of my dissertation, I would like to express my earnest appreciation to my advisor and mentor, Dr. Ronald A. Petrin for his dedicated supervision, encouragement, and great friendship. I would have been next to impossible to write this dissertation without Dr. Petrin’s continuous support and intellectual guidance. My sincere appreciation extends to my other committee members Dr. Michael Bracy, Dr. Michael F. Logan, and Dr. Yonglin Jiang, whose intelligent guidance, wholehearted encouragement, and friendship are invaluable. I also would like to make a special reference to Dr. Jean Van Delinder from the Department of Sociology who gave me inspiration for the immigration study. Furthermore, I would like to give my sincere appreciation to Dr. Xiaobing Li for his thorough assistance, encouragement, and friendship since the day I started working on my MA degree to the completion of my doctoral dissertation. I also would like to express my gratitude to those who gave me the assistance and insightful suggestions for this study: Dr. Gary Steward, Dr. Edward Farmer, Dr. Walter Jung, and my mother who taught me the importance of studying history. Lastly, I would like to offer my regards and blessings to all of those who have supported me in any respect during the completion of this study. I would like to express my special gratitude to the faculty and staff of the Department of History for their great help; especially, Susan Oliver and Diana Fry. Finally, I extend my utmost sincere appreciation to Yukie and HIHIKEN. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 Statement of Problem ...............................................................................................1 Historiographical Context of Japanese Immigration ..............................................7 Research Methodology ..........................................................................................14 II. SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF THE LATE TOKUGAWA TO EARLY MEIJI .................................................................................................22 External Pressure ...................................................................................................22 Nakahama Manjir ō.................................................................................................26 Hamada Hikoz ō .....................................................................................................40 Internal Pressure.....................................................................................................58 Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony ...........................................................................69 III. ROAD TO MASS IMMIGRATION—“PUSHES” AND “PULLS” ..................76 Beginning of the Emigration to Hawaii—Gannen-mono ......................................76 Conscription and Draft Evasion .............................................................................99 Labor Demand on Sugar Plantations in Hawaii ...................................................107 Overpopulation Problem and Kaigai Hatten ........................................................119 IV. EARLY JAPANESE IMMIGRATION TO HAWAII ......................................133 Kanyaku Imin Jidai (Government-Contracted Immigration Period) ...................134 Shiyaku Imin Jidai (Self-Contracted Immigration Period) ..................................156 Jiy ū Imin Jidai (Free Immigration Period)...........................................................186 Yobiyose Imin Jidai (Summoned Immigration Period) .......................................193 Issei in Hawaii—Cultural Identity .......................................................................197 v Chapter Page V. DEVELOPMENT OF MARITIME INDUSTRY ...............................................206 The Rise of Mitsubishi ........................................................................................206 The Establishment of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha ................................................222 VI. IMMIGRATION MOTIVATORS ......................................................................249 Fukuzawa Yukichi—an advocate of Western liberalism.....................................250 Tsuda Umeko .......................................................................................................282 Mut ō Sanji ............................................................................................................286 Publications for Guide to Go to America ............................................................291 VII. EMIGRATION COMPANIES AND LABOR CONTRACTORS ...................309 Emigration Companies to Hawaii ........................................................................309 Keihin Gink ō (Keihin Bank) ................................................................................330 Imin-yado (Emigration Inns) ...............................................................................333 Illegal Emigration Agents ....................................................................................337 Labor Contractor System (“Boss System”) in the United States .........................340 VIII. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................369 Macroscopic Analysis—Immigration as a National Project ................................369 Microscopic Analysis—Socioeconomic Causes..................................................377 Cultural Analysis .................................................................................................381 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................385 APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................438 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 3.1: Change in the Native Hawaiian Population, 1832–1920 .........................77 Table 3.2: Extension of Temporary Exemption from Conscription in Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Yamaguchi Prefectures, 1898–1912 ..............................105 Table 3.3: Production of Sugar in Hawaii, 1860–1885 ..........................................108 Table 3.4: Population Estimates of Japan, 1872–1885 ...........................................123 Table 4.1: Change in the Area of Cotton Cultivation in Hiroshima, 1879–1910 ...139 Table 4.2: Average Monthly Wages of Plantation Laborers, January 1890 ...........145 Table 4.3: Prefectures that Sent Out Immigrants to Hawaii, 1885–1894 ...............149 Table 4.4: Remittance of the Japanese in Hawaii, 1889–1894 ...............................151 Table 4.5: Report on the Kanyaku Imin to Hawaii, 1885–1894 .............................153 Table 4.6: Estimates of Loss of Each Immigrant on Shinsh ū Maru .......................163 Table 4.7: Passports Issued by the Japanese Government, 1899–1903 ..................167 Table 4.8: Arrests of Japanese, Chinese, and Hawaiians, 1900 ..............................172 Table 4.9: Offenses by Japanese in Hawaii, 1900–1928 ........................................173 Table 4.10: Prostitutes in Honolulu by Nationality, Dec. 1898–Dec. 1899 ...........178 Table 4.11: Number of Japanese Emigrants Entering Hawaii, 1901–1907 ............187 Table 4.12: Hawaii’s Sugar Output and Japanese Laborers, 1890–1933 ...............205 Table 5.1: Passenger & Freight of P.M.S.S. and Mitsubishi by Comparison .........213 Table 5.2: Mitsubishi’s New Passenger and Freight, 1876 ....................................214 vii Table Page Table 5.3: Mitsubishi Directors Graduated from Kei ō Gijuku & Tokyo Univ. .....217 Table 5.4: Profits of Mitsubishi Shokai, 1879–1885 ..............................................220 Table 5.5: Transportation of the Kanyaku Imin, 1885–1894 ..................................229 Table 7.1: Number of Emigration Companies by Prefecture .................................311 Table 7.2: Emigration to Hawaii through Emigration Companies up to 1899 .......316 Table 7.3: Officers of the Nippon Imin G ōshi Kaisha ............................................319 Table 7.4: Number of Passports Issued & Disapproved, Sep. 1902–Sep. 1903 .....338 Table 7.5: Labor Contractors, Number of Laborers, & Railroads, 1905–06 ..........357 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 2.1: Nakahama Manjir ō, 1860 .......................................................................26 Figure 2.2: Hamada Hikoz ō (Joseph Heco) ..............................................................40 Figure 3.1: Population Change in Japan, 200–2009 ...............................................125 Figure 4.1: Population in Hawaii, 1900