Changes

Irwin's suggestions went for the most part unheeded, as industrialists treated their workers cruelly, seeking only the most efficient inputs of pure labor, with the goal of achieving the greatest possible volume of outputs. Though trains were used to carry laborers to the fields, and cane to the mills, and though the mills themselves involved some heavy machinery, most stages of the sugar cultivation process involved considerable manual labor. Workers wore many layers of clothing, heavy gloves, and hats, to protect themselves from the sun, rain, dust, biting insects, and especially from the sharp-edged leaves of the sugarcane. They used cane knives to pull up the cane stalks and to slice off the leaves. ''Luna'' (worksite foremen, or field overseers, generally of ''haole'', Portuguese, or Hawaiian stock) often whipped the workers with the same whips used on oxen, to get them to work harder, or faster.

Irwin's suggestions went for the most part unheeded, as industrialists treated their workers cruelly, seeking only the most efficient inputs of pure labor, with the goal of achieving the greatest possible volume of outputs. Though trains were used to carry laborers to the fields, and cane to the mills, and though the mills themselves involved some heavy machinery, most stages of the sugar cultivation process involved considerable manual labor. Workers wore many layers of clothing, heavy gloves, and hats, to protect themselves from the sun, rain, dust, biting insects, and especially from the sharp-edged leaves of the sugarcane. They used cane knives to pull up the cane stalks and to slice off the leaves. ''Luna'' (worksite foremen, or field overseers, generally of ''haole'', Portuguese, or Hawaiian stock) often whipped the workers with the same whips used on oxen, to get them to work harder, or faster.

They lived in barracks associated with the plantations, and lived on the company's clock, being woken, generally at extremely early hours of the morning (4:30AM was typical), by company bells or whistles, and working 10-12 hour days before being allowed to call it quits for the evening. Company doctors determined whether someone was too ill to work on any given day. Workers from different ethnic backgrounds (and with different native languages) were combined in the fields, as part of a strategy to prevent them from organizing strikes or protests. The Japanese workers eventually organized major strikes in [[1909]] and 1920 nevertheless, the second of these being organized alongside Filipino workers, and coming one year after the Japanese workers were able to form an official labor union.

They lived in barracks associated with the plantations, and lived on the company's clock, being woken, generally at extremely early hours of the morning (4:30AM was typical), by company bells or whistles, and working 10-12 hour days before being allowed to call it quits for the evening. Company doctors determined whether someone was too ill to work on any given day. Workers from different ethnic backgrounds (and with different native languages) were combined in the fields, as part of a strategy to prevent them from organizing strikes or protests. The Japanese workers eventually organized major strikes in [[1909]] and 1920 nevertheless, the second of these being organized alongside Filipino workers, and coming one year after the Japanese workers were able to form an official labor union. This 1920 strike involved roughly 5300 Japanese and 2800 Filipino workers on all but two plantations in the Territory, and cost the plantation owners around $12 million. It is notable both as a strike organized across ethnic lines, and for the way in which the plantation owners denounced the strike as part of a scheme by the Japanese to take over the industry and the islands,<ref>Odo and Sinoto, 201.</ref> a nativist attitude evidenced as well in attitudes and attacks against [[Japanese schools in Hawaii]]. Encouraged by Acting Governor [[Curtis Piehu Iaukea]] to clear themselves of suspicion of harboring anti-American attitudes or intentions, Japanese began organizing events in which they marched with American flags, and pictures of Abraham Lincoln, drawing upon his association with having freed the slaves to make reference to their own labor situation.<ref>Odo and Sinoto, 203.</ref>

