Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

C&H

“Among the many varieties of sugar the most important are the sucroses and the glucoses. They form a natural group of substances, chiefly of vegetable origin. Chemically considered, all sugars are carbohydrates, that is to say, bodies composed of three elements: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.”

“Apart from sucrose, which is usually cane and beet sugar, the variety most generally met with is dextrose one of the glucoses. It possesses less sweetness than sucrose and differs from the latter in chemical composition.”  (Rolph)

“Glucose enters largely into the manufacture of candy, being particularly necessary in the preparation of soft filling for creams, as a certain amount of it added to cane-sugar syrup prevents crystallization.”

“Sucrose is derived from sugar cane, maple sap, sorghum and the sugar beet. It is a solid, crystallizing in the form of monoclinic prisms, generally with hemihedral faces, which are colorless, transparent, have a sweet taste …” (Rolph)

“Sugar cane, described in botany as Saccharum officinarum, is a giant-stemmed perennial grass that grows from eight to twenty-four feet long. … As a rule, sugar cane consists of about eighty-eight per cent of juice and twelve per cent of fiber”. (Rolph)

Sugar cane is processed at two facilities: processing starts at a raw sugar factory (the mill at the sugar plantation) and finishes at a sugar refinery.

Typically, raw sugar was processed in Hawai‘i. Claus Spreckels, the “sugar king” of California, Hawaiʻi and the American West, constructed a sugar refinery in California in 1867 where the sugar was finished, packaged, and marketed/shipped.

“[W]hen the Hawaiian plantation owners organized the Sugar Factors Association, Limited, in Honolulu, the authority to dispose of crops of the Islands as a whole was vested in a special committee. These representatives of the growers then sought to enter into a new contract”.

When negotiations deteriorated, the Sugar Factors’ Association stopped all further negotiations.  “The explanation of this bold show of independence on the part of the plantation owners lies in the fact that the [sugar refining company] has been getting the lion’s share of the profits of the sugar business …”

“… and the growers are now determined to get not only their profits under the contract, but also the profits on their sugar which heretofore has gone into the coffers of the [refiners].” (PCA, April 13, 1905)

Then, the news reported, “The relations hitherto existing between the Western Sugar Refinery, controlled by the Spreckels interests, and the sugar planters of the Hawaiian Islands have been ruptured.”

“The planters have acquired a controlling interest in the refinery at Crockett, Cal. … and are making preparations to operate the plant in competition with the Western Sugar Refinery.” (Hawaiian Star, Nov 3, 1905)

In 1906, the California and Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company began refining pure cane sugar in the small town of Crockett, California, near San Francisco.” (C&H)

Early on, it was known as California and Hawai‘i – Hawai‘i represented the place where the sugarcane grew and was initially processed; Crockett, California is where the processed sugar was refined and packaged. (C&H) A small portion was refined in the Islands; the bulk goes to Crockett. (United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit)

The new refiners noted, “It gives us great pleasure to be able to state that on or after April 1st, 1906, the California and Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company, by beginning the work of refining raw sugars, will enter the field of the Refined Sugar business.”

“This Corporation, hereafter to be familiarly known as the ‘Hawaiian Refinery,’ has entered into strong and intimate relations with Hawaiian Plantation Companies.”

“Every share of our stock is owned or controlled by Hawaiian planters, or their close associates in California, and these Hawaiian shareholders are, in turn, members of the Sugar Factors Company, Limited, of Honolulu, and constitute its shareholders.” (Circular 1, SB, Feb 13, 1906)

The refinery first opened in 1906, when a man named George Morrison Rolph transformed a beet sugar refinery into an operation for refining raw cane sugar from Hawai‘i. (Wells, SFGate)

Rolph wanted to build a loyal workforce and inspire them to stick around, so he started investing heavily in the underdeveloped town. Improvements included building housing, a community center and even a park for his employees. (Wells, SFGate)

Early on, as cargo ships offloaded raw cane sugar from the Hawaiian Islands, the refinery employed 490 people and produced 67,000 tons of refined cane sugar. (C&H)

In the 1920s, some 95 percent of Crockett residents worked for the C&H. (Hayes)  At its peak, just before World War II, C&H employed 2,500 workers. (Wells, SFGate)

Cane sugar contains trace minerals that are different from those in beet sugar, and it’s these minerals that many experts say make cane sugar preferable to use.

