the ryukyuans in bolivia

The Ryukyuans in BoliviaAuthor(s): James Lawrence TignerSource: The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 43, No. 2 (May, 1963), pp. 206-229Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2510492 .

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The Ryukyuans in Bolivia

JAMES LAWRENCE TIGNER

IMMIGRATION AND RESETTLEMENT

T HE ARRIVAL OF THE Sakura Maru at the port of Callao, Peru, on April 3, 1899, with 790 contract immigrants aboard, marked the beginning of Japanese migrations to

Latin America. These continued, with some abatement after 1934, until 1941, and were resumed after World War I'1 The main currents of migration in the period 1899-1941, also carried the Japanese to Mexico and Brazil, the other major areas of contract immigration. Cross-currents developed as contract immigration frequently proved to be a costly failure, and the immigrants remigrated into neighboring countries: from Mexico into the United States and Cuba, from Peru into Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina, and from Brazil into Argentina. The inhabitants of the Ryukyu Islands, subjects within the Japanese Empire, were included in the Japanese migrations, but did not reach Peru until 1906, and Bolivia four years later.2

The group which reached Peru in 1899 was composed of adult males from Japan Proper (Naichi-jin), all of whom were under contract to work on the cotton and sugar plantations of the coastal area.3 The Morioka Emigration Company of Japan was the responsible agency. Faulty organization and apparent misrepresentation on the part of this company, coupled with ill-treatment and disease on the plantations resulting in numerous deaths, led to general disillusion-

* The author is professor of history and political science at the University of Nevada.

1 Japanese Central Society of Peru, Haishi (Lima, 1937), p. 1. 2 The Ryukyu Islands, forming an archipelago which comprises 140 islands of

1,803 square miles, lie in the extreme Western Pacific between Formosa and Kyushu Island, Japan. Okinawa is the largest island in the archipelago.

3 Japan Proper refers to the four main islands of Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Naichi-jin and Japanese are terms used interchangeably in contradistinction to Ryukyuan or Okinawan. Technically, the peoples of the Ryukyu Islands, in the area encompassed by Okinawa Prefecture, were of Japa- nese nationality during the Japanese Period, 1878-1945; however, the inhabitants of Japan Proper were called Naichi-jin to distinguish them from subject people outside the perimeter of the four main islands. After World War II, the United States government recognized the ' residual ' sovereignty of Japan over the Ryukyu Islands. The people of the Ryukyus regard themselves as Japanese.



THE RYUKYUANS IN BOLIVIA 207

ment and apprehension among the immigrants. A large proportion moved to Lima and Callao, and many of these individuals, finding urban conditions unfavorable, drifted into Chile and Argentina; others went into the forests of eastern Bolivia to work as rubber gatherers. By 1900, ninety-one persons from the first Morioka shipment had remigrated to Bolivia.4

The next group of immigrants to reach Bolivia was hired in Japan by agents of the Meiji Colonization Company. In 1905 Chester W. Brown, general manager of the Inca Rubber Company, a United States enterprise, signed an agreement with the Meiji Company whereby the latter was to supply five hundred laborers to gather rubber in the Tambopata forests. Their contracts called for two yen, fifty sen per day, a high wage for that period, and more than double that earned in Peru. An advance party of thirteen persons, sent to investigate conditions, reached their destination late in December, 1905, by way of Mollendo and Tirapata. As severe hardships had been suffered by the first group in the Tambopata region, the Japanese Foreign Office directed Ryoji Noda, its representative on the Pacific coast of South America, to join this group and make a personal investigation.5

Noda's report was favorable, and in November, 1906, the Foreign Office in Tokyo approved the contract; one hundred persons from the Meiji Company's first emigrant shipment of 1907, to Peru, were selected. This group, composed exclusively of Naichi-jin, arrived at Mollendo on February 26, and was taken by train to Tirapata. From there its members, traveling by foot and on horseback, proceeded for nearly three weeks before reaching their destination in the lowlands.6

Michitaro Shindo, an official of the Meiji Company who had accompanied the hundred men to Tambopata, negotiated a second contract with Brown in August, 1907; this was for five thousand Japanese in the next five years. In March, 1908, it was decided that five hundred would suffice for the time being. However, unforeseen complications arising from the failure of the Meiji Company to fulfill its contracts on the dates specified, and to place the immigrants in accordance with their contracts, prevented this contract from being carried out. As a result, only two small groups totaling about 120 men were sent to the Tambopata late in 1909. Having been charged

4Toraji Irie, ''History of Japanese Migration to Peru, Part I" (translated by William Himel), HAHR, XXXI (August, 1951), 448-452. Interview with Toraji Irie, Tokyo, Japan, 1951.

6 Irie (Himel), ''History of Japanese Migration to Peru, Part II," HAHR, XXXI (November, 1951), 655. In 1900 one yen was valued at approximately U. S. 50 cents; one sen was one-hundredth of a yen.

6 Ibid.



208 HAHR 1 MAY I JAMES L. TIGNER

with a violation of the Emigrants' Protection Law of Japan, the Meiji Company was forced out of business this same year.7

Subsequent migration to eastern Bolivia via Peru continued in a desultory manner until 1915. The rise and collapse of the rubber boom in the Amazon Basin, in the period 1910-1913, brought further schemes for Japanese immigration and colonization, but none were introduced owing to the nature of the contracts demanded by the Japanese government. The; cost of Japanese labor was made pro- hibitive by the terms of these contracts, while local labor, though less efficient, was available at a lower rate.8

No statistical record is known to have been made of these migra- tory movements, but Japanese and Ryukyuans who were employed in eastern Bolivia during this period (1900-1915), estimated that the total Japanese-Ryukyuan population never exceeded five hundred persons, no more than ten of whom were women. About three hundred of this number were employed by the American Rubber Company which maintained offices in Tirapata and Astillero. The remainder worked for the Inca and several other rubber producers, including the Bolivian Maximo-Rodriguez and Suarez firms; the German Arnold, Heinrich and Adenauer rubber companies; and the Briand Company, a Swiss enterprise. The peak of employment was reached between 1910 and 1913. In addition to the Japanese and Ryukyuans, these companies, in the aggregate, employed approximately 5,500 local laborers, predominantly mestizos. Some plains and jungle Ilndians, but virtually no mountain Indians, were used in this industry in Bolivia.9

Following the collapse of the rubber industry, about two hundred

7 The number of Japanese transported to Peru by the several emigration companies il the period 1899-1924 was as follows: Morioka Emigration Company, 14,829; Meiji Colonization Company, 1,003; Toyo Emigration Company, 878; Kaigai Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Overseas Development Company), 1,054; total, 17,764. At the close of 1941, when immigration was halted by the war, the total had risen to approximately 29,000. See: Irie (Himel), ''Japanese Migration to Peru, Part II," 656-659; Susumu Sacurai, Zaiho Doho Nenkan (Tokyo, 1935), p. 40; Japan: Colonial Ministry, Haigai Iju Tokei (Tokyo, 1937), pp. 18-20; J. F. Normano and Antonello Gerbi, The Japanese in South America (New York, 1943), p. 74; Walter Wilcox, ed., International Migrations (New York, 1929), I, 939.

