Japanese Women in Chicago
Throughout the history of Japanese immigrants/immigration to the US, women have been treated as secondary citizens, existing only in the shadows of men. This series describes the Japanese women's community in pre-war Chicago, Illinois, a community that was organized by a bilingual Japanese Christian woman, that involved various kinds of women in Chicago and from Japan, and made significant contributions to the larger Chicago community.
Stories from this series
Part 6: Across the Pacific
April 30, 2023 • Takako Day
Read Part 5 >> Did Fujinkai gradually change in character because the wives of Chicago Japanese consuls started becoming involved in local Japanese women’s activities as honorary presidents? According to a Japanese government report, the Japanese Women’s Society of Chicago (Fujinkai) was recorded as having been founded at the JYMCI (747 East 36th) in 1924.1 These members of Fujinkai in Chicago did not hesitate to address the issues of women in Japan, as Fujinkai was well connected to Japanese female activists from various …
Part 5: New Japanese Women as Comrades — Fujinkai
April 23, 2023 • Takako Day
Read Part 4 >> The 1920s began with the success of American women’s suffrage movement, and, around this time, a new type of Japanese woman came to Chicago, almost as if sucked in by the energy of the incredible American women of those days. These Japanese were liberal women educated under the social influence of the Taisho democracy in Japan. Yone openly welcomed these forward-thinking women from Japan. In June 1920, Mrs. T. Matsumoto, Miss F. Koga, and Miss K. …
Part 4: World War I - Japanese Loyalty to the US
April 16, 2023 • Takako Day
Read Part 3 >> Although they were not US citizens and could not get involved in political matters, as assimilated immigrants, Japanese were very eager to show their loyalty and contributions to the US, as well as to American society in general. This demonstration of loyalty was common on the West Coast as well. One Chicago newspaper reported the following message from Japanese in San Francisco with some surprise: “‘Our present duty is to help the United States with all …
Part 3: For Mothers and Children—Haha No Kai
April 9, 2023 • Takako Day
Read Part 2 >> With Yone, Misaki Shimazu founded Haha No Kai (Mother’s Home) in 1913 to supervise and take care of children. The home also served as the Shimazu’s own residence.1 One of the reasons they opened the home was that Yone herself became a mother; around 1913 the childless Shimazu couple adopted and began raising two Japanese children, a boy and a girl. When adopted, the girl, Fumiko, born in 1909 in New York, was four, and her …
Part 2: For Women—Nihon Fujinkai
April 2, 2023 • Takako Day
Read Part 1 >> Yone Shimazu formed Nihon Fujinkai, the Japanese Women’s Club in May 1911. The aim of the club was “charitable, beneficial to unfortunate Japanese, promoting friendship among the Japanese ladies, building individual character.” The club had about forty members and it was comprised of Japanese women and American women who were married to Japanese men. The club held meetings at the JYMCI (Japanese Young Men’s Christian Institute), where they enjoyed reading, talking, knitting, crafting, American cooking, music, …
Part 1: Yone Hara
March 26, 2023 • Takako Day
Even though their population was very small, the Japanese in pre-war Chicago were still able to form various groups and organizations beginning just before the Columbian Exposition in 1893. One of the organizations which became a center for the Japanese community in pre-war Chicago,was the Japanese Young Men’s Christian Institute (JYMCI), known as the Japanese YMCA by locals, led by Misaki Shimazu from 1908 to 1929. The roughly twenty years of activities of the JYMCI on behalf of local Japanese in Chicago were the fruitful …