As professional bakers have long noticed, cane sugar has a low melting-point, absorbs fewer extraneous and undesirable odors, blends easily and is less likely to foam up. (C&H)

The refined sugar – the white stuff – was sold by C&H to groceries for home consumption and to the soft drink and cereal companies that were its industrial customers. (United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit)

In 1993, the member companies sold their interests in C&H to Alexander & Baldwin in Honolulu, and the refining company’s status changed from a cooperative to a corporation.

Alexander & Baldwin subsequently sold its majority share to an investment group in 1998, retaining a 40% common stock interest in the recapitalized company.

In 2005, the common stock shares were acquired by American Sugar Refining (ASR, better known as Domino Sugar), a company owned by Florida Crystals and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida.

Florida Crystals is a privately held company that is part of FLO-SUN, a sugar empire of the Fanjul family whose origins trace to Spanish-Cuban sugar plantations of the early 19th century. (Finale)

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ʻĀina Mauna

ʻĀina Mauna, or mountain lands, reflects a term used affectionately by elder Hawaiians to describe the upper regions of all mountain lands.

In pre-Contact times, these upper forested lands were left relatively untouched, as they were integral to the functioning of the ahupua‘a due to the water they provided to the lowlands. These upland forests were considered wao akua (“realm of the gods”) and were therefore protected by kapu.  (Iwashita)

Small cultivated areas were located primarily in the lowlands, which were extensively cleared for agriculture.  Most permanent settlement initially was near the ocean and at sheltered beaches, which provided access to good fishing grounds, as well as facilitating convenient canoe travel.

Koa tree canoe logs were cut from the ʻĀina Mauna; it is estimated that it takes up to 125-years or more to grow a koa tree large enough for a voyaging canoe.

Traditional dwellings (hale pili) were constructed of native woods lashed together with cordage most often made from olonā. Pili grass was a preferred thatching. Lauhala (pandanus leaves) or ti leaf bundles, called pe‘a, were other covering materials used.

In addition, implements incorporated into hula were made of wood and other forest products.  Weapons used wood products for spears, daggers, clubs, shark tooth and other wooden weapons.

With ‘Contact’ came changes to the ʻĀina Mauna.

In 1778, Captain Cook left goats and pigs.  In 1793, Captain George Vancouver gave Kamehameha cattle (which he placed a kapu on to allow herds to grow.)  In 1803, American Richard Cleveland presented horses ‐ a stallion and a mare ‐ to Kamehameha.

The goats, pigs and cattle started to have negative impacts on the Islands’ mauka lands.

On top of that, ʻiliahi (sandalwood) became first recognized as a commercial product in Hawai‘i in 1791 by Captain Kendrick of the Lady Washington, when he instructed sailors to collect cargo of sandalwood.

Trade in Hawaiian sandalwood began in the early-1790s; by 1805 it had become an important export item. Unfortunately, the harvesting of the trees was not sustainably managed (they cut whatever they could, they didn’t replant) and over-harvesting of ʻiliahi took place.

By 1830, the trade in sandalwood had completely collapsed.  Hawaiian forests were exhausted and sandalwood from India and other areas in the Pacific drove down the price in China and made the Hawaiian trade unprofitable.

Through King Kamehameha III’s Act No. 2, Chapter III, Article I, Chapter VI, Section VII of April 27, 1846, ‘forestry’ began in Hawaiʻi.

“The forests and timber growing therein, shall be considered as government property, and under the special care of the minister of the interior, who may from time to time convert the products thereof into money for the benefit of government.”

By the late-1800s, the sugar industry had been lobbying for forest protection, as the cattle grazing and denudation of upland forests threatened the water supply critical to sustaining the sugar economy.

A lasting legacy of that era was the implementation of the Forest Reserve System, created by the Territorial Government of Hawai’i through Act 44 on April 25, 1903.

That year, on May 13, 1903, the Territory of Hawaiʻi, with the backing of the Hawaiʻi Sugar Planters’ Association, established the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry.  (HDOA)  By 1930, a million acres of land – nearly 25% of Hawaii’s land area – were in the Forest Reserve System.

Forest reserves were useful for two primary purposes: water production for the Territory’s agricultural industries, and timber production to meet the growing demand for wood products.

The forest reserve system should not lead to “the locking up from economic use of a certain forest area.” Even in critical watersheds the harvesting of old trees “is a positive advantage, in that it gives the young trees a chance to grow, while at the same time producing a profit from the forests. (Ralph Sheldon Hosmer; LRB)

And, forests are not just about trees.