8 Interviews with members of the Japanese and Okinawa associations, La Paz, Bolivia, 1952. Miguel K. Kiyoto and Hosai Tasato, Japanese businessmen (former rubber gatherers in eastern Bolivia), proved to be the best-informed sources on this subject relative to the Naichi-jin. Beginning in 1911 it was just possible to deliver rubber in Hamburg, Germany, at the bare cost of production without a margin for profit on investment. See: Isaiah Bowman, Limits of Land Settle- ment (New York, 1937), p. 299.

9 Interviews with members of the Japanese and Okinawa associations, La Paz, Bolivia, 1952.




Japanese returned to the homeland. The others, seeing little advan- tage in returning to Peru, moved into the small towns of eastern Bolivia, principally Riberalta and Trinidad in the Department of Beni. The majority went into small-farming, producing for the local markets. Others opened grocery stores, barber shops, bazaars and tailor shops, and up to the present day control a large proportion of these enterprises in the area.10

The first immigrants from the Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa Prefec- ture, came to Peru in November, 1906, aboard the Itsukushima Mtaru, as a part of the Morioka Company's third shipment. The Ryukyuans were among a group of 775 Japanese under contract to work on haciendas at San Nicolas, Paramonga, Cafiete, and Huichipa."1

Sentei Yagi, one of the early Ryukyuan immigrants in Peru, had a major role in the first phase of Ryukyuan resettlement in Bolivia. Yagi graduated from Tokyo University in 1906, and shortly thereafter was employed by the Meiji Colonization Company to help protect the interests of the Ryukyuans who had gone to Peru earlier in the year. In 1907,, soon after reaching Peru, Yagi took a position with a news- paper in Lima, the West Coast Leader, as his income from the Meiji Company proved to be inadequate.'2

In 1910, having heard promising reports about opportunities in the rubber industry, Yagi and thirty other Ryukyuans, were hired by the Inca Rubber Company to work in the forests along the Madre de Dios river in Bolivia. Unlike the immigrants hired previously by this company, members of Yagi's group paid their own transportation.

Ibid. "Interviews with Sentei Yagi, Ryukyuan businessman, and Shinkichi Shinzato,

Ryukyuan farmer (a member of the 1906 immigrant group), Lima, Peru, 1952. In the following years, the number of immigrants from the Ryukyus steadily

increased, and by the end of 1941 they constituted about one-third of the Japanese colony, the largest single immigrant group in Peru from among Japan Is pre- fectures.

Available evidence indicates that 3,772 Ryukyuans entered Peru up to the ter- mination of contract immigration in 1923. In the period 1924-1941 approximately 6,622 entered the country, making a total of 10,394; this figure is included in the total of 29,000 for the Japanese. See: Okinawa Prefectural Office, Department of General Affairs, Okinawa-ken Tokei Sho (Naha, 1939), p. 61; T. Shinkai, ed., Record of the Kaigai Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo, 1940), p. 1; 40.

Historically, the Ryukyus have been an economically deficit area owing to a shortage of arable land, virtually no exploitable natural resources, and severe population pressure for generations. Organized emigration, carried out by sub- sidies from the Japanese government, was relied upon to keep population pressure below a dangerous level, and remittances from the overseas communities helped materially to sustain the precarious economy. See: L. Dbderlein, Mittheilun- gen der Deutschen Gessellschaft fur Natur-und Volkerkunde Ostasiens (Yokohama, 1881), III, 152; Goro Ishibashi, ed., Nihon Chiri Taikei (Tokyo, 1931), XII, 402.

12 Yagi interviews, Lima, Peru, 1952. Interviews with members of the Japa- nese and Okinawa associations, La Paz, Bolivia, 1952.



210 HAHR I MAY I JAMES L. TIGNER

The first phase of their journey, from Callao to Mollendo, was by coastal vessel. They traveled by railroad from Mollendo to Puno, and proceeded from there by trail to Astillero. The trip involved walking over Andean passes at elevations up to fourteen thousand feet. Several of the men were weakened by malaria which they had developed in Peru, and this slowed the group 's progress considerably. From Astillero they traveled to Riberalta by canoe, a journey of two weeks. They reached the rubber forests of the Madre de Dios after another week of canoeing.

The chief attraction which brought the Ryukyuans and other Japanese to the jungle regions of northeastern Bolivia was the high rate of pay. In Peru the average wage of a plantation laborer was about one sole per day, and there was little or no opportunity to grow his own foodstuffs. As seringeros, rubber gatherers, they were assured of two soles per day, and could grow most of their staple foods; under these circumstances they could save the greater part of their income.'3

The Ryukyuans, together with an estimated hundred Naichi-jin and several hundred Bolivian mestizos and Indians, worked for the Maximo-Rodriguez and Suhrez rubber companies, whose main ware- houses and offices were located in Riberalta. These companies maintained small outposts along the major rivers in the area which func- tionled as collection points for rubber, and supply centers for the rubber gatherers. The outposts were generally reached by a seven to ten day trip by canoe from Riberalta.

The life of a seringero was a difficult one, always laborious, and sometimes hazardous. His day normally began at 4 a.m., with the round of his estrada, a circuit of eighty to 150 rubber trees. During this round he placed cups on the trunks; he then had to cut wood for a fire, and collect the nuts used for making the white smoke necessary for curing the rubber. He made a second round to collect the milky fluid, and on returning, there was the arduous task of smoking it into bolachas; during this process the day's work could be ruined by only a slight dilution of the milk from rainfall. It was customary for the seringeros to remain in the forest near their estradas for three or four months at a time before returning to the outposts to deposit their collection of crude rubber, and to obtain food, ammunition, utensils, and other supplies. During the period of exceptionally heavy rainfall, November to April, some of the Ryukyuan and Japanese seringeros returned to the towns of northeastern Bolivia and worked on nearby farms.14

18 Ibid. One sole was valued at about U. S. 50 cents at this time. " Ibid. The Inca Rubber Company ceased operations in 1910, shortly after




Their dwellings in the forest were simple one-room huts made of logs and thatched with leaves. They usually planted small plots of manioc, corn, rice, and vegetables. They obtained meat by hunting wild pigs, monkeys, and fowl, and they fished in the rivers. The seringeros eagerly awaited the occasional Indian tribal ceremonies or dances, for these events were significant diversions in their monotonous existence. Aside from loneliness and the ever-present danger of malaria and yellow fever, which fortunately proved to be less preva- lent than reported, these early migrants into the Bolivian lowlands seemed to have no unpleasant recollections of their experience in the region.15

The number of Ryukyuans employed in the rubber industry in northeastern Bolivia during the boom period did not exceed forty persons, according to statements of several of the original seringeros. After abandoning their life in the forests they, like the Naichi-jin, settled in the northeastern towns; some of them eventually moved to Santa Cruz, La Paz, Oruro, and Potosi. Riberalta was the site of the first permanent Ryukyuan settlement in Bolivia, beginning in 1910, and prior to the colonization programs starting in 1954, it contained about 50 per cent of the Ryukyuan population.16

Naichi-jin came to La Paz as permanent residents in 1910, while the Ryukyuan community was established there somewhat later. A group of three Ryukyuans led by Ryogui Higa visited La Paz briefly in 1912, when en route to the forests of the Tambopata. Ryogui Higa opened a grocery store in Riberalta in 1913, and four years later called his brother, Ryoki, from Okinawa. This was the first instance of a Ryukyuan being "called" to Bolivia from the homeland. Ryoki Higa moved to La Paz in 1925, where he opened a bazaar, and two years later Shigeo Higa (no relation to the former), reached La Paz by way of Peru. The two Higas, Shigeo and Ryoki, were subsequently instrumental in bringing several persons from the Ryukyus, and per- suaded others to leave Riberalta, thereby helping to found the Ryu- kyuan community in La Paz. Ryoki Higa returned to Okinawa in 1940, while Shigeo Higa remained in La Paz and continued to be the spokesman and leader of his people in that area.17

The practice of "calling" relatives and friends from the homeland

the arrival of the Yagi party, which forced this group to find employment with the other companies mentioned.

