My Niiya Grandfather in Hawaii

According to my grandmother, my grandfather came to Hawaii in 1907 when he was 19 years old as a student. He was born in the Kinomoto neighborhood of Kumano in Mie Prefecture on the coast of Japan. His childhood story is here.

My grandfather, my mother and my brother in Pahoa 1967

My grandfather’s brother Tokujiro died without a will in 1903 but most of the estate was settled by 1907. Tokujio’s daughter Shizuko would have been about nine years old. I’m not sure if my grandfather had met his brother’s family before he sailed to Hawaii.

At the time, there was much anti-Japan sentiment in the United States and on February 15, 1907, (four days before my grandfather landed in Hawaii) the Gentlemen’s Agreement restricted immigration from Japan to California and President Roosevelt convinced Japan to issue passports to only those going to Hawaii.

In 1880, 148 Japanese lived in the United States. Japanese laborers were not allowed to leave Japan until after 1884 when an agreement was signed with Hawaiian sugar plantations. In 1890, there were 10,219 Japanese men in Hawaii and 2,319 women. In 1900, 47,508 men and 13,608 women. In 1906, 17,509 Japanese arrived in Hawaii, in 1907, 14,742, and in 1908, 4,202 and in 1909, 1,310. Japanese immigration began in 1885. In 1910, 54,784 men and 24,891 women.

My Grandfather is listed on a passenger manifest (pictured) as Tomoshiro…