Virtually all our fresh water comes from the forest, also clean air, recreation areas, habitat for native species, plants for cultural practices and woods for fine arts are among the thousands of forest benefits.

Our forests present endless opportunities for both residents and visitors; Hawaii’s forests offer employment, recreation and resources – including ecological goods and services.

Ecological goods include clean air, and abundant fresh water; while ecological services include purification of air and water, plant and wildlife habitat, maintenance of biodiversity, decomposition of wastes, soil and vegetation generation and renewal, groundwater recharge, greenhouse gas mitigation and aesthetically pleasing landscapes.

Water, wildlife and wood are just a few of the products found in our forests.

A little side note related to the ʻĀina Mauna … we prepared the ʻĀina Mauna Legacy Program, its Implementation Work Plan  and Environmental Assessment for the Hawaiian Homes Commission (they unanimously approved all.)

The ‘Āina Mauna Legacy Program is DHHL’s long‐range planning document geared to restore and protect approximately 56,000‐acres (about ¼-of all the DHHL lands in the Islands) of native Hawaiian forest on Mauna Kea that is ecologically, culturally and economically self‐sustaining for the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust, its beneficiaries and the community.

We were honored and proud when our planning document, the ‘Āina Mauna Legacy Program, received awards: the “Environment/Preservation Award” from the American Planning Association‐Hawai‘i Chapter and the “Koa: Standing the Test of Time Award” by the Hawai‘i Forest Industry Association.  The image shows some forest of the ʻĀina Mauna.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Suo Oshima

The Seto Inland Sea is dotted with about 700 islands of various sizes, and Suo Oshima (officially Yashirojima), located in the southeastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture, is the third largest island. (Kawai, JANM)

Situated off the coast of western Honshu is Suo Oshima, often noted English as “Suooshima” or “Suo-Oshima,” this rural part of Japan is one of the countless landmasses that can be found out on the Seto Inland Sea. Officially part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. (Kimball)

Seto Inland Sea is the largest inland sea of Japan and is surrounded by Honshu. Shikoku, and Kyushu.  Features of the Seto Inland Sea is fast tide due to a big difference of high and low tide There are high tides and two low tides twice a day.

Water level difference between high tide and low tide is called “tidal range” – here, it is 3-10-feet in the east and 10-13-feet in west. (International Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS) Center)

Suo Oshima is home to a series of peaks that are collectively called the “Seto Inland Sea’s Alps”. Comprised of Mt. Monju, Mt. Kano, Mt. Genmeizan, and Mt. Dake, the heights of this mountain quadruplet are nearly 2,300-feet tall.

Back during the Edo Period (1603–1868), Suo Oshima was overpopulated. Due to the mountainous core of the goldfish-shaped island, residents had a hard time finding ample space to live. (Kimball)

“The population is now around 15,000, but at the beginning of the Meiji period there were about 70,000. At that time, politics was in chaos, and there were also natural disasters such as typhoons, so the islanders could not make a living.”

“At the same time, the island had a history of migrant workers, and it was common for people to go out on boats. At that time, the government talked about migrant workers (overseas emigration), and many people applied. For the islanders, it probably felt like going to a faraway place for a long period of time.” (Makoto Kimoto, JANM)

A shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations in Hawai‘i became a challenge.  The only answer was imported labor.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.)  The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population in Hawaiʻi.  Concerned that the Chinese were taking too strong a representation in the labor market, the government passed laws reducing Chinese immigration.  Further government regulations, introduced 1886-1892, virtually ended Chinese contract labor immigration.

In 1868, an American businessman, Eugene M Van Reed, sent a group of approximately 150-Japanese to Hawaiʻi to work on sugar plantations and another 40 to Guam. This unauthorized recruitment and shipment of laborers, known as the gannenmono (“first year men”,) marked the beginning of Japanese labor migration overseas.  (JANM)

However, for the next two decades the Meiji government prohibited the departure of “immigrants” due to the slave-like treatment that the first Japanese migrants received in Hawaiʻi and Guam.  (JANM)

In March 1881, King Kalākaua visited Japan during which he discussed with Emperor Meiji Hawaiʻi’s desire to encourage Japanese nationals to settle in Hawaiʻi.

