Pacific Pioneers: Japanese Journeys to America and Hawaii, 1850-80 (Asian American Experience) [Hardcover]

John E. Van Sant (Author)

Book Description

Series: Asian American Experience | Publication Date: April 19, 2000

Shipwrecked sailors, samurai seeking a material and sometimes spiritual education, and laborers seeking to better their economic situation: these early Japanese travelers to the West occupy a little-known corner of Asian American studies. "Pacific Pioneers" profiles the first Japanese who resided in the United States or the Kingdom of Hawaii for a substantial period of time and the Westerners who influenced their experiences. Although Japanese immigrants did not start arriving in substantial numbers in the West until after 1880, in the previous thirty years a handful of key encounters helped shape relations between Japan and the United States. John E. Van Sant explores the motivations and accomplishments of these resourceful, sometimes visionary individuals who made important inroads into a culture quite different from their own and paved the way for the Issei and Nisei. "Pacific Pioneers" presents detailed biographical sketches of Japanese such as Joseph Heco, Niijima Jo, and the converts to the Brotherhood of the New Life and introduces the American benefactors, such as William Griffis, David Murray, and Thomas Lake Harris, who built relationships with their foreign visitors. Van Sant also examines the uneasy relations between Japanese laborers and sugar cane plantation magnates in Hawaii during this period and the short-lived Wakamatsu colony of Japanese tea and silk producers in California. A valuable addition to the literature, "Pacific Pioneers" brings to life a cast of colorful, long-forgotten characters while forging a critical link between Asian and Asian American studies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This excellent study of the first Japanese sojourners to America and Hawaii places them within the context of national developments on both sides of the Pacific... Van Sant wonderfully narrates and analyzes their engaging stories, those of ship-wrecked sailors, college students, workers, and even some utopians." -- Choice "Van Sant has the language skills to do archival work, coupled with a solid grasp of Japanese history. He has produced a small but important work." -- Paul Spickard, American Historical Review "A solid, well-written study. Featuring splendid biographical profiles, it provides excellent insight into Japan's modernization and the origins of Japanese immigration to the United States." -- Robert D. Parmet, International Migration Review ADVANCE PRAISE "This well-written and skillful blend of Japanese and Japanese American history fills a gap in our understanding of the formation of the Nikkei community in the United States. It provides us with a new appreciation of these early pioneers and their impact on both Japan and the United States." -- Wayne Patterson, Harvard University

Product Details

• Hardcover: 194 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (April 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252025601
• ISBN-13: 978-0252025600
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,239,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John E. Van Sant is a history professor at the University of Alabama-Birmingham where he teaches world history, East Asian history, and is especially interested interested in Japanese history and Japan's relations with the West.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little-explored corner of American history, July 11, 2002

By 

Robert H. Sayers (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pacific Pioneers: Japanese Journeys to America and Hawaii, 1850-80 (Asian American Experience) (Hardcover)

This is a truly absorbing read. Author John Van Sant casts light on a little-explored corner of American history about which, I'm willing to bet, few readers have any knowledge at all. Some may be vaguely aware that a handful of shipwrecked Japanese sailors fetched up on American shores in the first half of the nineteenth century or that large Japanese embassies toured this country in 1860 and 1871-72. But how many know that scores of Japanese students were living in such an unlikely place as New Brunswick, New Jersey in the late 1860s and 1870s, studying about American institutions as well as "big guns" and "big ships." Or that several young Japanese aristocrats--including a later titan of Meiji Japan--were holed up in a utopian commune, under the watchful eye of an eccentric guru, doing housework and tending grapevines? Or that other countrymen and women of less elevated status, fleeing worsening economic conditions back home, were scraping out a bare living in Hawaii and northern California?

In clear economic prose, thankfully free of academic jargon, Van Sant explores each of these expatriate communities in some depth. (Oddly enough, the author makes no mention whatsoever of the troupes of Japanese entertainers criss-crossing the country during this same period. Even Mark Twain complained bitterly in 1867 about having to compete with a company of Japanese acrobats for an audience.) He also does the historical record a considerable service by freeing some of these pioneers--the "mysterious" Wakamatsu Colony of Gold Hill, California being a prime example--from an encrustation of myth. If I have any quibble at all with Pacific Pioneers, it is that it is too short. Highly recommended!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, December 20, 2000

By 

Robrt McBarton (Antioch, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pacific Pioneers: Japanese Journeys to America and Hawaii, 1850-80 (Asian American Experience) (Hardcover)

I think that Dr Van Sant tells a compelling tale of the first wave of Japanese settlers who came to the United States and Hawaii. This book is for anybody who is interested in Asian American History. It should be the first book cracked open for any student who signs up to take any Asian studies class, either in the undergraduate or post-graduate world. I loved it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous Read, September 13, 2010

By 

M. Davis - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pacific Pioneers: Japanese Journeys to America and Hawaii, 1850-80 (Asian American Experience) (Hardcover)

Everyone who loves history or just likes a good story will enjoy this book. Dr. Van Sant has created a broad collective report of the Japanese settlers that is built upon the stories of individuals. Overall, it is insightful, informative, educational, and entertaining. A fascinating book on an often ignored topic.

George Robbins