Browse the UBC Open Collections\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Tairiku Nipp\u014d\u00a0<\/span>digital archive here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n In Japanese migrant communities in early twentieth century North America, Japanese-language newspapers were an important source of information and knowledge, providing international and local news, including telegraph news from Japan and other parts of the world, stories of Japanese communities in North America, and local issues that affected the lives and work of the immigrant population. It was also a provider of entertainment, a promoter of community businesses, and a site of social interaction, having large sections devoted to advertisements of Japanese-owned businesses, reviews, gossip, and literary works. In fact, Japanese language newspapers were a site of amateur literary practice for migrants who had limited access to mainstream publications due to cultural and linguistic differences and a lack of resources. Stories contributed by migrant writers were featured in serialized columns called\u00a0<\/span>tsuzuki-mono<\/em>, following a common literary practice in Meiji Japan.<\/span><\/p>\r\n What was unique about the Japanese migrant community in North America at the turn of the 20<\/span>th<\/sup>\u00a0century was that it consisted disproportionally of a large group of bachelor male labourers and a much smaller group of women. This resulted in the prominent presence of women working as restaurant waitresses, barmaids, and sex workers to serve the interests and needs of men, as well as a number of literary writings that explored the themes of male labourers\u2019 romances with Japanese women in the nighttime entertainment businesses, including the sex trade.[footnote]Satae Shinoda, \u201cNikkei Amerika bungaku no rekishi,\u201d American Review<\/em> 14 (1980), 67. For an in-depth study of the history of Japanese sex workers and barmaids in North America from this period, see Kazuhiro Oharazeki, Japanese Prostitutes in the North American West<\/em>, 1887-1920<\/em> (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2016).[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0Sometimes \u201cfallen women\u201d themselves were protagonists of stories that were sympathetic to their situations. <\/span><\/p>\r\n For example, Shoson Nagahara, a young, male novelist from Yamaguchi Prefecture, wrote the novella \u201c<\/span>Osasto-san<\/em>\u201d between 1925 and 1926 for\u00a0<\/span>Rafu Shimpo<\/em>, a daily newspaper based in Los Angeles. The story features Osato, who migrated to the United States to join her husband only to realize that he is jobless and frequents gambling places. She ends up in the red light district of Little Tokyo, working as a barmaid, and later manages her own bar.[footnote]This story has been translated in English by Andrew Leong and included in Lament in the Night<\/em> (Los Angeles: Kaya Press, 2011).[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0Another example would be the short story entitled \u201c<\/span>Kantsu<\/em>\u201d (adultery), which was published in April 1911 in Seattle\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Taihoku Nipp\u014d<\/em>\u00a0and written by a presumably female author who published under the penname \u201cWoman Aki.\u201d It narrates in the first-person voice a story of a married woman who gets involved with a young, kind man behind the back of her drunk and violent husband.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_769\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"700\"] However, newspapers published not only fictional novellas submitted by readers, but also tabloid news and neighbourhood gossip. Just like their counterparts in Japan, migrant newspapers targeted fellow commoners rather than elites, exposing private details of individuals\u2019 \u201cimmoral\u201d behaviour, particularly that of women, and turning sex workers, barmaids, restaurant waitresses, and wives in extra-marital relationships into objects of criticism and condemnation.[footnote]Satoru Saito notes that smaller-sized papers known as koshinbun emerged in the 1870s in Japan had a column called zappo (miscellaneous reports), which collected tabloid news and neighbourhood gossip and covered topics such as local crime, adultery, the pleasure quarters, and even domestic quarrels (\u201cNewspaper serials in the late nineteenth century,\u201d Cambridge History of Japanese Literature<\/em> edited by Haruo Shirane et al., Cambridge University Press, 583-587).[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0In this way, Japanese language newspapers in early-20<\/span>th<\/sup>\u00a0century North America were micro-institutions that produced didactic discourses of \u201cideal\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d womanhood for migrant communities by disciplining women\u2019s bodies according to the ideology of\u00a0<\/span>ry\u014dsai kenb\u014d,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>or in English, \u201cgood wives, wise mothers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n Such effort can be discerned in early issues of Vancouver\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Tairiku Nipp\u014d\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(<\/span>Continental Daily News<\/em>), which ran between 1907-1941<\/span>.