Kalākaua’s meeting with Emperor Meiji improved the relationship of the Hawaiian Kingdom with the Japanese government and an economic depression in Japan served as motivation for agricultural workers to move from their homeland.  (Nordyke/Matsumoto)

The first 943-government-sponsored, Kanyaku Imin, Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi arrived in Honolulu aboard the Pacific Mail Steamship Company City of Tokio on February 8, 1885.  Subsequent government approval was given for a second set of 930-immigrants who arrived in Hawaii on June 17, 1885.

With the Japanese government satisfied with treatment of the immigrants, a formal immigration treaty was concluded between Hawaiʻi and Japan on January 28, 1886. The treaty stipulated that the Hawaiʻi government would be held responsible for employers’ treatment of Japanese immigrants.

Many Japanese people living on Suo Oshima opted to move.  From 1885 to 1894, 3,913 people living on the island took advantage of the opportunity and moved to Hawai‘i (about 13.5% of the total of about 29,000 Japanese emigrants to Hawai‘i during that time).  Thus, many of the Japanese now living in Hawaii originally have roots that harken back to Suo Oshima. (Kimball)

After Hawai‘i was annexed by the US, many people from Suo Oshima went to Hawaii, and many Suo Oshima people were active in Hawaiian society. After the war, many donations and goods were brought from Hawaii to Suo-Oshima. (Japan Hawaii Immigration Museum)

To commemorate the connection between Suo Oshima and Hawai‘i, the Japan Hawai‘i Immigrant Museum was opened February 8, 1999 after four years of collecting materials.

Here is a link to the Museum website: https://suooshima-hawaii-imin.com/en

The building of the Japan Hawai‘i Immigrant Museum is a reproduction of the former Fukumoto residence built by the late Chouemon Fukumoto.

After returning to Suo Oshima in 1924, he built the Fukumoto residence, which is now the Japan Hawaii Immigrant Museum, in 1928. (Japan Hawaii Immigration Museum)

Many of the materials displayed in the Immigration Museum were donated by townspeople and their families who had returned from Hawaii. The museum also has historical materials, old documents, and a data search corner for information on the history of immigration to Hawaii. (Japan Hawaii Immigration Museum)

Kauai County and Suo Oshima established a sister city relationship which was signed in June 1963.  “The relationship between Japan and Hawai‘i is an integral part of our state’s historic, cultural, and economic well-being – just look at our food, our customs, and our people,” said Mayor Kawakami.

“Through our 60 years of friendship, we have come to share a mutual understanding of each other’s government, economy, agriculture, tourism, and community. And as we celebrate together this milestone, we continue our promise to pass along our customs with the next generation, keeping both Japan and Hawai‘i culture and tradition alive.” (Kauai County)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

‘Father of Japanese Immigration to Hawaiʻi’

The early Polynesian settlers to Hawaiʻi brought sugar cane with them and demonstrated that it could be grown successfully.

Sugar cultivation/processing started as early as 1802 and it continued to grow that about a century after Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawaiʻi, it eventually dominated the landscape.

A shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge.  The only answer was imported labor.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.)  The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population in Hawaiʻi.  Between 1852 and 1884, the population of Chinese in Hawai’i increased from 364 to 18,254, to become almost a quarter of the population of the Kingdom (almost 30% of them were living in Honolulu.)  (Young – Nordyke & Lee)

Concerned that the Chinese had secured too strong a representation in the labor market, the government passed laws reducing Chinese immigration.  Further government regulations introduced between 1886 to 1892 virtually ended Chinese contract labor immigration.

In 1868, an American businessman, Eugene M Van Reed, sent a group of approximately 150-Japanese to Hawaiʻi to work on sugar plantations and another 40 to Guam. This unauthorized recruitment and shipment of laborers, known as the gannenmono (“first year men”,) marked the beginning of Japanese labor migration overseas.  (JANM)

However, for the next two decades the Meiji government prohibited the departure of “immigrants” due to the slave-like treatment that the first Japanese migrants received in Hawaiʻi and Guam.  (JANM)

About this time (1866,) Robert Walker Irwin, at the age of 22, arrived in Japan to head the Yokohama office of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. In 1867 the company launched the first regular trans-Pacific steamship service fulfilling a contract with the US government to provide monthly mail service between San Francisco and Hong Kong via Yokohama.

Irwin (January 4, 1844 – January 5, 1925,) great-great grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to former Pennsylvania politician (Mayor of Pittsburgh and member of the US House of Representatives) and United States Chargé d’affaires to Denmark William W. Irwin and Sophia Arabella Bache Irwin.