'5 Ibid.

10 Kiyoto and Tasato interviews; Yagi interviews; interview with Jose Aka- mine, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 1952.

'" Interviews with Shigeo Higa, president, Okinawa Association, La Paz, Bo- livia, 1952.




progressed quite slowly in Bolivia because of the stringent conditions imposed upon the "caller" and the small size of the colony. Accord- ing to the records of the Japanese and Okinawa associations, and the recollections of their members, immigration into Bolivia was as follows:

Years Naichi-jin Ryukyuans

1900-1915 300 (remigrants) Peru 40 (remigrants) Peru 1916-1941 108 " " 5

25 ("called ") Japan 29 ("called") Ryukyus 433 74

1945-1953 51 " " 52

The Ryukyuans who migrated from Peru to northeastern Bolivia prior to 1915 related that there was no immigration procedure, even registration, on the Bolivian frontier.18

The Japanese government had never maintained a permanent diplomatic mission in Bolivia, and in 1923 the Japanese Association of Bolivia was founded in La Paz as a quasi-official branch of the Japanese legation in Lima. The founder and first president was Yoshinori Yoshida; in addition there were the offices of vice president, secretary, treasurer, and six members of the board of directors. Monthly dues, supplemented by voluntary donations, were used to purchase a building and a tennis court for the association, and to help those who met with financial adversity.

The functions and objectives of the pre-war Association were to advise the Japanese Legation in Lima of Japanese affairs in Bolivia; to maintain records of births, deaths, and marriages for the colony, and to investigate and recommend persons wishing to "call" others from Japan and the Ryukyus; to promote friendship among the Japa- nese and to create good will between the Japanese and Bolivians; to provide financial and other assistance to needy members of the colony, and to help in the resettlement and employment of immigrants.19

Ill contrast to Japanese associations found in other Latin American republics, this organization did not give financial support to local Japanese schools or hospitals. Before World War II meetings were convened monthly, and these were usually occasions for various types


"Calling" was the procedure whereby an immigrant in a foreign country could, by mutual consent, summon a specified relative or friend from the homeland. Ordinarily the "'caller'" was required to assume responsibility for the person being "'called.'"

'9 Interviews with Tomas Fujiike, president, Japanese Association, La Paz, Bolivia, 1952.




of entertainment, such as lectures, motion pictures, and musical re- citals. Each year, on April 29, they celebrated the Emperor's birthday at a general meeting which all members and their families attended.

The La Paz Association was discontinued in May, 1943, after its president, Tomas Fujiike, was sent to the United States for internment. On March 30, 1952, the organization was reestablished with Fujiike again being elected president. Three Ryukyuans, Shigeo Higa, Kajo Maeshiro, and Sejiro Kanashiro, were members of the board of directors. The membership in 1952 totaled eighty-five first generation Japanese (Issei), seventeen first generation Ryukyuans, two Ryukyuan Nisei, and two Japanese Nisei. Excepting the connection with the Japanese Legation in Peru and the celebration of the Emperor's birthday, the program and activities of the postwar Association remained the same as the prewar organization.20

A separate association was established by the Ryukyuans of La Paz in August, 1948, at the suggestion of Koshin Shikiya, who then headed the interim Ryukyuan government, in order to raise relief funds for the homeland. Shigeo Higa and Kajo Maeshiro were elected president and vice president respectively, and a board of directors was appointed. From its inauguration, through 1952, these two individuals had been reelected each year. The monthly dues of one hundred Bolivia'nos requested of each member, were used to finance picnics and dinner parties held several times annually, and to support a Nisei of Ryukyuan descent who attended medical school in La Paz. A special fund of Bs. 19,000 was raised in 1950 to help the Ryukyuaii- sponsored Uruma Agricultural and Industrial Society purchase land in Santa Cruz Department. A local Okinawa Association in Riberalta was closely coordinated with the organization in La Paz.21

An important advance toward promoting a spirit of cordiality between Japanese and Bolivians was made in May, 1951, with the founding of the Japanese-Bolivian Cultural Association in La Paz as an auxiliary of the Japanese Association. The founder and president of the Cultural Association was Koichi Komori, a Japanese silk manu- facturer of La Paz. In 1952 the vice president was a Bolivian, Graize Munfoz Reyes, son of a former Bolivian consul in Japan. Through the efforts of forty Japanese and several prominent Ryu- kyuans Bs. 6,000,000 (U. S. $30,000) were raised for purchasing and furnishing a building to serve as the organization 's headquarters. It was believed that an exchange of ideas through such media as

20 Ibid. 21 Interviews with Shigeo Higa and Kajo Maeshiro, president and vice president

respectively, Okinawa Association, La Paz, Bolivia, 1952.




motion pictures, music, dancing, plays, and literature would strengthen the bond of friendship between the two countries as well as foster good will toward members of the Japanese-Ryukyuan colony. It was the first enterprise of its type which had appeared among the Japanese in Latin America during the postwar era. Doubtless the most dis- tinguishing feature of this Association was the acceptance of non- Japanese as members.22

By 1952 the assimilation of Ryukyuans and Japanese had progressed to a greater extent in Bolivia than in any of the other Latin American countries. This was demonstrated most impressively by the evidence of intermarriage. Seventy-six per cent of the Ryukyuan Issei were married to Bolivian women, as were, 83 per cent of the Japanese. Virtually all married Nisei of both groups had Bolivian spouses. Moreover, twenty-two Ryukyuans and eighteen Japanese had become naturalized Bolivian citizens, a feature of assimilation in terms of relative numbers almost totally absent among other Japanese- Ryukyuan colonies in Latin America.23

Further evidence of assimilation and acculturation was found in education, language, and religion. No schools for instructing the Japanese language had been established in Bolivia. Except for social events where wives were absent, Spanish was habitually spoken. Nisei, in general, had only a limited command of Japanese. Both the first and second generations had adopted the Roman Catholic religion, and only a few professed adherence to the Buddhist faith. Their social organizations continued to function, but their activities were becoming increasingly Latin in character. Only an isolated few of the Ryukyuans expressed a desire to return to the homeland to live. Many wished to visit the Ryukyus, but this desire stemmed from a feeling of obligation to see aged relatives.

