Cane Fires: The Anti-Japanese Movement in Hawaii, 1865-1945

7. Extinguishing the Dawn

Chapter 7 Extinguishing the Dawn Do not count on education to do too much for you, do not take it too seriously. Do not expect a college degree, an A.B. or a Ph.D., to get you ahead unduly in this world. -David L. Crawford Eradicating Japanisrn Some called it the "spectre of alien domination"; others, "peaceful penetration"; still others, the "second generation problem." Whatever the designation, the problem in Hawaii during the 1920S and 1930S was the durable Japanese presence and determination to share in the promise of America. The problem was particularly pressing because the Japanese constituted a significant proportion of the population, 42.7 percent in 1920 and 37.9 percent in 1930.1 In addition , the generation born with the rights of U.S. citizenship posed a greater problem than their alien parents did because they could, through constitutional means, eventually control the political life of the territory. That possibility accounted for the focus on the nisei by military and civilian intelligence and for the Americanization movement launched by the oligarchy during the interwar decades. The Americanization movement had two basic goals: the elimination of "Japanese" tendencies and the promotion of "American" values. The movement was based on the need for Japanese labor and a recognition of Japanese permanence in America, as opposed to the exclusionist sentiment that sought to displace the Japanese. The movement was 129 130 Years of Dependency, 1910-1940 also predicated on the notion that the loyalty of the Japanese could be assured through assimilating them. Becoming American required the elimination of "Japanism." As early as 1918, the Merriam report had identified agents that negated Americanizing influences: the Japanese consul, Japanese-language schools, and Buddhist churches. Accordingly, key features of the Americanization movement involved the education and Christianization of the nisei. Besides language schools and Buddhist churches, another obvious target was the Japanese-language press. All these sources of Japanism were subject to surveillance and restrictions. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser on March 17, 1919, offered an editorial opinion on how constitutional guarantees might not apply to the Japanese: "The Constitution, it is true, grants to every man the right to worship according to the dictates of his own conscience, but that does not mean that a religion hostile of our principles shall be taught the children of residents of America, children who are some day to exercise the right of franchise and perhaps help make our laws." The "Repaganization" of Hawaii Buddhist priests maintained a comfortable relationship with planters until about 1920. Buddhist missions were encouraged, indeed subsidized, because plantation managers used ethnicity to divide the workers. In return , Buddhist priests frequently intervened on the side of the planters, advising against strikes. The collaboration disintegrated when ethnic solidarity became a powerful instrument of resistance, whereupon Buddhism increasingly became a liability on the plantations. Buddhist churches played a prominent role in the strike of 1920 with branches of the YMBA serving as nuclei for labor organizing on plantations . During the 1919 movement for higher wages and on the eve of the strike, heads of major Buddhist sects in Hawaii-Bishop Yemyo Imamura of Honpa Hongwanji, Bishop Hosen Isobe of Soto-shu, Acting Bishop Ryozen Yamada of Jodo-shu, and Bishop Chosei Nunome of Nichirenshu -along with other Buddhist and Shinto priests signed a letter urging the HSPA to accede to the demands of the Federation of Japanese Labor. Buddhist churches also opened their doors to evicted strikers, providing shelter and food. In contrast, "Takie Okumura and other Japanese Chris- Extinguishing the Dawn 13 1 tian clerics advised their congregations to oppose the strike because, as Shiro Sokabe put it, the planters had always been 'so good to the church.'" Umetaro Okumura, son of Takie, was hired as a translator for the HSPA on January 19, 1920.2 The Pacific Commercial Advertiser on October 31, 1919, pointed out that three Buddhist teachers and three YMBA officials sat on the twentymember executive committee of the Association for Higher Wages. And according to the February 19, 1920, issue of the Advertiser, HSPA secretary Royal D. Mead declared that the strike was not prompted by low wages or poor working conditions but was instigated "by the Japanese newspapers and agitators, aided and abetted by the Japanese school teachers and priests." The newspapers amplified that theme with headlines announcing "Buddhist Priests Interfere to Aid Strikers." The papers charged that "pagan priests" were abusing the constitutional...