Tsurukichi Tanaka

On the morning of May 30, Meiji 20 (1887), a "man of the islands" visited the Fukuzawa residence. This was Tsurukichi Tanaka, the subject of this article. Fukuzawa held "various meetings" with Tanaka and Kakugoro Inoue (who supported the Korean Enlightenment Party, including Kim Ok-gyun, under Fukuzawa) and sent a letter to Michita Nakamura—who has also appeared in this series—stating his desire to consult directly about the matter. Who exactly was this man, Tsurukichi Tanaka?

Tanaka was born in Ansei 2 (1855) in Azabu Iikura as the eldest son of Umanojo Tanaka, a shogunal retainer. He was a rowdy neighborhood bully, and his parents struggled to manage him.

Later, at the age of 11, Tanaka apparently began to think with a child's heart that his parents would not have to suffer if he were not there. He suddenly ran away from home and visited an acquaintance in Yokohama. It was Keio 1 (1865); seven years had passed since the signing of the Ansei Five-Power Treaties, and foreign merchant houses lined the streets of Yokohama. Tanaka entered a merchant house and began working as an apprentice.

One day, the captain of an American merchant ship visited the merchant house. Seeing Tanaka, the captain asked if he would like to go to America. It is unknown why he invited him. However, Tanaka accepted without knowing anything about America and departed Yokohama as the captain's apprentice.

After stopping in Australia, the merchant ship entered San Francisco. Tanaka wished to work there and parted ways with the captain, becoming an apprentice at the home of a shoe company president. While working for a monthly salary of 20 dollars, he also attended night school. By Meiji 4 (1871), the 17-year-old Tanaka had managed to save 500 dollars.

At the end of that same year, the Iwakura Mission arrived in San Francisco. The mission informed the Japanese residents about the Meiji Restoration and preached that those who acquired skills abroad would succeed upon returning to Japan. Tanaka was inspired by these words and took action to acquire technical skills.

Tanaka set his sights on the salt production business. The Alameda Salt Works in San Francisco was producing high-quality solar salt, and Tanaka visited the president of the salt company, wishing to become a craftsman there. The president refused, fearing the leakage of production methods, but Tanaka persisted, vowing that he required no wages and would not disclose the methods he learned. Eventually, he was admitted. His hard work was gradually recognized, and by Meiji 12 (1879), he was receiving a monthly salary of 80 dollars.

During this time, Kiyomatsu Maeda, who ran a dairy company called Hokushinsha, traveled from afar to visit. In Tokyo after the fall of the Shogunate, some ruined samurai residences were being converted into ranches, and Hokushinsha was one of them. Maeda had traveled to America to study dairy farming and visited Tanaka after hearing about him. Finding common ground in their goal of returning to Japan with skills, Maeda proposed starting a salt business in Japan and offered to invest. Tanaka was moved, but he had promised the president to keep the production methods secret. Upon negotiating directly with the president, the president issued a license for the production method and supported his return. In December of that year, Tanaka set foot in Yokohama for the first time in 14 years.

Tanaka searched for a suitable location for salt production and established a testing site in Fukagawa, Tokyo. However, the night before he intended to draw in seawater, a violent storm struck, and the facilities collapsed. Maeda offered support again, but Tanaka declined, saying he felt too guilty, and set out on a journey across the country to find a place where solar salt could be produced.

He eventually arrived in Tokushima. When he tried making salt, it was of such high quality that the surprised district head encouraged other salt makers to learn Tanaka's methods. However, they not only clung to traditional methods but also spread malicious rumors about Tanaka out of jealousy, and Tanaka was eventually forced to leave Tokushima. He reached Tokyo in March of Meiji 14 and made a living as a milk deliveryman under Maeda for a while.

The year before Tanaka returned to the capital, Meiji 13 (1880), was the year the Ogasawara Islands were transferred from the government to Tokyo Prefecture. Tokyo Prefecture was to formulate a development plan, and Tanaka and Maeda stepped forward. They proposed starting livestock farming on a deserted island in Ogasawara and using the profits to build a salt works. Although rejected twice, Governor Michiyuki Matsuda recognized their enthusiasm, and it was decided that Tanaka would first travel to find a suitable site. After finding Yomejima Island north of Chichijima, Tanaka returned to Tokyo briefly. With Matsuda's permission, he arrived at Yomejima with five breeding cattle, 20 pigs, rice, wheat, and a hunting rifle. Since Maeda was to send supplies from Tokyo, Tanaka landed alone.

Life on the deserted island, which began in September of Meiji 14, was a series of hardships; first, 15 pigs died of disease. Food supplies were soon exhausted, and he once contracted enteritis from eating fish. Nevertheless, Tanaka did not give up. When he extracted whale oil from a washed-up whale carcass and sold it on Chichijima, it fetched 200 yen. He used those funds to go to Tokyo to buy cattle and pigs, and for four years he devoted himself to livestock farming back on Yomejima. The cattle and pigs increased steadily, and he expanded not only to Yomejima but also to Mukojima, Nakodojima, Anejima, Imotojima, and Meijima. No longer troubled by food shortages, talk finally turned to building a salt works on Chichijima. Tokyo Prefecture also considered support for Tanaka, and the Prefectural Assembly passed a resolution to send 300 prisoners from the Ichigaya Prison as laborers.