The singular adaptation of members of the Ryukyuan-Japanese colony to the Bolivian cultural and spiritual environment had helped to create an atmosphere of cordiality toward Japanese among the Bolivian population which was without parallel elsewhere in Latin


23 Ryukyuans who were married to Bolivian women spoke freely and with extraordinary candor about their marriages. The wives, usually illiterate or semi- literate mestizas, had made no effort to learn the Japanese language, and some were disposed to ridicule the husband 's ancestry, habits, and customs. It was also frequently asserted that the wives neglected household responsibilities. The social barrier that normally separates the Ryukyuans and the Naichi-jin appeared to have been virtually obliterated in Bolivia. Several of the former were married to Japanese women; they had equal standing in the Japanese Association, and some had joined in business partnerships.




America. By remaining aloof from politics they had not become involved in the political upheavals for which Bolivia is noted, and as a result, on no occasion since the first immigrants reached Bolivia, ex- cludiiig World War II, had they suffered any unfavorable discrimina- tory treatment. A true index to the attitude of Bolivian governments, past and present, is revealed in the fact that, again excepting World War II, Japanese and Rykyuan immigrants were admitted to Bolivia without significant restrictions.

The status of the Japanese and Ryukyuans was affected only slightly by World War II.24 Corresponding to events in Peru, some Japanese were deported to the United States for internment during the war. An account of this action as related by the Japanese was as follows: "On May 13, 1944, the Bolivian government received a mes- sage from the United States government requesting that 160 persons, 120 Germans and forty Japanese, be sent to the United States. Many of the Japanese leaders went into hiding, and the Bolivian police could not make the quota requested. As a result, the Bolivian government reduced the quota and sent only fifty Germans and twenty-eight Japanese. Since most of the Japanese leaders could not be found, the Japanese quota was made up mainly of young men who were taken from La Paz, Oruro, and Cochabamba. These young men volunteered to go, as they wished to see the United States. None of the persons sent to the United States were Ryukyuans. " 25

The Japanese from Bolivia were sent to an internment camp at Crystal City, Texas, and they seemed to have no bitter recollections of the experience. In fact, those who had gone into concealment to escape internment expressed regret at having done so. Several of the internees called their wives at the expense of the United States government, and a number of their children were born in the camp. At the conclusion of the war they were flown back to Bolivia, having spent approximately twenty-six months in the United States. One of these persons, who was quite poor before the war, became a prominent businessman in Cochabamba. He attributed his success to savings accumu- lated while working in the Crystal City camp. Those in business at

24 On December 8, 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Bolivian government, then headed by Enrique Pefiaranda, assured the United States that it would keep its pledge of solidarity, and on January 28, 1942, it broke off relations with the Axis. In April, 1943, though Nazi influence was still strong in the country, President Peliaranda issued a decree declaring the existence of a state of war with the Axis powers.

25 Interviews with members of the Japanese and Okinawa associations, La Paz, Bolivia, 1952. No documentary evidence could be obtained from the United States Embassy in La Paz or the Bolivian government which would confirm or refute this account of German and Japanese deportations.




the time of deportation experienced no loss, as friends or relatives protected their interests.26

In addition to the deportation program, the following regulations were imposed upon the Japanese in Bolivia during the period, 1942- 1945: (1) the registration of firearms was required; (2) the use of cameras was prohibited; (3) for one year (1944) police permission was required to travel within the country; (4) air travel was prohibited; (5) possession of Japanese-language newspapers and maga- zines was prohibited; (6) Japanese organizations of all types were ordered disbanded.27

Ryukyuans and Japanese reported that there was great laxity in the enforcement of these wartime regulations. The Japanese Associa- tion in La Paz, for example, continued operating until May, 1943, at which time it was closed voluntarily owing to the departure of its president, Tomas Fujiike, for the United States and internment in Texas. The Okinawa Association in Riberalta functioned throughout the war and afterward.

It appeared that World War II had an imperceptible impact on the minds of the Bolivian people in relation to the Japanese and Ryukyuans. They were called "paisano" or fellow countryman by their Bolivian friends and acquaintances who clearly had a high regard for them. Nisei were considered to be Bolivians, and in 1952 one of them, of Naichi-jin descent, had just completed his tenure as mayor of the town of Cobija. Several Nisei were making the army their career; two of them were officers, one a major and the other a captain. Four other Nisei, all of Naichi-jin parentage, were working for degrees in law with the object of entering the government service.28

In respect to economic development, the Ryukyuans in Bolivia had not succeeded in accumulating large fortunes, as did their countrymen in Brazil. Without exception, however, they had adequate livelihoods, and their incomes were significantly higher than those of average Bolivians. The outstanding characteristic of their occupation pattern was the dominance of urban pursuits among the inhabitants of the Altiplano, and the high proportion of farmers in the Oriente.

Ryukyuans living in La Paz and its environs, in particular, made remarkable progress in the seven years following World War II. By expanding their old enterprises and developing new ones, they were enjoying unprecedented prosperity in spite of the mounting inflation- ary trend. Adult Nisei frequently followed their parent's occupation.

At the close of 1952 the Ryukyuan population in La Paz comprised 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 28 Ibid.




eighteen households. The total value of properties owned by this group, excluding dwellings, amounted to U.S. $131,550, the average value of properties per household being U. S. $7,308. The total gross income for the group in 1951 was U. S. $329,000, which provided an annual gross income per household of U. S. $18,278.29

A large number of the early Ryukyuan and Japanese immigrants who settled in eastern Bolivia had come to occupy important positions in the farming community in that area. A survey made by the author in the departments of Santa Cruz and Beni, in 1952, revealed that forty-five representative Ryukyuan farm families produced in the preceding year commodities valued at U. S. $56,000, chiefly rice, corn, and manioc. The aggregate ownership of live stock and poultry totaled U. S. $35,200. It was found that the average annual gross income per family was U. S. $1,244, with the net income being approximately U. S. $870. Among this group twenty-seven were landowners whose properties totaled 14,050 hectares; eighteen tenants rented fifty hectares of land. The estimated value of the privately-owned real estate was U. S. $14,000.30

A conception of the distribution of the Ryukyuan-Japanese population and the occupational pattern in Bolivia may be gained from the following data :31

THE RYUKYUAN-JAPANESE POPULATION IN BOLIVIA

1952

LA PAZ Issei Nisei Total Households Bolivian Wives

M F Ryukyuans 18 .17 34 69 18 5

Pisco distillers 3 Bakery and tea room 1 Grocery stores 4 Bazaar 1 Cafe waiter 1 Salesman 1 Soft drink mfr. 1 Tile mfr. 1 Barbershop and (3 in retirement) tea room 1

Japanese 45 20 64 129 45 25 Bazaars 8 Agents of tobacco Tea rooms 3 company 1 Barbershops 4 (eleven were business Stocking factory 1 partnerships) "(employees)" 6

ORURO Ryukyuans 2 2 8 12 2 0

Billiard parlor 1 Bazaar 1

29 Ibid. Life histories, obtained from representative individuals, are beyond the scope of this article.

'0 Interviews with members of the Uruma Agricultural and Industrial Society, Santa Cruz and Riberalta, Bolivia, 1952.

" Interviews with members of the Japanese and Okinawa associations, La Paz, Bolivia, 1952.