He was later hired to work for the Mitsui business conglomerate and cultivated a number of business and government contacts in Japan becoming acquainted with Japanese Finance Minister Masuda Takashi in 1872.

He also became good friends with Japanese Count Kaoru Inouye, who had toured the United States with Irwin in 1876 and became a major force for modernization within Japan.

Later (1880,) the Hawaiian consul general to Japan, Harlan P Lillibridge, took a leave of absence and Irwin was appointed to replace him; the appointment soon became a permanent one.

In March 1881, King Kalākaua visited Japan during which he discussed with Emperor Meiji Hawaii’s desire to encourage Japanese nationals to settle in Hawaiʻi.

As noted in Nupepa-Hawaiʻi, 1881, “His Majesty the King of Hawaiʻi arrived here yesterday morning at 8 am in the Oceanic. As the steamer moved up to her anchorage, the men-of-war in harbour dressed ship and manned yards, the crews of the Russian and Japanese vessels also cheering heartily as the Oceanic passed them. … He subsequently embarked in the Emperor’s State barge.”

Kalākaua’s meeting with Emperor Meiji improved the relationship of the Hawaiian Kingdom with the Japanese government, and an economic depression in Japan served as an impetus for agricultural workers to leave their homeland.  (Nordyke/Matsumoto)

Irwin married Takechi Iki on March 15, 1882. This was the first legal marriage between an American and Japanese citizen and was arranged by Kaoru Inouye, then the Japanese Foreign Minister.  (Irwin had six children. The eldest, Bella, founded the Irwin Gakuen School in Tokyo.)

Focused on Japanese immigration to support Hawaiʻi’s sugar labor needs, and not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the gennenmono episode, Irwin’s friendship and close relationship with Inouye smoothed negotiations; and in 1885 and the first legitimate Japanese immigration to Hawaiʻi occurred.

Irwin arranged for and accompanied the first 943-government-sponsored, Kanyaku Imin, Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi who arrived in Honolulu aboard the Pacific Mail Steamship Company City of Tokio on February 8, 1885. After returning to Japan, Irwin received government approval for a second set of 930 immigrants who arrived in Hawaiʻi on June 17, 1885.

The laborers were selected “from the farming class with particular attention given to physical condition, youth, and industrious habits.”  They were predominantly unskilled male workers from Hiroshima and Yamaguchi, two neighboring prefectures in the Chugoku district of southwest Japan, and they were accustomed to rural village patterns of early marriage, high birth rates and large families.  (Nordyke/Matsumoto)

With the Japanese government satisfied with treatment of the immigrants, Irwin was able to conclude a formal immigration treaty between Hawaiʻi and Japan on January 28, 1886. The treaty stipulated that the Hawaiʻi government would be held responsible for employers’ treatment of Japanese immigrants.

Irwin was the single most important figure in starting the official labor migration from Japan to Hawaiʻi in 1885. The Kanyaku Imin immigration system that Irwin negotiated concluded in June 1894 with 29,339 Japanese nationals having immigrated to Hawaiʻi. This government-sponsored immigration was quickly replaced with private immigration.

He later became a Japanese citizen and received both the “Order of the Rising Sun” and the “Order of the Sacred Treasure.” In Japan, he is called the “Father of Japanese Immigration to Hawaiʻi.”

In 1891, Irwin purchased a summer home in Ikaho. The residence is a designated Historic Place and is open to the public as a small museum to the Irwin family and Japanese immigration to Hawaiʻi.  Irwin died January 5, 1925 and is buried at Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Tanomoshi

“The establishment of a cash economy and community of foreigners in Hawai‘i during the early years of the Pacific whaling industry also led to the development of commercial fisheries in the waters around the islands.”  (Schug)

Then came sugar … A shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge.  The only answer was imported labor. 

The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.)  The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population in Hawaiʻi.  Concerned that the Chinese were taking too strong a representation in the labor market, the government passed laws reducing Chinese immigration.  Further government regulations, introduced 1886-1892, virtually ended Chinese contract labor immigration.

In March 1881, King Kalākaua visited Japan during which he discussed with Emperor Meiji Hawaiʻi’s desire to encourage Japanese nationals to settle in Hawaiʻi.

