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A VITAL SOURCE OF LABOR
The Gannenmono started the migration of Japanese
laborers to Hawaii, opening the door for thousands more
to follow. Here are some of the key dates:
1860: Japanese delegation visits Hawaii; Kamehameha IV
proposes friendship treaty.
1862: U.S. Congress passes “anti-coolie act” restricting
Chinese labor trade.
1861-65: U.S. Civil War boosts sugar imports from Hawaii.
1865: American businessman Eugene Van Reed is
appointed Hawaii’s consul general in Japan and asked to
recruit 350 to 400 plantation workers.
May 1868: Tokugawa shogunate surrenders and imperial
government is restored, launching the Meiji Era of
modernization in Japan.
May 17, 1868: 149 contract workers recruited by Van Reed
depart Yokohama aboard the Scioto.
June 19, 1868: Scioto sails into Honolulu Harbor.
December 1869: Japanese envoys investigate sugar
workers’ grievances.
Jan. 11, 1870: Hawaii and Japan reach agreement to send
40 Gannenmono back to Japan and allow the others to
remain in Hawaii after their contracts if they wish.
The British ship Scioto left Yokohama Bay on
May 17, 1868, carrying the Gannenmono, the first
Japanese contract laborers to arrive in Hawaii.
Number Number of Amount paid
of laborers days at sea by employer for
each laborer
SHIPPING OUT
Soon after arriving at Honolulu
Harbor on June 19, 1868, they
were dispersed to four islands.
Here’s where they went:
Jan. 29, 1870: 40 Gannenmono leave Honolulu to return
home aboard R.W. Wood.
1871: Upon completing contracts, 13 workers return to
Japan, 40 eventually sail to the U.S. mainland and 50 stay
in Hawaii. Japan would end further migration of contract
laborers.
1881: King Kalakaua visits Japan to seek closer ties and
approval for more migrant labor.
1885: 950 contract laborers enter Hawaii under an
immigration treaty with Japan, followed over the next
nine years by about 29,000 more.
1924: U.S. Immigration Act of 1924 prohibits Asian
immigrants; Japanese comprise 40 percent of Hawaii’s
population.
ILLUSTRATION BY MARTHA HERNANDEZ / MHERNANDEZ@STARADVERTISER.COM