218 HAHR MAY I JAMES L. TIGNER,

Issei Nisei Total Households Bolivian Wives M F

Japanese 3 1 6 10 3 2 Miners 1 Barber shops 1 Taxi drivers 1

COCHABAMBA Ryukyuans 0 0 0 0 0 0 Japanese 5 2 6 13 5 1

Tea rooms 1 Landscape gardeners 1 Bazaars 3

POTOSI Ryukyuans 1 1 4 6 1 0

Bakeries 1 Japanese 3 0 4 7 3 3

Laundries 1 Watch makers 1 Barbershops 1

RIBERALTA Ryukyuans 36 2 144 182 36 34

Bazaars 4 Truck gardeners 23 Grocery stores 8 Tile mfrs. 1

Japanese 80 2 320 402 80 78 Truck gardeners 65 Barbershops 2 Grocery stores 8 Carpenters 1 Bazaars 4

SANTA CRUZ Ryukyuans 15 0 30 45 15 15

Grocery stores 1 Truck gardeners 14

Japanese 13 0 39 52 13 13 Bazaars 3 Barbershops 1 Grocery stores 3 Truck gardeners 6

TRINIDAD Ryukyuans 0 0 0 0 0 0 Japanese 18 0 92 110 18 18

Bazaars 3 Barbershops 1 Grocery stores 6 Truck gardeners 8

TARIJA Ryukyuans 0 0 0 0 0 0 Japanese 2 0 5 7 2 2

Laundries 1 Barbershops 1

SUMMARY OF THE RYUKYUAN-JAPANESE POPULATION Ryukyuans and descendants Japanese and descendants

Ryukyuans 94 Japanese 194 Descendants 220 Descendants 536

314 730

IMMIGRATION AND COLONIZATION

Ryukyuan immigration in Bolivia prior to 1954 was carried on chiefly through the procedure of "calling" or was the result of re- migration from Peru. Even those who went to eastern Bolivia in 1910 to work in the rubber industry did so without the benefit of a prior contractual arrangement or a program of planned migration.




Since 1954, Ryukyuan immigration in Bolivia has been based upon planned colonization with support provided by a number of agencies of the governments of the United States, the Ryukyu Islands, and Bolivia. Although precedents for this type of colonization are to be found in the records of Japanese resettlement projects in South America, such as those of the Kaigai Kogyo, Kabushiki Kaisha (Over- seas Development Company) and the Nambei Takmshoku Kaisha (South America Colonization Company, Ltd.), the Ryukyuan colonization project is a unique development in the history of United States trans-Pacific relations.32 It resulted from the post World War II settlement in Eastern Asia whereby Japanese territory was confined to the four main islands, leaving the former Okinawa Prefecture under United States control.

The Ryukyu Islands were occupied by military forces of the United States in 1945, and Okinawa, the largest of the islands, became a main link in the Asiatic chain of defenses of the United States. In assum- ing control of the Ryukyus, the United States government inherited the seemingly unsolvable land and population problems which had existed there during the Japanese Period. These problems have since become compounded as a result of rising population pressure.33

Most Ryukyuans, particularly those of the younger generation, consider emigration to be of extreme importance to their future welfare. A conception of the popular interest in emigration can be gained from the fact that, as of September, 1951, an estimated 172,000 persons had applied for permits to emigrate, chiefly to South Ameri- can countries.34 It was in recognition of this extraordinary interest

32 See: Rokuro Kayama, ed., Inm Yonjunen Shi (Sio Paulo, 1949), p. 428; Japan: Colonial Ministry, Takmudaijin-Kanbo Bunshoka (Tokyo, 1941), p. 197.

" In 1940 the total Ryukyuan population was 742,174, representing a population density of 588 per square mile. In 1950 the population per square mile of arable land for the Ryukyu archipelago was 2,194. On Okinawa, where more than half the population was concentrated, the figure stood at 2,901 in terms of arable land, and 1,070 per square mile of the total land area of the island. The land problem was intensified as areas, representing up to 25 per cent of the arable land on Okinawa, were converted to military purposes. During 1952 more than twenty thousand persons reached an employable age; there was virtually no pros- pect of sufficient agricultural or industrial development to absorb this growing employable population. Efforts to induce Okinawans to resettle in appreciable numbers in the less densely populated outlying islands of Yaeyama and Miyako proved unavailing, for they have traditionally regarded life there as an exile. See: Edmund M. H. Simon, Beitrdge zur Kenntnis der Riukiu-Inseln. Beitrdge zur Kultur-und Universalgeschichte (Leipzig, 1914), XXVIII, 71; Daily Okinawa Press Summary, Ryukyu Shimpo, February 12, 1954; United States Civil Adminis- tration of the Ryukyu Islands (hereinafter referred to as USCAR), Ryukyu Islands Economic Statistics (N.P., 1952), pp. 6-7.

3 Interviews with Brigadier General James M. Lewis, Civil Administrator, USCAR, Tatsuo Taira, Governor of Okinawa Gunto, and John A. Swezey, Chief, Customs and Immigration, USCAR, Naha, Okinawa, 1951.




on the part of the Ryukyuans, and the implications of the population problem for the United States occupation, that the late Brigadier General James M. Lewis, Civil Administrator, United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands, directed that an investigation be made of Ryukyuan communities in Latin America with explora- tion of possibilities for resettlement or colonization.35

In the course of the subsequent investigation it was found that the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia offered significantly greater opportunities for the immediate immigration of Ryukyuans than any other area of Latin America. A fortuitous combination of circumstances existed which indicated that Ryukyuan colonization was both feasible and desirable.

The government of Bolivia was found eager to encourage the immigration of Ryukyuan farmers, as those already in the country had clearly demonstrated their capabilities. To this end, Supreme Reso- lution Number 57,311, signed by President Victor Paz Estenssoro on June 11, 1953, authorized the colonization in Bolivia of three thousand Ryukyuan families, beginning with a contingent of four hundred male heads of families or single men, all of whom would be skilled agricul- turists. The Resolution provided that the Ministry of Agriculture was authorized to issue land grants up to a total of fifty thousand hectares to the colonists, depending upon the success of the program; at the end of eight years, title to fifty hectares of land would be given to each family. Exemptions were granted for the import of agricultural machinery and implements.3A

The potentialities of the Santa Cruz region have long been recognized by authorities in the United States and Bolivia.7 Their con- clusions were corroborated by Oscar M. Powell, Country Director of the United States Technical Assistance Program in Bolivia, in 1952. Powell indicated that after extensive study, his mission had concluded that its efforts would be directed toward expanding agricul-

" The responsibility for the administration of this investigation was given to the Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Coun- cil, under the direction of Harold J. Coolidge, in cooperation with the Hoover In- stitution of Stanf ord University; funds were supplied by the United States Department of the Army. The author was assigned the project in July, 1951, and completed it in December, 1954.

36 Bolivia, Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganaderia y Colonlizacion, Resol'tci6n Suprena 57311 (La Paz, 1953), pp. 1-3.

" See: American Geographical Society, Special Publication No. 13, G. M. Wrigley, ed., Isaiah Bowman, The Pioneer Fringe (New York, 1931), pp. 318- 324; American Geographical Society, Special Publication No. 14, W. L. G. Joerg, ed., Pioneer Settlement: Cooperative Studies by Twenty-Six Authors (New York, 1937), pp. 105-107; Olen E. Leonard, Santa Cruz: A Socioeconomic Study of an Area in Boltivia (Washington, 1948), pp. 2-9; Ben H. Thibodeaux, An Economic Study of Agriculture in Bolivia (N.P., 1942), pp. 118-122.




tural production in the Department of Santa Cruz.38 J. Howard Craven, Program Officer of the Technical Co-operation Mission in Bolivia, affirmed these statements and the mission 's desire to support a workable plan of colonization.39 Impetus to the project was given by the construction of the all-weather highway connecting Santa Cruz with Cochabamba, the Coruinba-Santa Cruz railroad, the Yacuiba- Santa Cruz railroad, and the promise of local petroleum development.

