2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Japan's shrimp trawl fisheries in the Gulf of California and the trilateral relations between Japan, Mexico, and the United States in the 1930s
| Project/Area Number |
13610448
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
History of Europe and America
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| Research Institution | Shizuoka University |
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Principal Investigator |
SUGIYAMA Shigeru Shizuoka University, Shizuoka University, Faculty of Informatics, Associate Professor (60303525)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2003
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| Keywords | Pacific Rim Studies / History of U.S.-Japan Relations / History of Mexico-Japan Relations / History of U.S.-Mexican Relations / History of Immigration / History of Fisheries / Shrimp Fisheries / Tuna Fisheries |
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| Research Abstract |
This research explores social relations of Japanese immigrants in fisheries in the Gulf of California and along the coast of southern California and Baja California in the 1930s with an emphasis on the history of trilateral relations between Japan, Mexico, and the United States. This research argues four-fold through field research in Los Angeles area and multilateral archival research in fisheries, which researchers in immigration history have not examined.
First, while competing and cooperating with fishermen from various sea areas in Europe, Japanese immigrants introduced or synchronized their techniques to state-of-art fishery technologies in Japan. They also utilized large capital of American canneries and Japanese investors. Their social relations with other groups stood equal in southern California. In Mexico, broker-type immigrants in fisheries also gained stronger social positions through a role of liaison between Japanese trawler fleets and the Mexican government. As a consequ
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ence, they could identify themselves as equal or leading social positions vis-a-vis their counterparts.
Second, the demands and willingness in host countries for modern fishery technologies facilitated activities of Japanese immigrants.
Third, the conspicuous presence of the Japanese interests in Mexico prompted the U.S. government to implement a government-sponsored technical assistance program through Public Law 63 when relations between Japan and the United States were deteriorating, particularly, after the break of the Sino-Japanese war.
Lastly, after the oil expropriation in 1938 and the fall of France in May 1940, the Mexican government had to rely on the United States for the assistance, which the Japanese interests no longer could provide because of the war in Asia. The ultimate withdrawal of the Japanese fishing fleets undermined leverage that the Japanese immigrants had, and the outbreak of war between Japan and the United States eliminated their social standing in fisheries in the both side of the boarder. Less
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