Kalākaua’s meeting with Emperor Meiji improved the relationship of the Hawaiian Kingdom with the Japanese government and an economic depression in Japan served as motivation for agricultural workers to move from their homeland.  (Nordyke/Matsumoto)

The first 943-government-sponsored, Kanyaku Imin, Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi arrived in Honolulu aboard the Pacific Mail Steamship Company City of Tokio on February 8, 1885.  Subsequent government approval was given for a second set of 930-immigrants who arrived in Hawaii on June 17, 1885.

With the Japanese government satisfied with treatment of the immigrants, a formal immigration treaty was concluded between Hawaiʻi and Japan on January 28, 1886.

“Japanese social conventions compelled established residents in Hawai’i to offer guidance and support to new arrivals, who could expect assistance especially from ken-jin, fellow immigrants from the same region of Japan.”

“The transition to American society was eased for Japanese immigrants by the establishment of tightly knit communities. … These cohesive communities were important sources of financial and social capital for budding entrepreneurs.” (Schug)

“Plantation workers had no credit and minimal income, so banks were quick to deny them loans.” (CUInsights)

“Families … banded together in times of hardship and celebration. Families not only shared their harvests, but also helped others out financially through a feudal Japanese system known as ‘tanomoshi.’  Families regularly invested to create a large sum of money to provide financial assistance.” (Nancy Iwasaki Saiki; Zentoku Foundation)

“In the Tanomoshi the Japanese have put a unique concept of co-operation into effect. Tanomoshiko as used in Western Japan comes from ‘tanomui’ which means “dependable.’”

“The procedure seems to have originated in pooling contributions to a given fund and drawing lots to see who might go on pilgrimages to the shrines and temples. During the early part of the Tokugawa Period  [1603–1867],Tanomoshi took on a definite economic meaning.” (Bogardus)

“If a man needs money to pay debts, to build a house, or to bear the expenses of marrying off his daughter, he invites a group of friends, usually on payday, to drink tea.”

“There is no limit to the uses of the tanomoshi. One group of women held a five dollar one until they all had wrist watches. Among men a suit tanomoshi is favored.” (Bradford Smith)

Tanomoshi required mutual trust among its members because these loans did not have collateral. Families trusted one another that loans would be paid back and acted in the best interest of the community.  (Kanase, Zentoku Foundation)

Tanomoshi is an informal collaborative funding pool that participants can draw on.  Call it venture capital.  The system is somewhat intricate and was used to fund hundreds of businesses and other ventures. (HPR)

“The tanomoshi-ko is normally promoted by a person who is in urgent need of money. Suppose, for instance, he needs $100 and decides to organize a tanomoshi.”

“He asks nine friends to subscribe $10 a month each to his tanomoshi. They meet and each deposits the $10, making the total of $100.”

“The first month’s receipts always go to the promoter, who gets the entire amount, interest free.”

“Because the promoter is not required to pay interest to the other members, who must thereafter pay interest besides their $10 when they want to use the capital, the tanomoshi is often described as ‘aid for a friend in need,’ insofar as the promoter is concerned.”

“Each month thereafter for nine months, all the members contribute their regular $10 shares and, depending upon their immediate needs, bid for the use of the capital.”

“At all subsequent meetings, the members who wish to draw the principal submit bids of the interest they are willing to pay for the use of the money.”

“At times there is considerable competition for the use of the capital. The member making the highest bid gets the principal for the month, but he must also pay each shareholder the amount of interest he bids.”

“If the highest bid in the second month is $2, the bidder has to pay this amount to each member what has not received his share. Thus, he would have to pay out a total of $16 to the eight members whose shares have not been drawn, leaving him with $84.”

“After a person draws his share, he does not benefit thereafter from interest payments, although he continues to make his monthly payments until the tanomoshi has run its course.” [“When everyone has had the pot, the ko ends.” (Bradford Smith)]

“Each member before receiving his share must have two persons stand witnesses for him. These witnesses must be members of the ko.”

“If a borrower can not finish his payments after drawing his share, the witnesses are obliged to meet his payments thereafter. If tanomoshi they cannot pay, their share is withheld from them.”   (SB Nov 4, 1939)

“Private money clubs or mutual financial aid and saving associations are commonly identified as one of the contributing factors to high small business ownership rates among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean immigrants in the United States.” (Yoon)

“While the first tanomoshi groups were bound by a shared ethnicity or culture, they soon evolved into circles of individuals that had common jobs or interests. From those groups, credit unions were born.” (CUInsights)

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