History of Seattle Nikkei Immigrants from The North American Times
This series explores the history of pre-war Seattle Nikkei immigrants by researching old articles from the online archives of The North American Times, a joint project between the Hokubei Hochi [North American Post] Foundation and the University of Washington (UW) Suzzallo Library.
*The English version of this series is a collaboration between Discover Nikkei and The North American Post, Seattle’s bilingual community newspaper.
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The North American Times
The newspaper was first printed in Seattle on September 1, 1902, by publisher Kiyoshi Kumamoto from Kagoshima, Kyushu. At its peak, it had correspondents in Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Spokane, Vancouver, and Tokyo, with a daily circulation of about 9,000 copies. Following the start of World War II, Sumio Arima, the publisher at the time, was arrested by the FBI. The paper was discontinued on March 14, 1942, when the incarceration of Japanese American families began. After the war, the North American Times was revived as The North American Post.
Stories from this series
Chapter 13 (Part 2)—Nisei Dual Citizenship and Marriage Issues
June 12, 2023 • Ikuo Shinmasu
Read Chapter 13 (Part 1) >> PERSPECTIVES ON NISEI IN THE UNITED STATES I would like to introduce interesting articles about how Nisei in the U.S. were viewed by Japanese in Japan and the American public as well as how Nisei in the U.S. viewed Japan. 1. A Viewpoint of a Japanese Female Student on Nisei in the United States “Her View on Nisei – Perception of Japanese Living in the United States to Their Homeland is From Meiji and …
Chapter 13 (Part 1)—Nisei Dual Citizenship and Marriage Issues
June 11, 2023 • Ikuo Shinmasu
In the last chapter, I discussed Japanese language schools. This chapter features the issues of dual citizenship and marriage that the Nisei faced as they came of age. When the Nisei were born, their Issei parents submitted a birth certificate to the United States. Many registered births at the Japanese Consulate at the same time. Therefore, many Nisei held dual nationality. When the Nisei came of age, however, they had to confront the compelling decisions of which nationality to keep and/or …
Chapter 12 (Part 2): Nisei Education in Japanese Schools
April 27, 2023 • Ikuo Shinmasu
Read Chapter 12 (Part 1) >> PROBLEMS OF TEXTBOOKS One of the North American Times1 articles (Feb. 13, 1919 issue) talks about the discuission about the textbooks that should be used at the Seattle Japanese school. There has been discussion on the need for textbook editing and compilation at the Seattle Japanese School. After a series of meetings and discussions by the educational affairs committee, and with the opinions of teachers at Japanese schools in different parts of Washington State …
Chapter 12 (Part 1): Nisei Education in Japanese Schools
April 26, 2023 • Ikuo Shinmasu
Many Nisei were born as a result of picture marriages, which I wrote about in the last chapter of this series. Providing Japanese education for America-born children thus became an important mission of the Japanese community in Seattle. In this chapter, I will write about the Seattle Japanese School that was founded for the Japanese language education of the Nisei. ESTABLISHMENT OF SEATTLE JAPANESE SCHOOL In 1902, the Seattle Nihonjin-kai (Japanese Association) established the Seattle Nihonjin-kai Affiliated Elementary School as …
Chapter 11 (Part 2) Picture-Bride Marriages on the Rise
Jan. 6, 2023 • Ikuo Shinmasu
Read Chapter 11 (Part 1) >> HIGH BIRTH RATE OF JAPANESE In the column “The Rise and Fall of Main Street” (From the Jan. 1, 1939 issue), which I introduced in Chapter 11 - Part 1, Akatonbo Nakamura describes the sharp increase of newborns, based on the number of Japanese reported by Seattle Teikoku (Imperial) Consulate General of Japan within its boundary. “After 1910, a period of about ten years was the golden era for midwives, with the number of …
Chapter 11 (Part 1) Picture-Bride Marriages on the Rise
Jan. 5, 2023 • Ikuo Shinmasu
The last chapter reviewed the history of The North American Times. In this chapter, I will introduce articles from 1918 to about 1920 on marriage through picture brides which peaked around 1910. Beginning about 1900, the anti-Japanese movement in America began to get intense. In response, the Japanese government concluded the Gentlemen’s Agreement with the U.S. in 1908. This agreement imposed restrictions on Japanese immigration to America. Since it also made it difficult for Japanese workers in America to return temporarily to …
