Acknowledgments

To condense the fruits of a decade-long research project into a book is a challenging task, yet it is perhaps a more difficult one to express in only a few paragraphs even a fraction of my gratitude for the love, friendship, company, and support that I have received. Frederick Dickinson has been the most staunch and patient supporter of my research. As my mentor in the doctoral program at Penn, he transformed not only my knowledge of Japan and Asia but also my understanding of history as an academic discipline. He read every word I wrote at every stage of my graduate study and dissertation writing, and I have benefited tremendously from his encouragement and insights. Through his broad knowledge, passionate dedication, and indomitable spirit as a scholar, his kindness and generosity as a teacher, and his charming personality and great sense of humor as a friend, Fred has guided a wide-eyed student onto the career path of a historian.

At Penn, I was equally blessed with the opportunity to study under Eiichiro Azuma. It was Eiichiro’s incisive research about the histories of Japanese Americans and modern Japan as well as his incredible insights into transnational history that had drawn me to the exciting field of migration history in the first place. He shared with me not only his own collections and academic networks but also his knowledge and wisdom. In more ways than one, this book would not have been possible without him. I also had the incredible fortune to have studied under Takashi Fujitani at Doshisha University in Japan when I conducted my dissertation research there in 2011. With his uncompromising commitment to social justice and critical thinking, Tak gave me a key to the boundless riches of postcolonial studies. He showed me what it means to be a socially responsible scholar.

Similarly, with great generosity and enthusiasm, Ayako Kano introduced me to exciting debates in Japanese feminism and pushed me to refine my arguments with her insightful critiques. Siyen Fei provided me with rigorous training in both teaching and research. I have always benefited from her knowledge and encouragement, both as a graduate student and as a professional academic. At Penn, I am also indebted to Peter Holquist, Kathy Peiss, Jennifer Amyx, the late Michael Katz, Lynn Lees, Rachel Troop, Heather Sharkey, and Eve Powell. All of them have shaped the development of this book in their own ways. My approach to Asian history was also profoundly influenced by the stimulating discussions in Janet Chen’s seminar on modern China at Princeton.

At MSU, I thank Charles Keith, Ethan Segal, Naoko Wake, Aminda Smith, Siddharth Chandra, and Catherine Ryu. As my fellow Asianists, they warmly welcomed me as their colleague and gave a junior scholar the most enormous amount of support one could possibly imagine. I also want to thank Walter Hawthorne, Pero Dagbovie, LaShawn D. Harris, Liam Brockey, Lewis Siegelbaum, Helen Veit, Leslie Moch, David Wheat, Edward Murphy, Peter Beattie, and Lisa Fine in the History Department for their kind support during the writing of this book. I am grateful for the insights of Jonathan Glade during our writing group discussions as well as the generous financial support from the MSU Asian Studies Center. A TOME award from the MSU College of Arts and Letters is allowing this book to be published in an open-access format.

The book workshop hosted by MSU’s History Department on my behalf was a critical step in the development of this book. I want to thank Louise Young, Takashi Fujitani, Charles Keith, Naoko Wake, and Aminda Smith for their participation. Their comments and suggestions were enormously helpful as I sharpened my arguments. I also want to thank Jordan Sand, Jun Uchida, Ken Ruoff, Mariko Tamanoi, Katsuya Hirano, Laura Nancy, Noriko Horiguchi, Shellen Wu, Andrea Geiger, Hyung Gu Lynn, Pedro Iaccobelli Delpiano, Lori Watt, and John Swanson for offering their insights during various stages of my writing. I thank Michael Bourdaghs for generously sharing his sources with me.

In Japan, I would like to thank Ryō Yoshida for kindly sponsoring my one-year research stay at Doshisha University and adopting me as his advisee. I am extremely fortunate to have studied the history of Japanese American migration under his meticulous guidance. Jun’ichi Isomae at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies and Toyomi Asano at Waseda University inspired me to bring more depth and complexity to this project. I appreciate the kindness of Yukuji Okita and Makoto Hara at Doshisha, who brought me to their seminars. I would also like to thank Brian Hayashi for generously sharing his personal collections and offering valuable suggestions, and I thank Rumi Yasutake, Hironori Watari, and Ken’ichi Yasuoka for their helpful comments.

Conducting transnational research is quite impossible without the support of many librarians, archivists, and curators. It is not possible to list all of the individuals who have kindly helped me in each archive, library, and museum that I visited around the Pacific Rim, but I want to give special thanks to Naoki Tanaka at the Nippon Rikkō Kai, Masaki Fukui at Nagano Prefecture Museum of History, Eduardo Kobayashi at Museu Histórico da Imigração Japonesa no Brasil, Tokiko Y. Bazzell and Sachiko Iwabuchi at the University of Hawaiʻi, Kaoru “Kay” Ueda at Stanford, Tomoko Bialock at UCLA, Molly Des Jardin at Penn, Keiko Yokota-Carter at the University of Michigan, as well as Mary Jo Zeter and Xian Wu at MSU.

It is my true fortune to have the brilliant copyediting assistance of Tian Huang. I can never thank her enough for the insights, passion, and perseverance that she has put into every page of this book. I am also very grateful for Ross Yelsey at Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University, and Lucy Rhymer and Lisa Carter at Cambridge University Press, who kindly guided me through the entire publication process with care and patience.

Since I began my pursuit of a PhD in Japanese history a decade ago, I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded and supported by wonderful friends. It is perhaps impossible to express the extent of my gratitude to Jiexi Zheng, Nagatomi Hirayama, Leander Seah, Rachel Epstein, Sheng Mao, Minlei Ye, Yuanfei Wang, Jamyung Choi, Robert Heywood, Victor Seow, Nathan Hopson, Kimura Mizuka, and many others for their enduring friendship. They have shared my joys and sorrows and given me the strength needed to complete this book.

I would like to thank my parents for always having faith in me. My love to Noella. Her arrival in this world has given me so much joy as a father. Finally, I dedicate this book to my dear wife Eileen, who has illuminated my life with her boundless love and support.