Ryukyuans in the Santa Cruz and Beni areas provided a nucleus of experienced farmers for the development of the colonization project. In 1949, the Uruma Agricultural and Industrial Society was founded by sixteen members of the Ryukyuan communities in Santa Cruz and Riberalta under the leadership of Jose (Kame) Akamine, a resident of Santa Cruz since 1910, and Juan Gushy, President of the Okinawa Association of Riberalta. The Uruma Society purchased 2,500 hectares of land in the province of Ruflo de Chavez, Santa Cruz Department, and this had been supplemented by an additional ten thousand hectares there. The site lay forty-five miles east of Santa Cruz city, about eighteen miles from the Corumba-Santa Cruz railroad at the Rio Grande crossing. Most of this property was woodland.40

When the Uruma Society was founded its members pooled Bs. 500,000 (U. S. $2,500) in a common fund to be used for purchasing and clearing the land, and obtaining equipment for common use. While this amount was said to be adequate for initiating the project, substantially more capital was needed for expansion. When the author visited Santa Cruz in 1952, it was estimated that Bs. 26,350,000 would be required to provide food and facilities for four hundred immigrants during the first year of residence. Subsequent rising inflation caused the Uruma Society to revise this figure upward to Bs. 41,150,000.41

In 1951, three Ryukyuan families moved to the Uruma Society's property, accompanied by fifteen Bolivian laborers. The clearing of land was begun, and seventy-three hectares were planted in corn, rice, cotton, manioc, bananas, and tobacco. The net operating profit from these crops in 1952 was Bs. 1,207,550 (U. S. $6,000). It was quickly

Interview with Oscar M. Powell, La Paz, Bolivia, 1952. 3 Letter, J. Howard Craven to the author, dated January 21, 1953. 40 Interviews with members of the Ururna Society, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 1952. Conversations of the author with Dr. Alcibiades Velarde, Prefect, Department

of Santa Cruz, and Edmundo Sallchez, local representative of the Banco Agricola, in 1952, indicated that these officials would give strong support to the colonization project.

41 Bolivia, Uruma Agricultural and Industrial Society, Presupuesto que pre- senta la colonia Japoneza Uruma a la comisi6n de Okinawa (Santa Cruz, 1953), p. 1.



222 HAHR J MAY I JAMES L. TIGNER

concluded that the farm labor problem was the most difficult to over- come, as the farm laborers, following the local pattern, drifted elsewhere.42

In September, 1952, the late Brigadier General James M. Lewis, Civil Administrator, USCAR, accepted the author's proposals for a colonization program in Santa Cruz, and allocated $160,000 to cover the cost of transportation for four hundred emigrants. This sum was provisionally allocated on the condition that funds needed to establish the colony would be derived from another source.43

The Government of the Ryukyu Islands, then headed by the late Shuhei Higa, established an official Emigration Bank. The act founding the Emigration Bank declared: "The purpose of the Emigration Bank is to finance the fund which is needed for conveyance of emigrants, and which is difficult to be financed by banks and other ordinary financial institutions." Approximately $93,000 had been subscribed by the Ryukyuan government in 1953; emigrants might borrow from the Bank at 6 per cent annual interest. The term of redemption for those who emigrated to the South Sea Islands and Southeast Asia was six years, and for Latin America ten years.44

As a final step preparatory to implementing the colonization program in Santa Cruz, the Government of the Ryukyu Islands sent an emigration mission, composed of two prominent Ryukyuans, to that area in December, 1953.45 These officials, in consultation with members of the United States Technical Assistance Mission and representa- tives of the Bolivian Development Corporation, concluded that the Uruma Society's property would be the site of the pilot colonization project.46 It was also determined that the colonists would disembark at Santos, Brazil, and travel to Santa Cruz via the Northwest Railroad and the Corumbai-Santa Cruz Railroad, the latter then having been completed as far as the Rio Grande river, and relatively close to the Uruma property. The Ryukyuan mission, in contrast to earlier pro-

42 Bolivia, Uruma Agricultural and Industrial Society, Liquidaci6n de ganancias y perdidas durante el acio 1952 (Santa Cruz, 1953), pp. 1-2.

" Interview with Brigadier General James M. Lewis, Civil Administrator, USCAR, Naha, Okinawa, 1952.

" Okinawa, Government of the Ryukyu Islands, Act Number 85, An Act Con- cerning Emigration Bank (Depository) Foundation (Naha, 1953), pp. 1-7.

" Ichiro Inamine, President of the Ryukyu Overseas Association, and Presi- dent, Ryukyu Oil Corporation; Hiroshi Senaga, Director, Economics Division, Government of the Ryukyu Islands.

46 Bolivia, Uruma Agricultural and Industrial Society, Plan of Colonization (Santa Cruz, 1952), pp. 1-4; Bolivia, Acta de acuerdo entre representantes de la colonia Uruma, Ministerio de Agric'iltura, Ganaderia y Colonizaci6n y Punto Cuatro (La Paz, 1954), pp. 1-2.




posals, recommended that the preponderance of the colonists should be families, preferably with children, so as to help insure internal stability.47

The cost of transporting the emigrants from Naha to Santos, $400 per person for the first group of about four hundred, was met by the $160,000 appropriated by USCAR on August 10, 1953; the remainder of the journey was to be financed by the immigrants themselves. In order to supply the initial requirements of the immigrants, the United States Foreign Operations Administration, in coordination with the Department of State, released Bs. 35,000,000 (U. S. $194,000) to the Uruma Society.48

The first group of emigrants left the Ryukyus on the S.S. Tjidane of the Royal Inter-Ocean Lines on June 19, 1954, and arrived at Santa Cruz on August 13th; the long voyage was uneventful except that the total number of 269 was increased by three births. The railroad journey from Santos to Santa Cruz required one week. A second group, of 128 persons, arrived in Bolivia on September 15, 1954, having left the Ryukyus on July 18th aboard the S.S. Tegelberg, also of Royal Inter-Ocean lines.

The composition of this vanguard reflected the careful preparations made in the Ryukyu Islands. In addition to skilled farmers, there was a trained nurse, a doctor, practical nurses and midwives, a school teacher, and an excellent cross-section of craftsmen whose skills are necessary in this type of colonization settlement. The group carried sufficient supplies of household utensils, their own medical supplies, and a complete electric generator system.49

The colonization project was received with the greatest enthusiasm in the Ryukyus, and had a most beneficial effect on Ryukyuan-United States relations.50 This feeling was reflected in a letter sent to Presi-

47 Memorandum from Hiroshi Senaga to Dr. Alcibiades Velarde, Ministro de Estado eii el Despacho de Agricultura, Ganaderia y Colonizacion, Santa Cruz, dated March 8, 1954.