[footnote]Earlier issues of Tairiku Nipp\u014d<\/em> typically consisted of six, or occasionally eight, pages and sold at five cents per issue, thirty-five cents per month, two dollars per six months, and three dollars and fifty cents per year. While its circulation is unknown, other writings on this publication suggest that it was quite influential among the Japanese-speaking (im)migrants in Vancouver (see Mitsuru Shinpo, Norio Tamura and Shigehiko Shiramizu, Kanada no Nihongo Shinbun, Tokyo: PMC Shppan, 1991). Nippo and Kanada Shinpo were the two largest, rival papers until the late 1910s when Shinpo \u201clost\u201d its battle with Nippo and discontinued its operation (Shinpo et al., 48-56). Shinpo et al. argue that Nippo had an advantage over Shinpo, as it had a strong affiliation with the Vancouver Buddhist Temple and about 90% of the Japanese in Vancouver then were Buddhists, while Shinpo was Christian-leaning and supported by a small group of Christian readers (55-56).[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0In one example,\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>\u00a0catalogued for its readers \u201cQualifications for the Ideal Wife Who Is Worth Her Husband\u2019s Praise\u201d with sixteen bullet points in a small section written in the first person voice of a married man, delineating the following criteria: \u201cMy wife has a modest appearance\u201d; \u201cHer chastity is indubitable\u201d; \u201cShe is my only and best assistant\u201d; \u201cShe sews the most comfortable clothes\u201d; \u201cShe cooks delicious food\u201d; \u201cShe educates children without flaws.\u201d Women were severely criticized for transgressing these standards.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_96\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"] The most explicit and extensive example of the disciplinary effects of the\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d\u00a0<\/span><\/em>on women\u2019s bodies was a series called \u201c<\/span>Makutsu Tankenki<\/em>,\u201d or \u201cExploration of Devil Caves.\u201d Written by Shohei Osada, the series was published over seventy-one installments between November 19, 1908 and February 13, 1909 [Figure 1]<\/strong>. With detailed documentation of Japanese men and women, or \u201cdevils\u201d and \u201cbitches\u201d respectively, involved in the sex trade in Canada at the turn of the twentieth century, the series attempted to identify \u201cdeviant\u201d individuals, shame their behaviour, and ultimately eradicate prostitution among Japanese in Canada.\u00a0 The presence of Japanese \u201cdevil caves,\u201d referring to brothels, were perceived as a contributing factor to white people\u2019s racism against the Japanese. In fact, the series came out soon after the anti-Asian riots of 1907, which led to the Hayashi-Lemiueux Agreement in 1908 and the restriction on the number of Japanese migrants admitted to the country.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Devil Caves series was one project commissioned by\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>\u2019s new owner, Yasushi Yamazaki, who took over a paper that was already nearly bankrupt after being founded as recently as June 1907.[footnote]Mitsuru Shinpo, Norio Tamura and Shigehiko Shiramizu,\u00a0Kanada no Nihongo Shinbun\u00a0<\/em>(Tokyo: PMC Shppan, 1991), 49-50.[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Issei<\/em>\u00a0immigrant Katsuyoshi Morita testified that the previous owner \u201cMr. Kashiwa\u201d had almost been forced to leave his business because the \u201carticle on public morals\u201d he published resulted in \u201cthreats\u201d by some forces and the operation became difficult to continue.[footnote]Powell Street Monogatari<\/em>, Burnaby: Live Canada Publishing, 1988, 78. The exact content of this article is not elaborated in Morita\u2019s account.[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0It seems that the new owner, Yamazaki, who had purchased the business in March 1908, did not submit to such pressure and rather responded to it by directly addressing issues of \u201cimmoral\u201d activities in the community. In fact, Yamazaki had previously managed another daily newspaper called\u00a0<\/span>Hokubei Jiji\u00a0<\/span><\/em>based in Seattle. Around this time, Japanese sex workers, as well as brothel owners and managers, guards and pimps, were highly visible in downtown Seattle, and the profit made in the brothel businesses had a strong economic influence in the community.\u00a0<\/span>Jiji\u00a0<\/span><\/em>in turn was sponsored by the underground business, which was one of the main reasons why Yamazaki left the paper.[footnote]Kanada iminshi shiryo,<\/em>\u00a0Tokyo: Fuji Shuppan, 1995-2000, 115.[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0When he made a fresh start with\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>, Yamazaki was likely as strongly determined to fight against prostitution as he was to sell copy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Devil Caves series exposed the identities of \u201cdevils and bitches\u201d with their names, nicknames, and backgrounds, including their hometowns. Stories were written in a tabloid style with hyperbolic language, highlighting individuals\u2019 names and some dramatic phrases in big and bold fonts. Lurid descriptions of murder incidents, internal conflicts, and relationship scandals emphasized the violent, barbaric and \u201cabnormal\u201d character of the \u201cbitches.