International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS)

246.

Panel Title            : THE PACIFIC IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: HAWAII IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

Chair                      : Yoshinaga  Hayashi

Convener              : Yoshiaki  Katada

Discussant           : Yoshiaki  Katada

Panel Abstract    :

Our presentation will examine a regional history from a global perspective by focusing upon Hawaii in the early twentieth century.  In so doing, we investigate this regional history from various points of view in order to enrich the context in which Hawaii was changing over time.  For this purpose, we will adopt a multi-disciplinary approach. Yuasa will analyze Hawaii's changing political system in which Hawaii was incorporated into the U.S. political culture.  His presentation will shed light on the characteristics of the transformation of Hawaii's legislature in the global context. Kim will examine corporate healthcare in Hawaii's sugar plantation.  Her paper will trace some developments in imperial management strategies that initiated the transition in plantation healthcare from a system relying primarily on sanitation to programs of intensified infant and maternal hygiene.  She will also examine the ways healthcare on Hawaiian sugar plantations served as an example for health management in contemporary Pacific colonies. Katada will show what roles Hawaii played in the U.S.-Japanese relations by examining both countries mutual perception of Hawaii in naval terms.  For this purpose, his paper will explore the Japanese Navy's perception of, and the construction of Pearl Harbor as a chief U.S. naval base in the Pacific. Hayashi will highlight the changing role and characteristics of Hawaii in U.S. national defense in terms of the aviation technology development.  His paper will demonstrate the fact that the emergence of air power altered the existing meaning of time and distance in military strategies, thus changing the relations between Japan and the U.S. in geopolitical terms. Thus, our presentation will show the diverse changes in many fields such as colonial administration and management, technology, and military strategies through the examination of Hawaii in broader terms.

Participants         :

Yoshiaki  Katada

Paper Title            : Pearl Harbor before "Pearl Harbor"

Abstract                :

In exploring the mutual attitudes over the Pacific, centered in Hawaii, it is possible to notice a wide perception gap between Japan and the U.S. from their military views in the 1920s.  Although not only the U.S. Navys Orange Plan but also Japans 1923 version of Imperial National Defense Plan reflected heightened antagonism in terms of naval trategies, neither country possessed a navy powerful enough to menace each other.  In East Asia, Japan did not face a real military threat from the U.S.  Few U.S. soldiers were stationed in China while the Philippines and Guam were put under the Washington naval limitation system. However, in spite of this national security that Japan enjoyed vis--vis the U.S. military power, the Japanese Navy planned a surprise attack upon Guam in the event of war in the aforementioned Defense Plan.  This attack would lead to the direct denial of the naval treaties which insured Japans security in East Asian warters. Here arises a major question as to why the Navy did not form its strategy in which it would start the war with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor rather than Guam.  In the 1920s, Hawaii was a place where the U.S. was allowed to expand naval power without any limitation.  Indeed, some U.S. leaders emphasized the importance of improving its naval base and military fortifications. Therefore, the leaders of the Japanese Navy could predict that Pearl Harbor would be the intersection where Japan and the U.S. would clash in the event of war.  We all know that, in reality, later in 1941, the Japanese navy did start the Pacific war by attacking Hawaii, not Guam.  Accordingly, my final question is how the Navys perception of Peal Harbor was changing over time in the course of its development as a naval base.

Jean J. Kim

Abstract                :

In this paper, I examine some of the disparate dynamics shaping the emergence of infant and maternal welfare programs in metropolitan states as well as their colonies after World War I with a particular focus on corporate healthcare organized under the auspices of Hawaii's sugar plantations. I trace some of the wider developments in imperial management strategies that initiated the transition in plantation healthcare from a system relying primarily on sanitation to programs of intensified infant and maternal hygiene.  I do this by surveying changing modes of imperial management espoused in diverse Asian and Pacific colonial contexts as well as in the metropolitan United States during the 1920s and 1930s.  By attending to local, national, and international factors shaping this shift, I hope to contextualize Hawaiï and its plantations within broader global developments. Technical innovations in plantation management were never purely endogenous.  Instead, they were often shaped by the transnational and inter-imperial circulation of ideas throughout Asia, the Pacific, and the United States, which are crucial to understanding this local institution. In addition to examining how plantation medicine drew upon a wider international framework for its own programs, I also examine the ways healthcare on Hawaiian sugar plantations served as an example informing health management in contemporary Pacific colonies.  Plantation doctors often commented that Hawaiï's plantations were a microcosm where valuable knowledge about 'Pacific peoples' could be gathered and disseminated. They were internationally mobile, many taking three-month leaves of absence every three or four years in order to travel to the U. S. and to various parts of Europe, Canada, Asia, and Africa for recreation and learning the latest medical techniques and ideas.  Before and after working on Hawaiï's plantations, doctors took up practice in East and Southeast Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and Africa.  Many also served abroad in the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II.  An understanding of these inter-colonial circuits is critical to explanations of changing territorial medical programs.

