Overview

Adding a dimension to the history of U.S.-Japan relations, this book reveals that an unofficial movement to promote good feeling between the United States and Japan in the 1920s and 1930s only narrowly failed to achieve its goal: to modify the so-called anti-Japanese exclusion clause of the 1924 U.S. immigration law. It is well known that this clause caused great indignation among the Japanese, and scholars have long regarded it as a major contributing factor in the final collapse of U.S.-Japan relations in 1941. Not generally known, however, is that beginning immediately after the enactment of the law, private individuals sought to modify the exclusion clause in an effort to stabilize relations between the two countries. The issue was considered by American and Japanese delegates at almost all subsequent U.S.-Japan diplomatic negotiations, including the 1930 London naval talks and the last-minute attempts to prevent war in 1941.

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9780804738132

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Reviews

[Hirobe's] account of the conversation on both sides of the Pacific regarding Japanese immigration gains particular depth and persuasiveness from his intelligent citation of newspaper and magazine articles, including not only the mainstream American and

Izumi Hirobe's carefully researched book details the efforts, ultimately unsuccessful, of missionaries and businessmen to modify Japanese exclusion from 1924 through the 1930s. . . . Hirobe's account is most interesting as a study of the complex entanglements produced by dynamics of regional, national, and international politics. -- American Historical Review

The book thoroughly chronicles and documents the polemics between the pro-Japanese and anti-Japanese forces regarding the advisability of the Japanese Exclusion Act. -the Journal of American History Izumi Hirobe's carefully researched book details the efforts, ultimately unsuccessful, of missionaries and businessmen to modify Japanese exclusion from 1924 through the 1930s... Hirobe's account is most interesting as a study of the complex entanglements produced by dynamics of regional, national, and international politics. -American Historical Review Izumi Hirobe's work has immeasurably extended our understanding of this critical period. -Journal of the West

[Hirobe's] account of the conversation on both sides of the Pacific regarding Japanese immigration gains particular depth and persuasiveness from his intelligent citation of newspaper and magazine articles, including not only the mainstream American and Japanese press but also Chinese, African-American, and Catholic journals. Hirobe also is skilled at describing the climate of opinion at given moments. He provides a particularly evocative depiction of the hostility in Japan engendered by the 1924 law's enactment. -- The Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Author Information

Izumi Hirobe is Associate Professor at Nagoya University.

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