Changes

While immigrants from mainland Japan had been [[Japanese immigration to Hawaii|coming to Hawaii]] since [[1868]] (and more regularly since [[1885]]), Okinawans first began emigrating to Hawaii in [[1900]]. Though initially recruited as contract laborers, in June 1900, mere months after their arrival, the Organic Acts passed by the US Congress had outlawed contract labor, freeing Japanese and Okinawan plantation workers alike (along with those of Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Hawaiian descent, among others) from their contracts.

While immigrants from mainland Japan had been [[Japanese immigration to Hawaii|coming to Hawaii]] since [[1868]] (and more regularly since [[1885]]), Okinawans first began emigrating to Hawaii in [[1900]]. Though initially recruited as contract laborers, in June 1900, mere months after their arrival, the Organic Acts passed by the US Congress had outlawed contract labor, freeing Japanese and Okinawan plantation workers alike (along with those of Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Hawaiian descent, among others) from their contracts.

[[Toyama Kyuzo|Tôyama Kyûzô]] is generally regarded as the "father" of Okinawan immigration to Hawaii. With economic conditions growing increasingly dire in [[Okinawa prefecture]], which had been [[Ryukyu shobun|annexed by Japan]] in the 1870s, Tôyama, a leader of the [[Freedom and People's Rights Movement]] (''Jiyû minken undô'') in Okinawa, petitioned the Japanese government to allow Okinawans to emigrate overseas in search of better lives. The first group of Okinawans to arrive in Hawaii numbered 26, and began work on Ewa Plantation on O'ahu a week later.<ref>Odo and Sinoto, 200.</ref> The group was one of 40 men, who arrived in [[1903]], and went to work on a plantation on the Big Island of Hawaii. The numbers of Okinawans in Hawaii grew quickly after that, with more than 8500 resident in the Territory in [[1908]]. The following span of sixteen years or so (1908-1924) has come to be known as the ''yobiyose jidai'', or "era of calling over," with Okinawans already resident in the islands summoning their families to come and join them; the [[Gentlemen's Agreement]] signed between Japan and the United States in [[1907]] limited immigration to those whose relatives were already living in the US (and to a few other similar sets of circumstances, including those who had already previously immigrated to the US and were simply returning, and those who owned land in the US, which applied to extremely few).

[[Toyama Kyuzo|Tôyama Kyûzô]] is generally regarded as the "father" of Okinawan immigration to Hawaii. With economic conditions growing increasingly dire in [[Okinawa prefecture]], which had been [[Ryukyu shobun|annexed by Japan]] in the 1870s, Tôyama, a leader of the [[Freedom and People's Rights Movement]] (''Jiyû minken undô'') in Okinawa, petitioned the Japanese government to allow Okinawans to emigrate overseas in search of better lives. The first group of Okinawans to arrive in Hawaii numbered 26 men, all age 21 to 35.<ref>Thirty had left Okinawa with Tôyama. Three, however, did not pass health inspection at Yokohama, and one was turned back at the Honolulu quarantine station. Sakihara, 106.</ref> They arrived in Honolulu on January 8, 1900, and began work on Ewa Plantation on O'ahu after going through a week or so in quarantine.<ref>Odo and Sinoto, 200.</ref> Most members of the initial group, not desiring to put up with the horrendous labor conditions on the plantation, returned to Okinawa within a few years; a few relocated to the US mainland. By 1935, only two of those original 26 men remained in Hawaii. However, most of these men were from urban areas, and Tôyama was sure the second time around to recruit from rural areas, where people might have more extensive experience farming, and might be more able, or willing, to endure tough conditions.

 

The second group was one of 40 men, who arrived in [[1903]], and went to work on the Honokaa plantation on the Big Island of Hawaii.<ref>Forty-five people left Okinawa, and ten were detained at Yokohama, but five of those ten managed to make it to Hawaii later, making the total forty. Sakihara, 107.</ref> Finding the conditions on Honokaa unendurable, and forbidden to leave, nearly all of these men slipped away together one night, working for roughly one month on the Piihonua plantation near Hilo, before moving to Olaa, and then finally to Ewa, on O'ahu. Conditions on the plantations were not only terribly harsh in terms of the long hours and cruel ''luna'' (taskmasters), but many plantation workers also suffered from beriberi and other diseases. Even so, these men devoted themselves to their work, and within 18-30 months of their arrival, every one of them had earned enough to pay off the initial investments of the cost of their passage to Hawaii.

