[Japanese Americana]. [Hawaii]

[Collection of Seven Japanese-Language Textbooks Produced for Nisei Children in Hawaii]

[Japan: 1932-1940]. Seven textbooks, between 36 and 136pp., with four bound in color-printed pictorial wrappers with cloth backstrips, two bound in full brown cloth with gilt titles on spine and front cover, one in quarter tan cloth and plain boards with gilt titles on front board. Minor soiling and light chipping to a couple of books, overall minor edge wear. A well-preserved group. Very good. Item #4007

A fascinating collection of pre-World War II Japanese-language textbooks printed for Nisei students in Hawaii by the Hawaii Kyoiku Kai (Japanese Education Association of Hawaii). The books are mostly intended for middle school students, and perhaps slightly younger students in one instance; all but one of the books include numerous illustrations or reproduced photographs throughout, with the illustrations in one book appearing to target a somewhat younger audience. The one book without illustrations is a penmanship book. The seven books, all published in Japan by the Japanese Education Association of Hawaii, include the following: Moral Education Book for Teachers: Volume Five (1932); Japanese Penmanship Textbook for the 4th Grade/Middle School: Volume IV (1936); Japanese Reader: Volume I (1938); Japanese Reader: Volume XI (1939); Japanese Reader: Volume XII (1939); Japanese Reader. Middle School. Volume I (1940); and Japanese Reader. Middle School. Volume II (1940). Most of the pages in the 1938 Japanese Reader include Japanese manuscript notations in pencil, presumably added by a former student while engaging with the text.

"Once the Issei had decided to settle in Hawaii, they wanted their children to become good Americans of Japanese ancestry, with a command of both the English and Japanese languages and cultures. In the mid-1910s they came to feel the impact of the Americanization movement and feared that Hawaii's Japanese language schools would be attacked. Thus, in 1914, to cope with this pressure, the Hawaii Kyoiku Kai (Japanese Educational Association of Hawaii) was organized by the school principals and teachers to unify over 130 schools. In 1917, the Kyoiku Kai published their own textbooks with content suitable to Hawaii-born Nisei and decided to teach only the Japanese language and moral lessons, eliminating Japanese patriotic lessons and adding new lessons to encourage Japanese to become loyal Americans, who would nonetheless also cherish their Japanese heritage..." - Jon Davidann, Hawaii at the Crossroads of the U.S. and Japan Before the Pacific War, p.246.

Price: $2,400.00