It was the Jiji Shinpo that introduced Tanaka's life story to the world. From January 15 to February 12, Meiji 19 (1886), it was serialized under the title "The Little Robinson Crusoe of the Orient." The background of the serialization is as follows: In December of Meiji 18, the warship Nisshin stopped at Ogasawara, and the military officers who met Tanaka were impressed by his high aspirations. Returning to Tokyo, a captain who wanted to introduce Tanaka's story to the world contributed an outline to the Jiji Shinpo, and a reporter fashioned it into a series.

The response to this series seems to have been significant; on February 5, while the serialization was still ongoing, six former Aizu samurai departed Tokyo to participate in Tanaka's salt business. Booklets summarizing the series were published by various publishers, and Tanaka frequently appeared in biographies for children published in the early Meiji 20s. He also became a subject for nishiki-e (colored woodblock prints). The Sakaiza theater in Kyoto adapted the series for the stage under the title "The Moon of Yomejima in the South Seas," and Otojiro Kawakami appeared in it before he became famous for the "Oppekepe-bushi" song.

So, was Tanaka's salt business a success? Some point out that it failed. Solar salt production is suited for dry regions like San Francisco, and Ogasawara, which is hit directly by typhoons, is certainly difficult. One wonders how Tanaka felt when he returned to the capital in Meiji 20.

  Image Source: Tokyo Museum Collection

Let us return to the beginning of this article. Tanaka, who returned to the capital from Ogasawara on the night of May 29, Meiji 20 (1887), visited Fukuzawa the following morning. The fact that he visited Fukuzawa immediately upon his return suggests a prior friendship. At that time, Fukuzawa was working toward the realization of his "Theory of Emigration" with his disciples Inoue, Nakamura, and Orie Kai (who founded the trading company Kai Shoten in San Francisco in Meiji 18).

The Theory of Emigration had already been discussed in "Guide to travel in the western world" (Keio 3), citing America as a place where immigrants thrive. From around Meiji 17, it was frequently expanded upon in the Jiji Shinpo, but it did not simply preach to the impoverished that they could make a living by going abroad. For example, in the editorial "Explanation of the Theory of Emigration" on April 20 of that year, he stated, "Once our people emigrate to another country, it not only brings prosperity to those people, but the relationship between our country and the country of immigration becomes increasingly close, inevitably creating a bond like that of brothers." He argued that Japanese emigration would lead to good diplomatic relations between the countries involved, characterizing the importance of emigration from the perspective of national interest.

Furthermore, Fukuzawa did not believe it was enough to simply send emigrants. He felt that if they were to take jobs away from Americans, an anti-Japanese movement would be inevitable. To prevent this, he believed the emigrants themselves had to start businesses. He aimed for long-term, socially rooted emigration rather than short-term migrant labor, specifically stating that the best course was to buy land in America and engage in farming. Additionally, as Kai, a collaborator, stated in a letter to Tokichi Yanagida (who opened the Hokumonsha Shinjuku under Fukuzawa's advice), "The people sent first should be as physically strong and young as possible, so that when a large number are sent out later, they can serve as leaders." It appears he had a cautious plan to send an advance party to lay the groundwork.

That advance party of about 15 people departed Japan on June 9, Meiji 20. They planned to purchase land on the outskirts of San Francisco using 10,000 dollars jointly invested by Fukuzawa, Inoue, and Nakamura. Inoue was the person in charge, and Tanaka was also among the members of the advance party.

Tanaka was likely chosen because he had the experience of surviving on a deserted island in Ogasawara and was the kind of "physically strong young person" and "leader type" that Kai had described. It may also be because Fukuzawa valued Tanaka's frontier spirit. Looking back, whether it was going to America, salt production, or his life in Ogasawara, Tanaka had challenged uncharted territories. He was a fitting choice for the advance party of an emigration project where no one knew what might happen.

Furthermore, seeing that Tanaka departed for America just ten days after returning to the capital from Ogasawara, it seems his return was not due to the failure of the salt business, but rather to participate in this emigration. Is it too much to speculate that Fukuzawa and others had invited Tanaka beforehand to realize the Theory of Emigration, and Tanaka had responded?

The group that arrived in San Francisco purchased land and began fruit cultivation. Since the results were good, Inoue returned to Japan temporarily at the end of that year to consult with Fukuzawa and Nakamura about expanding the business. However, at that time, Inoue was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Gapsin Coup (Meiji 17) prior to his departure for America, and he was ultimately unable to return to America. According to the "Biography of Master Kakugoro Inoue," Fukuzawa decided to end the project, and after the emigration group sold the land and houses, they disbanded and went their separate ways.

There are various theories regarding Tanaka's life thereafter. One story says he avoided contact with other Japanese and worked as an accounting assistant at a theater in San Francisco, while another says he introduced railroad laborer jobs to Japanese immigrants arriving in San Francisco.

Tanaka passed away in Taisho 14 (1925). It may be true that he did not leave behind a great social legacy. However, his grandson, a third-generation Japanese-American, reportedly became the first physician of that generation. Tanaka lived rooted in American society and passed that foundation on to his children and grandchildren. While it might be a bit of a stretch, I believe Tanaka can be cited as one of the individuals who embodied Fukuzawa's Theory of Emigration.