Japanese Prostitutes in the North American West, 1887-1920

306 Pages·2016·17.281 MB·English

by  Kazuhiro Oharazeki

emil and kathleen sick series in western history and biography
With support from the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest at the
University of Washington, the Sick Series in Western History and Biography
features scholarly books on the peoples and issues that have defined and
shaped the American West. Through intellectually challenging and engaging
books of general interest, the series seeks to deepen and expand our
understanding of the American West as a region and its role in the making of
the United States and the modern world.

Japanese Prostitutes in the
North American West,
1887– 1920
Kazuhiro Oharazeki
Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest
in association with
University of Washington Press Seattle and London
© 2016 by the University of Washington Press
Printed and bound in the United States of America
20 19 18 17 16 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
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retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publisher.
Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest
http://cspn.uw.edu
University of Washington Press
www.washington.edu/uwpress
Cataloging information is on file with the
Library of Congress
isbn 978-0-295-99833-6
The paper used in this publication is acid- free and
meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ansi z39.48– 1984. ∞
To the memories of Jiichan and Mii

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Note on Individual Names xii
Introduction 3
1. Across the Pacific Rim: Global Dimensions of Japanese
Prostitution in the North American West 16
2. Hardships at Home: Micro- level Analysis of the Social
Origins of Japanese Prostitutes in the North American West 37
3. Recruitment and Passage: Transpacific Migration of
Japanese Prostitutes to the North American West 67
4. Racialized, Exploited, and Excluded: The Lives of Japanese
Prostitutes and Barmaids in the North American West 95
5. Breaking the Shackles of Oppression: Japanese Prostitutes’
and Barmaids’ Response to Sexual and Economic
Exploitation 137
6. The Emergence of Anti– Japanese Prostitution Reforms in
the North American West from a Transpacific and
Comparative Perspective 168
Conclusion 202
List of Abbreviations 207
Notes 209
Bibliography 261
Index 283

Acknowledgments
I have incurred many debts over the years. My biggest debt is to Pro-
fessor Tom Dublin, who has guided my study since I began graduate
study in history. He has devoted a great deal of time to reading my
writings and has helped me overcome various challenges. This book
would not have been published without his unfailing support. I am
grateful to Professor Kitty Sklar and Professor Herbert Bix for intro-
ducing me to the fields of U.S. women’s history and modern Japan
and teaching me the importance of good questions and good writing
skills.
In the course of research, I have profited from the help of many
people and institutions. I thank David Takahashi and Mike Hidalgo,
King County Superior Court, Seattle; Blair Galston, United Church of
Canada British Columbia Conference Archives; E. Brooks Andrews,
Hideo Hoshide, and Yosh Nakagawa, Japanese Baptist Church of
Seattle; Barbara Nagaoka and Pearl Yamamoto, Blaine Memorial
United Methodist Church, Seattle; Trevor Livelton, City of Victoria
Archives; Pat Johnson and the staff at the Center for Sacramento His-
tory (formerly Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center);
the staff at Special Collections, University of Washington Librar-
ies, at British Columbia Archives, at the Diplomatic Record Office,
Tokyo, and at the National Diet Library, Tokyo; John M. Hendricks,
Charles L. Miller, and the staff in the National Archives at San Fran-
cisco and the National Archives at Seattle; Helen Insinger, Laurie
Kolosky, and the staff at Binghamton University’s Bartle Library.
Special thanks go to Professor Sakaguchi Mitsuhiro at Kyoto Wom-
en’s University, who responded to my questions and helped locate key
Japanese- language sources. Binghamton University’s History Depart-
ment generously provided financial support, including semester
ix