BACKGROUND OF JAPANESE EMIGRATION
Causes of Emigration and Immigration.
Diverse as are the causes that induce emigration and invite immigration,
the most fundamental of all, with the exception of a few extraordinary
cases, such as that of the Pilgrim Fathers, is economic pressure. There is
a close relationship--a mutual give and take--between the immigrants and
those who receive them. Generally speaking, human activities have their
main-spring in man's desire to improve his conditions of living. The
motive which induces the people of one country to go out and settle in
another country is the same as the motive which induces another people to
invite immigrants from other countries. True, in the former case, the
direct reason for the move is generally the overcrowding and poor natural
environment at home. In the latter case, it is the lack of man-power and
the presence of great unexploited natural resources. But in both cases the
real motive is the pursuit of interest, which may be reciprocally
promoted by the transaction. It is well to keep this point clearly in mind
at the outset, because much of the confusion in discussing the Japanese
problem in California arises from forgetting the real cause which brought
Japanese immigrants to America and which induced America to invite them.
During the early colonial period the American colonies invited refugees
from political and religious oppression to come and settle in the new
world of freedom and democracy. The remnant of this early spirit still
remains embodied in the present immigration laws of the United States.
Nevertheless, it is almost a dead letter, with great historic interest but
with no practical significance. The real motive for welcoming immigrants
has been the acquisition of man-power for the exploitation of vast natural
resources and for the development of industry. This is a fact which may be
observed in almost all "new worlds," including the South American
republics, Canada, and Australia, where the dearth of human energy is the
capital reason of slow economic development. With settlers, however, the
economic motive is not the only one, though it is predominant. Here the
motives are diverse and complicated. With the Japanese there are
particular causes which have been driving them to seek opportunities in
new worlds.
Japan's Land Area.
The first and foremost cause is Japan's limited and unresourceful land.
The land area of Japan Proper is 147,655 square miles, which is about
8,000 square miles less than that of California. The terrain of Japan is
mountainous and volcanic, being traversed by two chains of mountains. One
runs down from Saghalien towards the center of Honshu and the other from
China via Formosa headed towards the north, both meeting at the middle of
Honshu, thereby producing rugged upheavals popularly known as "the
Japanese Alps." Being thus rocky and mountainous, the area contains a very
small portion of plain land. Hokkaido, the extreme northern island, has
seven plains. Honshu, the main island, has between the mountains five
small plains, and Kyushu, the large southern island, has one. The total
area of plains forms about one fourth of the entire area of Japan. The
consequence of this geological formation is that about 16 per cent. of the
total area is fit for cultivation, while over 70 per cent. of it is made
up of mountains and forests.
Agriculture.
The Japanese having always been primarily farmers, agriculture still
remains the principal occupation of the people. More than half the
population is earning a livelihood wholly or partially by agricultural
pursuits. The large number of farmers and the small amount of agricultural
land allotted to them has given rise to the most intensive cultivation,
which probably has no parallel in the world. Nearly five and a half
million families, or thirty million people, cultivate fifteen million
acres, which means less than three acres per family, and half an acre per
individual farmer. It is little wonder that the law of diminishing return
has long been operating, rendering the agricultural pursuit less and less
remunerative, driving farm hands to industry and other work. The average
daily wage of the farm laborer was 56 sen in 1917, while that of the
industrial laborer was 1 yen.[4]
In recent years the Government undertook a thorough examination of the
tillable land in the country and reported as a result that there is yet a
possibility of reclaiming about five million acres. By way of experiment,
the Government began, with the approval of the 41st Session of the Diet
(1918-19), to undertake the work of partial reclamation of seven hundred
thousand acres on a nine-year program, with an outlay of some four million
yen. It is yet uncertain how the enterprise will turn out; but it is
fairly doubtful, in view of the fact that already the land is utilized
almost to the limit of cultivation, including narrow back yards and rugged
hillsides, as well as sandy beach, whether the program can materially
increase the present amount of farm acreage.
Parallel with the effort to extend the tillable land, everything has been
done to increase the productivity of the soil under cultivation. Thanks to
the application of scientific methods in agriculture and the use of
fertilizer, the average yield of all crops per acre has increased since
1894 by about 35 per cent. But experts assert that owing to the excessive
employment of land the soil now indicates signs of exhaustion, and that
accordingly any further increase of productivity cannot be hoped for. On
the contrary, the tendency will be toward a gradual decrease of
productivity in the future. This is a grave forecast for Japan, and makes
that country dependent more and more upon the food supply from abroad. The
average yield of staple crops in Japan during the past few years
comprises: barley, nine million koku (a koku is approximately five
bushels); rye, seven million koku; wheat, five million koku; millet, four
million koku, and rice, the most important crop, fifty-two million koku.
