The Hoover Institution Library & Archives at Stanford University and the Japanese Association for Migration Studies, as part of the Third International Workshop on Japanese Diaspora 2024, invite you to "Crafting Japanese Immigrant Nationalism in 1930s' Hawai'i" a lecture by Mire Koikari, Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. 

Prior to World War II, Japanese immigrant nationalism flourished in the US territory of Hawai‘i. At the center of this little-known phenomenon were imon bukuro (comfort bags), gendered artifacts embodying sekisei (sincere hearts) of immigrant women who were eager to gift their labors of love to Japanese soldiers—those aboard the navy training vessels visiting Hawai‘i as well as those deployed in the battlefields in mainland China. Far from a localized phenomenon, this grassroots campaign was part of the larger tale of Japan’s empire-building in which island and homeland, gunboat and sewing needle, and territorial conquest and seaborne expansion all played crucial roles. Showcasing three archival gems in the Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection of newspapers—Nippu Jiji, Hawaii Hochi, and Jitsugyo-no-Hawaii—the presentation explores how a seemingly innocuous story of women and handicraft presents a surprising opportunity to reconsider the intertwined history of Japan and Japanese America from a transpacific perspective.