 

Though workers who returned from Hawaii spoke of the tough conditions, they also brought back with them considerable earnings, and began to buy small plots of land, and to build themselves nice houses. The numbers of Okinawans in Hawaii grew quickly therafter, with 262 arriving in [[1904]], 1,233 in [[1905]], and an astonishing 4,467 in [[1906]], a number which represented the peak of Okinawan immigration. More than 8,500 Okinawans were resident in the Territory of Hawaii by [[1908]]. A number of factors contributed to the desire to emigrate from Okinawa, including the hope for sizable earnings to send home or to return with; draft dodging; and the economic recession caused by the excessive cost to the nation of fighting the [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1904-05).

 

The following span of sixteen years or so (1908-1924) has come to be known as the ''yobiyose jidai'', or "era of calling over," with Okinawans already resident in the islands summoning their families to come and join them; the [[Gentlemen's Agreement]] signed between Japan and the United States in [[1907]] limited immigration to those whose relatives were already living in the US (and to a few other similar sets of circumstances, including those who had already previously immigrated to the US and were simply returning, and those who owned land in the US, which applied to extremely few).

Once in Hawaii, Okinawans formed their own community, separate from that of the Japanese, who tended to see themselves as superior to the Okinawans, and who viewed [[Okinawan language]] and customs as backward. The Okinawan practices of eating pork, and of women [[tattoos|tattooing]] their hands after marriage, were among those most prominent, or most often pointed to as evidence of Okinawans being uneducated, uncultured, or backward. Many Okinawans responded to these attitudes by separating themselves out, refusing to assimilate into the Japanese community, even as other ethnic groups (e.g. Filipinos, Chinese), and official demographic records ignored the distinction. The Okinawans would later go on to form separate social organizations, separate Buddhist temples, and the like, from those organized and attended by Japanese.

Once in Hawaii, Okinawans formed their own community, separate from that of the Japanese, who tended to see themselves as superior to the Okinawans, and who viewed [[Okinawan language]] and customs as backward. The Okinawan practices of eating pork, and of women [[tattoos|tattooing]] their hands after marriage, were among those most prominent, or most often pointed to as evidence of Okinawans being uneducated, uncultured, or backward. Many Okinawans responded to these attitudes by separating themselves out, refusing to assimilate into the Japanese community, even as other ethnic groups (e.g. Filipinos, Chinese), and official demographic records ignored the distinction. The Okinawans would later go on to form separate social organizations, separate Buddhist temples, and the like, from those organized and attended by Japanese.

By 1924, when the Asian Exclusion Acts passed by the US Congress outlawed the immigration of all East Asians into the United States, there were already nearly 20,000 people of Okinawan descent in the Hawaiian Islands.

By 1924, when the Asian Exclusion Acts passed by the US Congress outlawed the immigration of all East Asians into the United States, there were already nearly 20,000 people of Okinawan descent in the Hawaiian Islands. In 1944, the number continued to be around 20-25,000, including an estimated 5,000 ''issei'' ineligible for naturalization, and 10,000 ''nisei'' and 5,000 ''sansei'', US citizens born in Hawaii. By the end of World War II, some sources estimate there were as many as 40,000 people of Okinawan descent in the islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ukwanshin Kabudan is one of many groups in Hawaii which works to promote pride in Okinawan identity, and to maintain or revive traditional Okinawan arts. Members of the group regularly teach Ryukyuan dance, ''sanshin'', and Okinawan language, and hold workshops, guest lectures, and the like addressing other aspects of Okinawan culture and identity. The group also organizes an annual "study tour," in which members of the community join the group on a tour of Okinawa, with a particular focus on history, traditional culture, and identity.

{{stub}}

{{stub}}

==References==

==References==

*Franklin Odo and Kazuko Sinoto, ''A Pictorial History of the Japanese in Hawaii 1885-1924'', Bishop Museum (1985), 80.

*Franklin Odo and Kazuko Sinoto, ''A Pictorial History of the Japanese in Hawaii 1885-1924'', Bishop Museum (1985), 80.

<references/>

<references/>

[[Category:Meiji Period]]

[[Category:Meiji Period]]