\u201d Other stories were comical or entertaining, suggesting how foolish and nonsensical the brothels were. The series proved popular enough with readers for the first installments to be re-edited and reorganized alongside portraits of local sex workers into a book with a new title,\u00a0<\/span>Kanada no Makutsu<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>[Brothels in Canada<\/em>] published in 1910. A second column series consisting of 32 installments followed daily from March 1 to April 6, 1912.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_768\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"] Outside of \u201cExploration of Devil Caves,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>routinely disciplined women by presenting examples contrasting deviant and ideal womanhood in news reports, gossip, and opinion pieces. The paper repeatedly punished women for committing adultery, running away with their lovers, overly exposing their skin, or even just laughing with their mouths open on the street. At the same time,\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d\u00a0<\/span><\/em>was quite rigorous in announcing the best women in the community. For example, it regularly called for readers\u2019 votes to determine model citizens in the fellow migrant community; for women, there were categories for \u201cladies\u201d and \u201cwaitresses.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Japanese restaurants were ambiguous places of sexuality where servers could potentially be expected to entertain male customers in roles similar to those of\u00a0<\/span>geisha<\/em>, or could just be waitresses, in which case they should meet the customers\u2019 notions of ideal, \u201cvirtuous\u201d women. Gossip written by\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>\u2019s staff and contributed by readers often included information about beautiful or graceful waitresses. There was also a column series called \u201c<\/span>Ry\u014driya Nozoki<\/em>\u201d (A Peek at Restaurants; January 6 and early February, 1908), which offered reviews of Japanese restaurants elaborately detailing their food, service, and of course their waitresses.\u00a0 Women\u2019s bodies, therefore, were often turned into discursive and material sites of discipline by male writers, editors, publishers, and very likely, both male and female readers of community papers like the\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n But women were not always passive victims of disciplinary power. There were women writers who wrote about and for women.\u00a0The most well-known example among those who contributed to\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d\u00a0<\/em>was Toshiko Tamura, whose award-winning debut novel<\/span>\u00a0Akirame\u00a0<\/em>(\u201cResignation,\u201d 1911) featured a female protagonist who pursued a professional writing career against the \u201cgood wives, wise mothers\u201d ideology and addressed transgressive sexualities, including adultery and female homosexuality.\u00a0As a writer she outgrew her male partner Shogyo Tamura, who was also a writer and senior compared to Toshiko both in age and in writing career. She moved from Tokyo to Vancouver in 1918 to follow journalist Etsu Suzuki, who had quit his previous work at\u00a0<\/span>Asahi Shinbun\u00a0<\/span><\/em>newspaper company and just joined\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>. This also meant that they were starting a new life as a couple outside their marriage back home.[footnote]See Kudo Miyoko and Susan Phillips (Bankuba no ai: Tamura Toshiko to Suzuki Etsu<\/em>, Tokyo: Domesu Shuppan, 1982) for a detailed account of the couple\u2019s life in Vancouver.[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0While she became less active as a writer in Canada, being removed from the much larger and more vibrant Japanese language literary community in Japan, Toshiko contributed to\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d\u00a0<\/span><\/em>and played a leadership role as a feminist writer. Most prominently, she started a weekly column series \u201cSaturday Women\u2019s Section\u201d in August 1919, in which she wrote to fellow Japanese migrant women to raise awareness about women\u2019s rights.[footnote]Kudo, 88.[\/footnote]<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_97\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"] What was less visible but equally powerful, however, was the ambivalence of newspaper representations of women.\u00a0 These representations had been initially produced to serve patriarchal institutional purposes of controlling women\u2019s bodies in the migrant community, yet simultaneously undermined male writers\u2019 condemnations of \u201cbad\u201d women. For example, the photographic portraits of women in Japanese brothels included in\u00a0<\/span>Kanada no Makutsu<\/em>\u00a0are far from stereotypical imageries of aggressive, vulgar and deceitful \u201cprostitutes.