The Japanese Community in Brazil, 1908–1940: Between Samurai and Carnival

220 Pages·2001·1.383 MB·English

by  Stewart Lone (auth.)

The Japanese Community
in Brazil, 1908–1940
Between Samurai and Carnival
Stewart Lone
The Japanese Community in Brazil, 1908–1940
This page intentionally left blank
The Japanese Community
in Brazil, 1908–1940
Between Samurai and Carnival
Stewart Lone
© Stewart Lone 2001
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2001 978-0-333-63686-2
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of
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The author has asserted his right to be identified
as the author of this work in accordance with the
Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2001 by
PALGRAVE D
Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVEis the new global academic imprint of
St.Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and
Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd).
ISBN 978-1-349-39468-5 ISBN 978-1-4039-3279-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781403932792
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lone,Stewart.
The Japanese community in Brazil,1908–1940 :between
samurai and carnival / Stewart Lone.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Japanese—Brazil.2.Brazil—Ethnic relations.
F2659.J3 L66 2001
305.8956081—dc21
2001035820
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Maps ix
Introduction 1
1 Leaving: Japan’s Entry into a World of 11
Migration, 1885–1905
2 Arriving: the Early Japanese in Brazil, 1908–19 27
Life on the fazenda 33
Settlement: Japanese landowning 42
Urban life 46
3 Settling: Migration as National Policy in the 1920s 57
Emigration as national policy 57
A new Brazil: changes in industry and identity 61
The expansion of Japanese settlement 70
City life 79
Organising the community 83
Images of home 92
4 Expanding: the Japanese Community, 1930–36 97
Responses to the Great Depression 97
Race fears and constitutional restrictions 107
A settled community 114
5 In Transit: a World of New Orders, 1937–40 133
The language of nationalism 137
Order and progress: the expatriate community,
technology and medicine 144
‘Ex-patriotism’: migrants and the Sino-Japanese war 149
Religion: nationalism and internationalism 154
Closing images: Japanese and Brazilians circa 1940 159
v
vi Contents
6 Conclusion 165
Notes 173
Bibliography 199
Index 205
Acknowledgements
This study was assisted by generous grants from University College,
University of New South Wales, and the Japan Foundation. The former
of these made possible a visit to Sao Paulo where Mr Nakayama Yasumi
and his staff at the Museu Historico da Imigracao Japonesa no Brasil
(Historical Museum of Japanese Migration to Brazil) were most helpful
and kind. The latter allowed me a period as visiting fellow at Sophia
University, Tokyo, an arrangement facilitated through the good offices
of Professor Takahashi Hisashi.
In Japan, I have received gracious assistance from librarians at Rit-
sumeikan University, Kyoto; Meiji Shimbun Zasshi Bunko, Tokyo
University; the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA),
Tokyo, at which special thanks go to Ms Matsuura Rieko; Wakayama
Prefectural Library, Migration Records Section, especially Mr Mikami
Noboru; and Mr Kinjo Naoki at the Latin America Society, Tokyo. I
am also indebted to friends and associates who have made so many
trips to Japan as pleasant as possible: these include Professor Tanaka
Hiromi at Kamakura; DrSaga Jun’ichi at Tsuchiura; Mr Ito Katsushi
of Gifu; Ms Shi Kinkun in Tokyo; Ms Takei Noriko at Matsuyama;
and, in Kyoto, Professor Nagai Kazu, his wife Mari and daughter
Ryoko, plus Ms Goto Mikako.
Colleagues who have provided encouragement for this and other
projects include Dr John Caiger in Canberra; Dr Sandra Wilson at
Perth; Dr Charles Schencking in Melbourne; Dr Janet Hunter and Pro-
fessor Ian Nish both at London University; Maria del Alisal at the
Institute of Japanology, Madrid; Professor Jeremy Black, University of
Exeter; Professor Karen Wigen at Duke University; Professor Ted Cook
in New York; Professor Sheldon Garon at Princeton University; and
Dr Dani Botsman at Harvard. A special mention to Ms Wen Wen
Huang, the hill station Sambista. Ms Helen Boxall, as always, offered
invaluable research assistance. The maps were crafted by Ian McCredie,
cartographer at University College, UNSW.
Garry and Michiko Evans have continued to revive my energies on
each visit to Tokyo so I am happy to repeat my thanks to them as
vii
viii Acknowledgements
well as to their children, Anna and Maya, for their entirely reasonable
and refreshing disinterest in anything but receiving presents, hearing
stories, and playing games.
At Palgrave (formerly Macmillan Press), I am indebted to Tim
Farmiloe and Annabelle Buckley for supporting this project when it
was no more than the proverbial sketch on the back of a matchbox.
For steering the manuscript through the treacherous shallows to open
sea, I am grateful to Sally Daniell.
This one is dedicated to my exceptional parents and to my successful
migrant wife, Dr Mo Yimei.
Maps ix