[Japanese Americana]. [Mexico]

Iminchi Jijo 22: Mekishiko Jijo [Immigration Affairs #22: Mexican Affairs]

Tokyo: Gaimusho Tsushokyoku [Ministry of Foreign Affairs], 1929. [2],2,74pp., plus three photographic plates and a large folding map. Original printed wrappers. Small quarter-sized hole in front wrapper, old paper clip stains to rear wrappers, else minor wear and dust-soiling. Very good. Item #5532

A rare overview of Mexico authored by the Japanese consulate, promoting potential emigration to Mexico for Japanese business prospects, farmers, and the like. The text includes chapters detailing the topography, climate, population, racial composition, historical background, language and customs, religion, education, political and financial affairs, newspapers and magazines, banks, industry, foreign trade, transportation, important cities, and more. Notable chapters focus on the situation of Japanese nationals in Mexico, as well as "foreigners" already there and the state of travel to the country. The text is supplemented with three photographic plates and a large folding map of Mexico. The plates feature an overhead view of Mexico City, a shot outside Chapultepec, Mexican monuments, and two portraits of Mexican women (a "Mexican native flower seller" and a Mexican dancer). The large folding map measures approximately 29.5 x 38 inches, and features the whole of Mexico, with all of the text printed in Spanish. Titled simply "Mapa General de la Republica Mexicana" and dated "1928 Mexico," the map features each Mexican state printed in a different color. The top and bottom of the map also show parts of the southern United States borderlands and the northern extreme of Honduras, respectively. The map seems to be adapted from a similar one in the Official Guide of Railway and Steamships of the Mexican Republic; various shipping lines are drawn through the Gulf of Mexico and an inset at bottom left details railway lines through Mexico City and surrounding areas.

The work is part of a series of Japanese governmental publications on colonization held at just two institutions per OCLC, Stanford and the Library of Congress, though the OCLC record does not list this particular number in the series of volumes held by them, and neither institution's website listed them either.

Price: $2,750.00