48 Bolivia, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Colonization, Instructions given by the Ministry of Colonization to the Committee of the Uruma Colony (La Paz, 1954), pp. 1-3. Under these instructions the total funds (Bs. 35,000,000) were to be deposited in the Banco Central in Santa Cruz under the name of "'Funds for the installation work of the colony Uruma,'" the movement of the funds to be managed by a committee of nine representing the Uruma Society and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Colonization.

49 Office, Chief of Occupied Areas and Military Government, Public Affairs Division, Washington, D. C., Foreign Operations Administration Report on Emi- gration Possibilities in Bolivia (Washington, 1954), p. 1.

"0Letter, W. F. Marquat, Major General, USA, Chief, Office of Civil Affairs and Military Government, Department of the Army, Washington, D. C., to the author, dated March 29, 1955.




dent Dwight D. Eisenhower by Shuhei Higa, Chief Executive, Govern- ment of the Ryukyu Islands.51

Although the Uruma Society had found the Ruflo de Chavez area to be satisfactory for its own members, all of whom had lived in the Oriente for many years, it proved untenable for the newly arrived immigrants. Following the outbreak of a disease to which the local population had become immune, and an unseasonal period of drought, it was decided to move the colony to another section of Santa Cruz Department. This movement was accomplished by August, 1955, the new site being located fifty-three miles northeast of Santa Cruz city, between the Rio Pailon and the Rio Grande, about thirty miles east of Montero.52

The Bolivian government granted the colonists 9,400 hectares (23,218 acres) in a fertile though heavily wooded area.53 Each family was awarded fifty chobu of the distributed land.54 The direction of the colony was placed under the Bolivian government in coordination with the United States Operations Mission to Bolivia.55

Unlike the first colony, where all families had lived in large com- pound houses, each family built its own home. Clearing and culti- vating the land was an individual rather than a collective responsibility. Initially, upon entrance to the new site, areas bordering the road were roughly cleared with a bulldozer. Felled trees were then

5 I"It is a great pleasure for me, the Chief Executive of the Government of the Ryukyu Islands, to offer a word of thanks to your Excellency on behalf of all the Ryukyuan people, for the kind assistance rendered by the United States in the fulfillment of the emigration program. . . . A solution of the Ryukyuan emigration problem will lead to the satisf actory conclusion of such difficult problems of land, population, economy, and social welfare in the Ryukyu Islands. Simultaneously with such results, the Ryukyuan emigrants are believed to be able to make significant contributions in the development of natural resources in the areas to which they have migrated and contribute to the betterment of that nation 's economy. . . ." This letter is dated July 15, 1954.

52 Government of the Ryukyu Islands, Bureau of Social Affairs, Kosei Haksho (Naha, 1960), p. 170.

" This figure was subsequently raised to 15,000 hectares (37,500 acres), which included legal title to the land.

14 One chobu equals 2.45 acres. s Letter, Congressman Walter H. Judd to the author, dated March 14, 1955.

Congressman Walter H. Judd was responsible for requesting that the Congress appropriate $800,000 for assisting emigration from the Ryukyuan Archipelago to Latin America, in 1954. Out of these funds, $180,000 were released in November, 1955, and $200,000 were allocated for use by Okinawa Colony Number 2, in July, 1960. The balance of $420,000 was approved by Congress in November, 1961. See: Letter, Ichiro Inamine, President Ryukyu Overseas Association, to the author, dated October 12, 1954; Letter, Shigeru Yoseyama, Director, Economics Depart- ment, Government of the Ryukyu Islands, to the author, dated July 12, 1962; U. S. Statutes at Large, LXVIII, Part I, 844; U. S., Congress, Public Law 87-195, 87th Congress, S. 1983, 1961, p. 40.




stripped and burned, and crops were planted among the burned stumps. Road construction and other projects vital to the entire colony were accomplished by community effort. In the space of nine months, the settlers had cleared and put into cultivation 975 acres; the principal crops were rice, corn, and manioc. Individual family crops also included sweet potatoes, peanuts, soy beans, and vegetables. In 1956 a cooperative was formed under the title of Okinawa Colonists Agricultural Corporation, to facilitate the processing, transportation, and marketing of their farm products. Buntoku Shinzato was chosen to head the organization. By early 1957 the colony was self-sustaining in foodstuffs except for sweet potatoes, some of which were being purchased in the Santa Cruz markets. The food supply was supplemented by shooting local game such as tapir and armadillo, and by fishing in the Rio Pailoln.56

The colony in 1957 possessed five tractors, two trucks, and one Jeep, with three tractors and two sawmills in transit. Because of the high price of timber in Santa Cruz, it was believed that the sawmills would provide the colonists with an opportunity to augment their cash incomes. An estimated forty-five kilometers of road had then been constructed throughout the colony, together with crude feeder roads to the individual family holdings. Plans for an all-weather access road linking the colony with the market outlet were being developed.57

A survey made of the colony in February, 1957, indicated that no sickness had been reported since the move was made, and that the population then totaled 569. It was concluded that: "The condition and progress of the colony and the amount of equipment it possesses, in contrast to other colonies in the area, reflects the special attention and support which the United States agencies within Bolivia have given to this project. The colony appears to be firmly established, and barring unforeseen circumstances, should be entirely self-support- ing at the end of another year." The government of the colony was based on an elected seven-man council which met once or twice monthly. The leader of the colony was also an elected official. A full time clerk was employed to maintain records and correspondence.58

By July, 1959, the population of the colony had risen to 815 persons (273 adult males, and 204 women over age sixteen; minor boys numbered 165, and minor girls, 173). Five schools were in operation, with instruction being given only in Spanish. A church, under construction at Montero, was being erected on property donated by the

" Kosei Haksho, p. 172; Office, Chief of Occupied Areas and Military Govern- ment, Department of the Army, Washington, D. C., Visit to Okinawan Colony, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia, February 27, 1957, pp. 4-6.

" Visit to Okinawan Colony, p. 7. 58 Ibid., p. 3; 8.




colony, the colonists also supplying the lumber and labor. Since the colony was established, there had been 156 births, twenty-seven deaths, and twenty-three marriages (three marriages with Bolivian women). There were thirteen who could read, write, and speak Spanish, and twelve who could be used as interpreters. None of the colonists wished to return to the Ryukyus, and many desired to obtain Bolivian citizen- ship.59 The generally excellent conditions prevailing in the colony were reported by a member visiting in Sdo Paulo, in August, 1959.60

The colony was self-sufficient in food in 1959, and had a capacity for assisting new immigrants. The farm products were being transported to Santa Cruz on trucks belonging to the Corporation. About 560 tons of cleaned rice was sold for U. S. $75,000, and of the 1,600 tons on hand, another eight hundred tons was available for marketing at U. S. $108,000. The economic progress of the colonists was reflected in their ability to pay the first installment owed to the Emigration Bank in the Ryukyus. This totaled U. S. $8,300, and each family agreed, without exception, to pay its share.61

Although the 1959 rice crop was excellent, rice production is un- stable owing to the weather, for only dry-land rice is grown. United States and Bolivian authorities had concluded that rather than rely too heavily on rice production, the colonists should develop the sugar industry which is more stable and brings higher returns. Bolivia was importing annually U. S. $40 million in sugar, and to spur domestic production, the Development Loan Fund gave a U. S. $2.5 million loan to the Bolivian La Belgica Sugar Mill. Be- cause of these circumstances, and the fact that Ryukyuans are skillful sugar cane growers, it was proposed that a sugar mill be built near the Santa Cruz colonies.62

The encouraging prospects for the growth of the sugar industry in Bolivia prompted businessmen in the Ryukyus to urge the establish- ment of a sugar company there. The Overseas Emigration Corpora-

" Office of Public Information, USCAR, Naha, Okinawa, Press Release Number 542, July 23, 1959; Office, Chief of Occupied Areas and Military Government, Department of the Army, Washington, D. C., Okinawan Colony in Bolivia, June 5, 1959, pp. 2-3.