\u201d Quite contrary, the women present themselves with sophistication, tranquility, and dignity, making us question the discursively constructed wall that separates \u201cbad\u201d women from the rest. Unfortunately, their image quality is painfully poor as these portraits come from a photocopy of the original book [Figure 4]<\/strong>, which to my knowledge is the only copy in Canada that is publicly available today. Regardless, they resist the historical erasure of their presence and participation in the social, economic, and cultural development of the early Japanese migrant community and the larger North American societies in which they lived.<\/span><\/p>","rendered":" Ayaka Yoshimizu<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>University of British Columbia[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Browse the UBC Open Collections\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Tairiku Nipp\u014d\u00a0<\/span>digital archive here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n In Japanese migrant communities in early twentieth century North America, Japanese-language newspapers were an important source of information and knowledge, providing international and local news, including telegraph news from Japan and other parts of the world, stories of Japanese communities in North America, and local issues that affected the lives and work of the immigrant population. It was also a provider of entertainment, a promoter of community businesses, and a site of social interaction, having large sections devoted to advertisements of Japanese-owned businesses, reviews, gossip, and literary works. In fact, Japanese language newspapers were a site of amateur literary practice for migrants who had limited access to mainstream publications due to cultural and linguistic differences and a lack of resources. Stories contributed by migrant writers were featured in serialized columns called\u00a0<\/span>tsuzuki-mono<\/em>, following a common literary practice in Meiji Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n What was unique about the Japanese migrant community in North America at the turn of the 20<\/span>th<\/sup>\u00a0century was that it consisted disproportionally of a large group of bachelor male labourers and a much smaller group of women. This resulted in the prominent presence of women working as restaurant waitresses, barmaids, and sex workers to serve the interests and needs of men, as well as a number of literary writings that explored the themes of male labourers\u2019 romances with Japanese women in the nighttime entertainment businesses, including the sex trade.[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0Sometimes \u201cfallen women\u201d themselves were protagonists of stories that were sympathetic to their situations. <\/span><\/p>\n For example, Shoson Nagahara, a young, male novelist from Yamaguchi Prefecture, wrote the novella \u201c<\/span>Osasto-san<\/em>\u201d between 1925 and 1926 for\u00a0<\/span>Rafu Shimpo<\/em>, a daily newspaper based in Los Angeles. The story features Osato, who migrated to the United States to join her husband only to realize that he is jobless and frequents gambling places. She ends up in the red light district of Little Tokyo, working as a barmaid, and later manages her own bar.[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0Another example would be the short story entitled \u201c<\/span>Kantsu<\/em>\u201d (adultery), which was published in April 1911 in Seattle\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Taihoku Nipp\u014d<\/em>\u00a0and written by a presumably female author who published under the penname \u201cWoman Aki.\u201d It narrates in the first-person voice a story of a married woman who gets involved with a young, kind man behind the back of her drunk and violent husband.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, newspapers published not only fictional novellas submitted by readers, but also tabloid news and neighbourhood gossip. Just like their counterparts in Japan, migrant newspapers targeted fellow commoners rather than elites, exposing private details of individuals\u2019 \u201cimmoral\u201d behaviour, particularly that of women, and turning sex workers, barmaids, restaurant waitresses, and wives in extra-marital relationships into objects of criticism and condemnation.[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0In this way, Japanese language newspapers in early-20<\/span>th<\/sup>\u00a0century North America were micro-institutions that produced didactic discourses of \u201cideal\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d womanhood for migrant communities by disciplining women\u2019s bodies according to the ideology of\u00a0<\/span>ry\u014dsai kenb\u014d,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>or in English, \u201cgood wives, wise mothers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Such effort can be discerned in early issues of Vancouver\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Tairiku Nipp\u014d\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(<\/span>Continental Daily News<\/em>), which ran between 1907-1941<\/span>.[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0In one example,\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>\u00a0catalogued for its readers \u201cQualifications for the Ideal Wife Who Is Worth Her Husband\u2019s Praise\u201d with sixteen bullet points in a small section written in the first person voice of a married man, delineating the following criteria: \u201cMy wife has a modest appearance\u201d; \u201cHer chastity is indubitable\u201d; \u201cShe is my only and best assistant\u201d; \u201cShe sews the most comfortable clothes\u201d; \u201cShe cooks delicious food\u201d; \u201cShe educates children without flaws.