The U.S. Census Bureau has always highlighted American diversity 

through its decennial snapshots of the population. As the United 

States grew and the population became more diverse, the Census 

Bureau’s workforce adapted to represent the country’s people and 

needs. As immigration from non-European countries increased in 

the 19th century, the Census Bureau tried to hire enumerators that 

lived in the neighborhoods and spoke the language. Others 

became a part of the operations in Washington, DC. From the first 

surges of Chinese immigration into California in the 19th century, 

immigrants of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage have long 

contributed to the Census Bureau’s mission, both at headquarters 

and in the field.

Yukichi Mikami was born around 1874 and raised in the Yamanashi 

prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu. Yukichi started 

his education in a private school under the direction of Nakamura 

Masnao, a noted scholar and educator. In 1887, he began studying

at the prestigous Keio University in Tokyo, where he resided for 

three years. Yukichi worked for the Anglo-Japanese Industrial 

society of Tokyo before moving to Hawaii around 

1903 to work as an editor at a newly formed 

progressive Japanese newspaper, the Shin Nippon. 

He continued this work at various Japanese 

newspapers including the Jiyu Shinbun and the 

Hawaii Shinpo, where he was an editor. Yukichi also 

worked with a large group of Hawaiian industries 

and manufacturers, participated in Japanese social 

organizations, and through these activities, became 

one of the most reliable Japanese-English translators on the islands.

After Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1898, the 

Census Bureau first enumerated the islands during

the 1900 Census and counted 154,001. However, 

communication difficulties (56.6 percent of the 

population over the age of 10 did not speak 

English), exacerbated by a plague outbreak, had 

significantly delayed the counting. Additionally, 

because previous governments had used censuses 

for taxation, there was a deep cultural bias against 

enumerators, which often erupted into violence. 

The Census Bureau recognized that it had to do a 

better job reaching the Hawaiian people and 

educating them on the importance of 

participation ahead of the 1910 Census.

Mikami’s 1910 Census.

 

Giving an International Voice to the Census

The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI) 

28 July 1912.

Mikami and the staff of the Hawaii Shinpo, c. 1910.

The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI)

2 January 1910.
To this end, a group of locals representing the 

many languages spoken on Hawaii assembled 

under Dr. Victor Clark, the special agent in charge 

of the census. The group created lessons in various 

languages to disseminate at schools and other 

public areas in order to familiarize the people with 

the population, agriculture, and manufacturing 

schedules.

Yukichi became the linguist for the Japanese 

population, which comprised 42.3 percent of the 

total population. The first necessary step was 

gaining permission for a noncitizen to work as a 

special agent in the census—according to directions given to the supervisors, only citizens were 

supposed to be eligible. Due to Yukichi’s proven interpreting skills, the Census Bureau quickly 

granted this exception. His business contacts also proved useful when he worked as one of the four 

agents conducting the survey of manufactures.

 

The 1910 outreach campaign was successful, 

although it did not completely ameliorate local 

animosity towards the census takers. Following 

Yukichi’s work as a translator and special agent of 

the census, he continued in his role as editor of 

the Hawaii Shinpo until 1911, when he went to 

work full time as the secretary of the Japanese 

Merchants Association. Throughout this period,

Yukichi continued to work to improve ties 

between Japan and the United States, often

hosting parties for the officials of each country 

and working in the community to highlight 

Japanese culture by supporting events like the 

Japanese Lantern Festival. In order to convince

businessmen and manufacturers of the importance of Japan as a trading partner, the Japanese 

consulate gave him an area to set up a manufacturers’ display. He also traveled extensively to 

mainland America in order to spread his message of friendship and cooperation between the two 

nations—an impressive and time-consuming task when air travel was uncommon. 

In 1916, at the age of 42, Yukichi quit his job as secretary of 

the Japanese Merchants Association and announced his 

intention to sail to New York enroute to Yale where he would 

study economoics for four years. The results of this trip are 

unknown, but Yukichi sailed back to Hawaii in late 1917, and 

returned to working as a newspaper consultant in 

conjunction with the Japanese embassy. Yukichi’s story 

becomes harder to follow through the historical records at 

this point. Indeed, neither he nor his wife appear in any 

census, travel, or public documents after this date, so it is 

possible that they moved back to Japan. Yukichi does appear 

one more time, in 1924, when he participated in a special 

edition of the English language newspaper, Japan Times, 

where he once again voiced his opinion that the two 

countries could best benefit by working together. 

Throughout his work as a journalist, businessman, 

interpreter, and census taker, Yukichi continuously worked 

towards a goal of harmony between neighbors and nations.

Yukichi, second from the left, touring Oregon with 

Japanese officials and journalists in 1917.

The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland, OR) 21 November 1917.

The Hawaiian Star (Honolulu, HI) 3 February 1910.

Japan Times (Tokyo, Japan) 1 October 1924.

HB-17-0012