60 Paulista Shimbun, August 29, 1959. 01 Okinawan Colony in Bolivia, p. 3. New equipment acquired since 1955

included two trucks, two thousand axes and hatchets, 570 plows, 430 scoops, 225 seeding machines, seven maize threshing machines, and one rice cleaning machine. There were three bulldozers in the old colony which were used by the Cooperative mainly for road construction and repair, and cultivation. They were also available for personal use at rates of U. S. $6.70 to U. S. $7.50 per hour. This heavy equipment was considered indispensable to the success of the colony. It should be noted that a Japanese colony, established in this same general area of Santa Cruz Department, had proved unsuccessful by 1959, largely because of the lack of equipment.

02 Ibid.




tion, however, decided to stress a local organization which would be financed by the International Cooperation Administration, the World Bank, and through the subscription of shares among the colonists, the latter being entrusted with the management of the company.63

In March, 1959, Colony Number 2 was established on sixteen thousand chobu (approximately forty thousand acres) of land, located near Wapomo, about forty miles northeast of Santa Cruz city. By November, 1960, this colony had a population of 731, made up of 122 families. The colonists at this time had cleared an average of seventeen acres per family, a rice mill had been built, and it was anticipated that two thousand tons of rice would be harvested at the end of that year. A school was functioning with instruction in the Spanish language, and evening classes for adults were in session.64

The development of Colony Number 3 began in April, 1962, when the fourteenth immigrant group, made up of 194 persons (twenty-nine families) reached Santa Cruz; the fifteenth and sixteenth groups arriving in May and June, 1962, respectively, were expected to bring the population to a total of 482 persons, comprising seventy-three families. This colony is situated about twenty miles east of Santa Cruz, to the southeast of Colony Number 2, and embraces 18,321 hectares of land.65

With the exception of the low points in the early period of transi- tion and adversity, Ryukyuan immigration in Bolivia since 1953 has progressed steadily, as is shown below :66

1954 401 1955 120 1956 18 1957 214 1958 437 1959 452 1960 309 1961 480

2.421

a Okinawa Press Summary, September 22, 1960, Okoinawa Times. This project remained in abeyance in July, 1962.

' Kosei lalksho, p. 172; Okinawa Press Summary, November 4, 1960, Ryulkyu Shimpo.

s Letter, Economics Department, Government of the Ryukyu Islands, to the author, dated July 12, 1962.

36 Government of the Ryukyu Islands, Bureau of Social Affairs, "Immigra- tion Areas and Ryukyuan Immigrants, 1948-1961, " Naha, 1962 (a single page supplement). All but sixty-nine persons went to the Santa Cruz region. A more recent report from the Economics Department of the Government of the Ryukyu Islands discloses that the total had risen to 2,874 through March, 1962, plus the immigrants sent to Colony Number 3.




Data issued by the Bureau of Social Affairs, Government of the Ryukyu Islands, indicates that in the period 1955-1960, the Ryukyuan colonists in the Santa Cruz area produced 11,230 tons of rice, and 1,160 tons of corn. In the same period they had cleared, or partially cleared, about eighteen thousand acres of land, and eighty-five miles of road had been built.67

In November, 1960, the six schools of the colony enrolled 690 students, 362 male and 328 female.68 Dr. Takara Ken, the resident physician in the Santa Cruz colonies, who returned to Okinawa in 1960, was critical of the educational facilities saying: "The only trouble is the education of the children. There are two primary schools and four branch schools, but because the teachers are all Bolivians, the children are busy studying the Spanish language. There are also cases in which children who attended schools in Okinawa are ahead of teachers in natural science and mathematics. Another trouble is the lack of recreational facilities, and all they can do is to go to Santa Cruz occasionally to see Japanese films. " In regard to health and diet, he said: . . . "few diseases are found in Colonia Okinawa, and the Okinawan resettlers in Bolivia feed themselves immeasurably better than the people in Okinawa and Japan... '69

Cornelius Zondag, Economic Advisor to the United States Opera- tions Mission to Bolivia, commenting in 1956 upon the resettlement and colonization projects in the Santa Cruz area said: "So far this has been one of the Corporation's most successful projects....170 An official of the International Cooperation Administration who visited Santa Cruz in October, 1960, reported that Colony Number 2 had made remarkable progress and was, in his judgment, the best colonization project in the country.71 Recognition that the Ryukyuan colonists are making a significant contribution to the growth and stability of the Bolivian economy is reflected in a report of the United States Operations Mission in 1960, which indicated that: "One of the outstanding achievements of the development of the Santa Cruz region has been the rapid and dramatic increase in rice production which presently supplies close to 80 per cent of the national consumption, and, as a substitute for imports, represents a yearly saving of t4.000.000 in scarce foreign exchange.... "72

" Kosei Halosho, p. 169; 171. 08 Ibid., pp. 172-173. " Okinawa Press Summary, November 8, 1960, Ryukyu Shimpo. 70 Cornelius H. Zondag, Problems in the Economic Development of Bolivia

(La Paz, 1956), p. 177. 71 Okinawa Press Summary, November 4, 1960, Ryukoyu Shimpo. 72 United States Operations Mission to Bolivia, Point Four in Bolivia 1942-

1960 (La Paz, 1960), p. 41. The Ryukyuan colonies are among six colonization groups producing rice in the Santa Cruz region.




The earlier Ryukyuan communities and present day colonies in eastern Bolivia must be seen as distinct phases of their settlement on the pioneer fringe in the interior of South America. Other notable examples would include their communities in the Argentine Chaco, northward from Resistencia; in Brazil, the large group in southern Mato Grosso, in and near Campo Grande; those who have been on the periphery of the expanding frontier in Sdo Paulo, to the north and northwest of Marilia and Presidente Prudente; and the communities in Parana extending from Londrina to Cambara and Andira.3

As pioneers, able to withstand the hardships of frontier life, the Ryukyuans have exhibited outstanding competence. And, as a major segment within the Japanese population, they have made important contributions to the local, and sometimes national, economic development of their host countries. It is also evident that the Ryukyuans have exerted an influence on the socio-economic structure of the frontier wherever they are located. For the most part, by Latin American standards, the Ryukyuans in the rural sections are middle-class farmers. As such, they have provided a successful example, frequently in marginal areas, of relatively small-scale, capitalistic agriculture in countries where latifundia has been traditional.74

"See the author's: The Oloinawans in Latin America (Washington, 1955), pp. 91-367; 373-432; 484-497; 571-576.

74 Ibid.



the ryukyuans in bolivia

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