\u201d Women were severely criticized for transgressing these standards.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The most explicit and extensive example of the disciplinary effects of the\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d\u00a0<\/span><\/em>on women\u2019s bodies was a series called \u201c<\/span>Makutsu Tankenki<\/em>,\u201d or \u201cExploration of Devil Caves.\u201d Written by Shohei Osada, the series was published over seventy-one installments between November 19, 1908 and February 13, 1909 [Figure 1]<\/strong>. With detailed documentation of Japanese men and women, or \u201cdevils\u201d and \u201cbitches\u201d respectively, involved in the sex trade in Canada at the turn of the twentieth century, the series attempted to identify \u201cdeviant\u201d individuals, shame their behaviour, and ultimately eradicate prostitution among Japanese in Canada.\u00a0 The presence of Japanese \u201cdevil caves,\u201d referring to brothels, were perceived as a contributing factor to white people\u2019s racism against the Japanese. In fact, the series came out soon after the anti-Asian riots of 1907, which led to the Hayashi-Lemiueux Agreement in 1908 and the restriction on the number of Japanese migrants admitted to the country.<\/span><\/p>\n The Devil Caves series was one project commissioned by\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>\u2019s new owner, Yasushi Yamazaki, who took over a paper that was already nearly bankrupt after being founded as recently as June 1907.[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Issei<\/em>\u00a0immigrant Katsuyoshi Morita testified that the previous owner \u201cMr. Kashiwa\u201d had almost been forced to leave his business because the \u201carticle on public morals\u201d he published resulted in \u201cthreats\u201d by some forces and the operation became difficult to continue.[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0It seems that the new owner, Yamazaki, who had purchased the business in March 1908, did not submit to such pressure and rather responded to it by directly addressing issues of \u201cimmoral\u201d activities in the community. In fact, Yamazaki had previously managed another daily newspaper called\u00a0<\/span>Hokubei Jiji\u00a0<\/span><\/em>based in Seattle. Around this time, Japanese sex workers, as well as brothel owners and managers, guards and pimps, were highly visible in downtown Seattle, and the profit made in the brothel businesses had a strong economic influence in the community.\u00a0<\/span>Jiji\u00a0<\/span><\/em>in turn was sponsored by the underground business, which was one of the main reasons why Yamazaki left the paper.[8]<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0When he made a fresh start with\u00a0<\/span>Nipp\u014d<\/em>, Yamazaki was likely as strongly determined to fight against prostitution as he was to sell copy.<\/span><\/p>\n The Devil Caves series exposed the identities of \u201cdevils and bitches\u201d with their names, nicknames, and backgrounds, including their hometowns. Stories were written in a tabloid style with hyperbolic language, highlighting individuals\u2019 names and some dramatic phrases in big and bold fonts. Lurid descriptions of murder incidents, internal conflicts, and relationship scandals emphasized the violent, barbaric and \u201cabnormal\u201d character of the \u201cbitches.\u201d Other stories were comical or entertaining, suggesting how foolish and nonsensical the brothels were. The series proved popular enough with readers for the first installments to be re-edited and reorganized alongside portraits of local sex workers into a book with a new title,\u00a0<\/span>Kanada no Makutsu<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>[Brothels in Canada<\/em>] published in 1910. A second column series consisting of 32 installments followed daily from March 1 to April 6, 1912.<\/p>\n![\"Portraits](\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/meijiat150\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/445\/2018\/05\/Fig-4_AY-1024x326.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
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\r\n<\/a> Figure 1.<\/strong> \u201cExploration of Devil Caves, Ep. 1,\u201d Tairiku Nippo<\/em>, 19 Nov. 1908. Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, PN4919.V23 T3 1989.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 2.<\/strong> \u201cQualifications for Ideal Wife Who Is Worth Her Husband\u2019s Praise,\u201d Tairiku Nippo<\/em>, 27 Jan. 1912. Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, PN4919.V23 T3 1989.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 3.<\/strong> \u201cCalls for Votes\u201d and \u201cVoting Results (as of noon today),\u201d Tairiku Nippo<\/em>, 26 Sep. 1908. Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, PN4919.V23 T3 1989.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 4.<\/strong> Portraits of \u201cfallen women\u201d included in Kanada no Makutsu, Tairiku Nippo Sha<\/em>, 1909. Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections.[\/caption]\r\nSex Workers, Waitresses, and Wives: The Disciplining of Women\u2019s Bodies in the Tairiku Nippo (1908-1920)<\/h1>\n
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