On some plantations, younger and stronger workers called ''hippari'' men were paid an extra ten cents a day for their ability to work a little harder, or faster, and were encouraged to set a faster/harder pace for the other workers. This generally attracted the ire, however, of the other workers, who could not (or would not) work harder, or faster, and who saw the ''hippari'' men as collaborating with the ''luna''. This system further evolved in a variety of ways. One system known as ''ukepau'', from the Japanese ''uke'' for "to receive," and the Hawaiian ''pau'' for "done," allowed workers to earn being done for the day if they completed their work early. On some plantations, this later developed into a system of paying workers not by the day or by the month, but by the actual amount of work they completed (e.g. in pounds of sugarcane processed). Another system, known as ''ukekibi'' (J: "receive sugarcane"), functioned similarly to tenant farming. Families or groups of workers would be given a plot of land to tend on their own, without managers or overseers, and would turn over the sugarcane they produced each year, being paid by the size of their harvest. Finally, after the 1909 strike, many plantations created systems of bonuses, allowing workers to earn extra for reliable, loyal, or extra service. In addition to those working in the fields and in the mills, many Japanese and other immigrants with more specialized skills worked as engineers, carpenters, and mechanics.

On some plantations, younger and stronger workers called ''hippari'' men were paid an extra ten cents a day for their ability to work a little harder, or faster, and were encouraged to set a faster/harder pace for the other workers. This generally attracted the ire, however, of the other workers, who could not (or would not) work harder, or faster, and who saw the ''hippari'' men as collaborating with the ''luna''. This system further evolved in a variety of ways. One system known as ''ukepau'', from the Japanese ''uke'' for "to receive," and the Hawaiian ''pau'' for "done," allowed workers to earn being done for the day if they completed their work early. On some plantations, this later developed into a system of paying workers not by the day or by the month, but by the actual amount of work they completed (e.g. in pounds of sugarcane processed). Another system, known as ''ukekibi'' (J: "receive sugarcane"), functioned similarly to tenant farming. Families or groups of workers would be given a plot of land to tend on their own, without managers or overseers, and would turn over the sugarcane they produced each year, being paid by the size of their harvest. Finally, after the 1909 strike, many plantations created systems of bonuses, allowing workers to earn extra for reliable, loyal, or extra service. In addition to those working in the fields and in the mills, many Japanese and other immigrants with more specialized skills worked as engineers, carpenters, and mechanics.

Thus, fearing a continued dramatic loss of labor for the plantations, plantation owners worked to recruit more Japanese immigrants. In 1898-1899 alone, roughly 30,000 Japanese newly arrived in Hawaii, roughly doubling the Japanese population there. This influx is credited with contributing greatly to the vibrant cultural life and cohesiveness of the community, and thus leading to more Japanese in the islands becoming interested in staying in Hawaii and settling there more permanently.

Thus, fearing a continued dramatic loss of labor for the plantations, plantation owners worked to recruit more Japanese immigrants. In 1898-1899 alone, roughly 30,000 Japanese newly arrived in Hawaii, roughly doubling the Japanese population there. This influx is credited with contributing greatly to the vibrant cultural life and cohesiveness of the community, and thus leading to more Japanese in the islands becoming interested in staying in Hawaii and settling there more permanently.

In [[1907]], however, a US Presidential Order banned Japanese from moving from Hawaii to the mainland United States. The following year, in response to nativist and anti-Japanese sentiment among Americans on the West Coast, the US and Japanese governments entered into an informal agreement, known as the Rout-Takahira [[Gentlemen's Agreement]], which further restricted Japanese immigration to the United States. Only Japanese who had previously already emigrated to the US, and their immediate relatives, could now enter the country. This sparked the birth of the phenomenon of "picture brides" (''shashin hanayome'') in which Japanese men in the US married women from Japan, based only on their photo, or other limited information, enabling the woman to then emigrate to the US. In [[1908]], for the first time, the Japanese government issued roughly equal numbers of passports for men and women to travel to Hawaii. Between that year and 1924, nearly 60,000 more Japanese emigrated to Hawaii. Of them, it is estimated that more than 20,000 of them were picture brides. The practice was not exceptionally unusual for most of those who took part in it, since arranged marriages were still quite common in Japan at that time, and in some cases, the two had actually known one another before the man shipped off to Hawaii. Matchmakers known as ''baishakunin'' or ''nakôdo'', or in Hawaii as ''shimpai'', helped organize the arrangements, and the wife was entered into the husband's ''[[koseki]]'', making the marriage official under Japanese law. Many of these women then married their husbands immediately upon arrival in Hawaii, in mass marriage ceremonies performed on the wharf.

