Japanese Immigrant’s Trunk
date: label: Date made
content: late 1800s
label: cane sugar industry in Hawaii
content: 1850-1950s
label: owner immigrated from Japan to Hawaii
content: 1902
name: label: trunk owner
content: Sugimoto, Kumataro
notes: label: Description
content: For decades, Hawai`i was a primary destination for Japanese immigrants. The cane sugar industry, which dominated Hawaiian life from the 1850s to the 1950s, recruited tens of thousands of laborers from Japan. Immigration increased after the United States annexed Hawai`i in 1898, and continued despite restrictions on Japanese immigration to the U.S. mainland. Japanese workers endured severe and unequal conditions in Hawai`i, which was controlled by white American business interests. Still, Japanese immigrants established a strong and lasting community that supported their families and maintained their cultural traditions.
label: Description
content: The need for cheap labor forced plantations to recruit contract workers from China, Japan, Korea, the Pacific Islands, and the Philippines, as well as Puerto Rico, Europe, and California. The unique racial and ethnic mix in contemporary Hawai`i is due to this history. The largest group of workers came from Japan. Unlike other Asian groups, the Japanese included significant numbers and percentages of women workers.
label: Description
content: This trunk belonged to Kumataro Sugimoto, who immigrated to Hawai`i from Kumamoto, Japan, about 1902. After hearing stories of quick wealth, Kumataro left for Hawai`i to seek his fortune. Later, he brought his sons to help him on the plantation. One of his sons, Kichizo, married an American-born Japanese woman and started a family in Hawai`i. Inscriptions on the trunk include Sugimoto, the family name, and Hawai`i, the destination. This was a common practice for identification on any long voyage. This trunk or <I>toronko</I>, made of leather and paper, carried kimono and other personal belongings. Immigrants also carried <I>Yanagi-gori</I>, suitcases made of willow branches, and others made of bamboo and rattan, as well as cloth bags.
topic: label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Asian Pacific American Business
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Transportation
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content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Barbara Kawakami
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0132.17
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0132.17
label: accession number
content: 2005.0132
objectType: label: Object Name
content: trunk
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brown (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 23 in x 36 in x 21 in; 58.42 cm x 91.44 cm x 53.34 cm