The Making of Japanese Settler Colonialism

The Making of Japanese Settler Colonialism

A New Beginning: Farmer Migration and Brazil
Although the Texas campaign was short-lived, it marked a turning point in theevolution of Japanese Malthusian expansionism. It opened up a new chapter inthe history ofJapan
’
smigration-driven expansionmarked by farmer migration.In response to anti-Japanese campaigns in North America and the deteriorationof Japan
’
s rural economy during the
󿬁
rst decades of the twentieth century,Japan
’
s migration-driven expansion underwent a major paradigm shift fromlabor migration to agrarian settlement.Due to their diverse social and political backgrounds, during the previousdecades Malthusian expansionists had imagined very different futures for Japan
’
s migrants
—
from businessmen to company employees, from plantationowners to farm laborers. The failure of the Texas campaign, however, con-vinced a growing number of Malthusian expansionists that becoming land-owning farmers was the only viable career path for Japanese migrants. This paradigm change was further cemented by the failed Japanese Americanenlightenment campaign in the 1910s and 1920s, a subject that will be exam-ined in the next chapter .ThefailureinTexasalsoforcedJapaneseexpansioniststoexplorealternativedestinations, leading them to cast their gaze on the
“
empty and rich lands
”
of Latin America. The initial architect of Texas campaign Uchida Sadatsuchi became the Japanese consul in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in 1907. Heimmediately found Brazil to be a more suitable place for Japanese migrationthan the United States due to a perceived absence of racism. He did not hesitateto support migration leader Mizuno Ry
ū
through diplomatic means, enablinghim to bring the
󿬁
rst of
󿬁
cial group of Japanese migrants to Brazil on the ship
Kasato-maru
in 1908.
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The growing Japanese communities in Brazil alsoattracted the attention of Saibara Seit
ō
. Disappointed by the rejection of hiscitizenship applicationintheUnitedStates,SaibaraentrustedhisTexanfarmtohissonandjoinedJapaneseexpansioninBrazilbystartingafarminthestateof São Paulo in 1918. While his farming career in São Paulo was not as successfulas expected, he moved north to the state of Pará in 1928 as an employee of Japan
’
s South America Colonization Company (Nanbei Takushoku KabushikiGaisha) to experiment with Japanese farming at the mouth of the Amazon
River.

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