The crops are far from being sufficient to feed a population of fifty-five
millions, and Japan buys annually millions of koku of staple food from
abroad. Taking rice, for instance, the average annual consumption is
fifty-eight million koku, which exceeds by six million koku the average
annual yield of Japan, so that the deficiency is made up by imports from
Korea, China, and India.
Naturally, the Japanese, being very good farmers and fond of agriculture,
and yet having so small a prospect of success at home, look with eager
eyes for an opportunity to cultivate land abroad. In the north there are
the vast plains of Manchuria; towards the south the fertile soil of
Australia; in the east, California and Hawaii appear to offer golden
opportunities for industrious farmers. Manchuria, however, turned out to
be too cold, and competition there with cheap Chinese labor proved
unprofitable. Australia, from the beginning, never welcomed the yellow
races. Only Hawaii and California seemed in all respects satisfactory for
Japanese emigration. Hence, large numbers of Japanese farmers migrated to
these places during the years between 1891 and 1907.
Population.
Another big factor of Japanese emigration is the overcrowded status of the
home population. Strangely, during the three centuries of national
isolation, Japan's population remained fairly static, varying only
slightly around twenty-six millions. A reasonable explanation of this
peculiar phenomenon may be found in the rigid social structure of
feudalism, which allowed no swelling of population beyond a certain
number. Malthusian factors, such as pestilence and famine, as well as
artificial means of control, operated in effectively thwarting the
increasing forces of population.
When, however, feudalism was at last destroyed and in its place were
established new forms of political and social systems which were much more
liberal and advanced, the population suddenly began to swell at a
tremendous rate. The advent of Occidental enlightenment which went far to
improve the economic conditions of the country, and hence the conditions
of living among the people, greatly encouraged the rapid multiplication of
the number of people. Within the last fifty years the population of Japan
has nearly doubled, increasing from thirty millions to fifty-five
millions. At the present time the population is increasing at the rate of
650,000 to 700,000 per annum within Japan proper alone. The census taken
on October 1, 1920, shows the total population of the Mikado's Empire as
totalling 77,005,510, of which that of Japan proper is 55,961,140.
The significance of Japan's population cannot be appreciated unless it is
considered in connection with her land. The total area of Japan proper we
have seen to be 147,655 square miles and the population close to
56,000,000. That is to say, the number of inhabitants per square mile is
380. This is rather a high figure when compared with that of other
countries. Germany with her dense population counted, in 1915, 319 per
square mile; France had 191, America 31 (1910), India and China, famous
for density, had populations enumerated respectively at 158 and 100. Great
Britain has rather a dense population (370 per square mile), but she has
vast colonies, the population of which is extremely thin. This comparison
of the number of people per square mile does not tell the true story until
the quality and resources of each square mile are also compared. It has
already been made clear that only 16 per cent., or fifteen million acres,
of the land of Japan proper is tillable. This gives only one quarter of an
acre of agricultural land per capita of population. In Great Britain
agricultural land occupies 77 per cent. of the total area; in Italy, 76
per cent.; in France, 70 per cent. and in Germany 65 per cent.
Industry.
Handicapped as she is in agriculture, and holding on the other hand a vast
and ever-increasing population, the best, in fact the only, policy for
Japan to follow has been to utilize her vast man-power for the development
of industry. Firmly convinced that the future of Japan depends solely on
her ability to stand in the world as an industrial nation, the far-sighted
statesmen of Japan long ago formulated plans for a steady industrial
expansion. These plans were furthered by Government subsidy and have been
faithfully carried out step by step by the authorities. The creation of a
vast merchant marine; the building of railroads throughout the country,
closely knitting all parts of the empire together; the enactment of a
carefully drafted protective tariff; the national and municipal
monopolization of public utilities and important industries; the
establishment of a stable financial system with facilities for financing
healthy enterprises; the establishment of technical schools throughout the
empire for the training of experts and skilled workmen, and thousands of
other remarkable undertakings were accomplished within a very short time
by the direct and indirect efforts of the State.
The people, too, were not behind in their devotion to the cause of making
Japan an industrial power. They toiled most willingly under all kinds of
disadvantages and hardships; they shouldered extortionate taxes with
smiling faces; they worked in unison, disregarding for the time being
petty private interests; they calmly and bravely met all privations and
adversities. There is little wonder indeed that Japan established herself
within only a few decades as an industrial nation of the first rank.
In order to get a general idea of Japan's industrial strides, a few
figures will perhaps suffice. Take, for instance, the number of factories.