Japanese in the islands continued to observe Japanese customs and celebrations to a certain extent, though limited by available materials/accoutrements, by their heavy work schedules, and in the early years by the absence of elders who might encourage the younger people to practice traditions, and teach them how to do so. Still, [[Japanese Buddhism in Hawaii|Buddhist temples]] began to be established in the islands in the 1890s, and members of the community continued to celebrate both traditional festivals such as [[Children's Day|Boys' Day]] and [[Hina matsuri|Doll Festival / Girls' Day]], and more modern, nationalistic festivals such as [[tencho-setsu|the Meiji Emperor's birthday]]. The Japanese community in Hawaii organized sizable celebrations following Japan's victory in the [[Sino-Japanese War]] in [[1895]], and again in [[1905]], when Japan emerged victorious in the [[Russo-Japanese War]]. The surge of ethnic pride which accompanied the latter victory provided an impetus for members of the community to press more forcefully for civil rights equality. However, the first major military victory of a non-Western power over a major Western power also heightened tensions between the US and Japan in the geopolitical arena, over control or influence in East Asia and the Pacific, and led to enhanced anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States.

 

This rise in anti-Japanese sentiment contributed, in part at least, to the declaration in [[1907]] of a US Presidential Order which banned Japanese from moving from Hawaii to the mainland United States. The following year, in response to nativist and anti-Japanese sentiment among Americans on the West Coast, the US and Japanese governments entered into an informal agreement, known as the Rout-Takahira [[Gentlemen's Agreement]], which further restricted Japanese immigration to the United States. Only Japanese who had previously already emigrated to the US, and their immediate relatives, could now enter the country. This sparked the birth of the phenomenon of "picture brides" (''shashin hanayome'') in which Japanese men in the US married women from Japan, based only on their photo, or other limited information, enabling the woman to then emigrate to the US. In [[1908]], for the first time, the Japanese government issued roughly equal numbers of passports for men and women to travel to Hawaii. Between that year and 1924, nearly 60,000 more Japanese emigrated to Hawaii. Of them, it is estimated that more than 20,000 of them were picture brides. The practice was not exceptionally unusual for most of those who took part in it, since arranged marriages were still quite common in Japan at that time, and in some cases, the two had actually known one another before the man shipped off to Hawaii. Matchmakers known as ''baishakunin'' or ''nakôdo'', or in Hawaii as ''shimpai'', helped organize the arrangements, and the wife was entered into the husband's ''[[koseki]]'', making the marriage official under Japanese law. Many of these women then married their husbands immediately upon arrival in Hawaii, in mass marriage ceremonies performed on the wharf.

Japanese plantation laborers held a major strike for the first time in [[1909]], and in 1913, California put into place restrictions on Japanese ownership of land. The Japanese sugar plantation workers formed their first labor union in 1919, and held their second major strike, this time alongside Filipino workers, the following year. In 1921, the local government in Hawaii imposed restrictions on Japanese language schools in the islands, against which the Japanese community filed a lawsuit, claiming the law to be unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the Pan-Pacific Newspaper Conference held a discussion between anti-Japanese groups, and Japanese supporters, on the subject of the possibility of Japanese assimilation into American society. The average wage for Japanese plantation workers in Hawaii was around $20/month at this time.

Japanese plantation laborers held a major strike for the first time in [[1909]], and in 1913, California put into place restrictions on Japanese ownership of land. The Japanese sugar plantation workers formed their first labor union in 1919, and held their second major strike, this time alongside Filipino workers, the following year. In 1921, the local government in Hawaii imposed restrictions on Japanese language schools in the islands, against which the Japanese community filed a lawsuit, claiming the law to be unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the Pan-Pacific Newspaper Conference held a discussion between anti-Japanese groups, and Japanese supporters, on the subject of the possibility of Japanese assimilation into American society. The average wage for Japanese plantation workers in Hawaii was around $20/month at this time.