There was not one factory, properly so-called, in the country at the time
of the Restoration in 1868; as late as 1885 there were but 496 industrial
companies, joint stock or partnership, with a total capital of seven
million yen. In the year 1900, however, there were 7000 typically modern
factories, and this number rapidly multiplied, subsequently reaching over
25,000, with billions of paid-up capital. The number of factory
operatives, too, correspondingly multiplied during that period. Less than
500,000 twenty years ago, they now total 1,500,000. The increase in the
output of production and multiplication of various kinds of industries has
been particularly phenomenal. In the textile industry the production has
increased more than 300 per cent. during the past twenty years, cotton
yarn having increased from 30,000,000 kan (one kan is approximately equal
to 8.27 pounds avoirdupois) in 1900 to 100,000,000 kan; and in the silk
textiles from 2,500,000 kan to 7,500,000 kan. In cloth fabrics, similarly
the value turned out in silk weaving increased from $42,000,000 to
$100,000,000; in cotton weaving from $30,000,000 to $200,000,000 between
the years mentioned. The corresponding increase of output has been
realized in almost all established industries, and the same ratio obtains
in the many new industries which have sprung up in recent years. Generally
speaking, the industry of Japan, which was established on a firm footing
by the year 1900, has trebled during the last twenty years.
The World War, too, by absorbing for military purposes all the energies of
the belligerent Powers in Europe and America, was greatly instrumental in
stimulating the industrial growth of Japan, who, after accomplishing her
allotted task at the initial stage of the great conflict, was thereafter
called upon by her Allies to do her utmost in supplying their urgent needs
in ships and industrial products.
The development of industry naturally accompanies a similar expansion in
commerce. The total amount of foreign trade, which started with the meager
sum of $13,000,000 in 1868, jumped to about $250,000,000 in 1900, and in
1920 reached $2,124,000,000. That is, within the past twenty years only,
Japan's foreign trade increased roughly ten times, and during the past
fifty years 163 times.
Yet, with all this remarkable development, the future of Japanese
manufactures does not allow unqualified optimism. In several important
respects the foundation of Japan's industrialism is seriously hampered. In
the first place, the supply of raw material is pitifully meager. With the
exception of silk, Japan has in store hardly any raw material worthy of
mention. She produces no wool or cotton and has only a limited store of
iron. With the exception of coal, in which alone she is fairly
independent--at least for the present--Japan depends for these
indispensable factors of modern industry mostly on foreign supply.
Scarcity of iron, in particular, is a notable weakness of Japan as an
industrial nation.
The many mistakes Japan made in her labor policy, which were the
inevitable outcome of the extreme difficulty she confronted in adjusting
the sudden transition from the Feudal regime to the modern industrial
stage, must also be counted as a cause in retarding the progress of her
industry. Due to exceedingly low wages, long working hours, and lack of
adequate protection of labor from exploitation, the man-power of Japan has
been greatly lavished and wasted. The paternal social systems inherited
from the feudal days long refused to allow the voice of the working
classes to be heard and to give them freedom to improve their status.
Strikes and labor unions, whatever their motive and character, have always
been frowned upon in Japan. It is by no means too much to say that the
present development of Japan's industry has been achieved largely by the
costly sacrifice of health and the rights of millions of laboring men and
women. Considering how costly was the present achievement of industry,
there remains some doubt as to how far Japan can carry on its progress in
the future.
It may seem that the development of industry must have brought a marked
improvement in the standard of living of the masses. Such, however, is not
the case. It has indeed immensely swelled the pockets of plutocrats, but
has not much benefited the rank and file. While the income of the lower
classes has not increased to any large extent, the cost of living has gone
up by leaps and bounds, aggravating the severity of their struggle.
When both farming and manufacturing failed successfully to cope with the
ever-increasing population, the only alternative for the Japanese was
emigration. Among the students, the talk of another alternative, namely
birth-control, is becoming a fad.
Social Factors.
Besides the economic reasons so far discussed there are social reasons
which induce Japanese youths to go abroad. Socially an old country like
Japan contains a vast accumulated crust of custom and tradition which
refuses to adapt itself to the changing conditions and ideals of the age,
and which, therefore, is objectionable to the younger generation who know
something of the value of freedom and democracy. Again, the national
conscription for military service is becoming increasingly distasteful to
the youths of individualistic inclination. It is but natural, in the face
of such powerful and numerous fetters which obstruct the free development
of lives and personalities, that the young people of Nippon should seek
opportunities abroad.
All these factors above described would not have constituted the effective
motive forces for Japanese emigration had it not been for the assumed
external advantages. Attractive narratives in which some of the new
countries, more especially America, were represented as places where
economic opportunities are really boundless and where an ideal state of
freedom and democracy prevails, took an exaggerated form in the
imagination. The glaring contrast which the visualized America presents
with the actual Japan stimulates the desire of young men to turn to
America and try their fortunes.