Yoshinaga  Hayashi

Paper Title            : The Geopolitical View of the Pacific Ocean -The US Westward from CONUS

  via Hawaii to the Japanese Archipelago

Abstarct                :

This report will introduce the U.S. westward, geo-strategy from the CONUS, via Hawaii, to Japan.  During the period between WWI and WWII, especially from 1920 to 1930, strategic thinking had emerged over the Pacific.  Particularly, the geopolitics had become the cornerstone to plan strategies regarding the Pacific region, reflected by Mahan's maritime strategy and Mitchell's air strategy. At first, the Pacific islands appeared in the sights of the U.S. Navy.  Later, they became vital military points for U.S. interests.  Of all the islands in the U.S. region, Hawaii was positioned as the best, with the most superior geo-strategic location in terms of air-power for the future. The importance of the Hawaii had become much more significant than before.  When considering air-power, Mitchell points out the following in his book. Air-superiority over the islands can intercept any attack. In order to maintain the U.S. interests and sovereignty, the Philippines as a colony and Hawaii as a relay-base are vital strategic points. Military aircrafts should become decisive combat power to control the Pacific. Japanese aerial attack on Hawaii is inevitable. In those days, in terms of Japan's military technology, It would be unreasonable to speculate that Japan would have attempted to occupy the CONUS with a foothold by possessing the Hawaiian islands.  In contrast with Japan, there is clear evidence that the U.S. had been concerned with the value of Hawaii's geopolitical location. The context of 'The Westward Trail of USA' can be confirmed.  There were five steps such as 'From Europe to the CONUS', 'Westward', 'Control of Panama Channel', 'Control of Hawaii', and 'Influence into the Deep West Pacific from Philippine'.  This trail led the U.S. to proceed to East Asia and the West Pacific regions. Even today, the U.S. could continuously maintain her westward strategy. That strategy in the Pacific had started with the U.S. annexation of Hawaii.  Positively, it was the most important first step for the U.S. to be able to establish the largest maritime hegemony on earth.

Harumichi  Yuasa

Paper Title            : Transformation of Hawaiian Politics and Administration

Abstarct                :

In this paper, it will be analyzed how Hawaii has transformed its political system in the process of Hawaii's incorporation into the U.S. political culture. For a century, Hawaii has experienced rapid transformation of political and administrative system. In 1893, supporters of the Reform Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom confined the last Hawaiian monarch, Liliuokalani, and established the provisional government. Later, they settled the Republic. In 1898, Hawaii was annexed to the United States of America, and became a U.S. territory, Hawaii was granted self-governance in 1900. In 1959, Hawaii attained the statehood and became the fiftieth states of the United States. Hawaii also experienced the dynamics of population with various ethnicities. In the era of the monarchy, A majority of Hawaiian people consisted of the descendant of Polynesian settlers. In the end of the 19th century, A people of American and European ancestry increased, and they took over the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii. However, a people of Asian ancestry occupied a large proportion of Hawaii's population, especially Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos. Many of them were the descendants of foreign immigrants brought to Hawaii in the nineteenth century to work on the sugar plantations. After World War II, descendants of Japanese immigrants wielded great power in Hawaiian politics. After World War II, positions of Governors, Representatives and Senators have been often occupied by Japanese Americans. In my paper, I will explore the characteristics of Hawaii's political process in order to understand why Hawaii has maintained the multicultural politics and attained prosperity in spite of the drastic change and conversion of political and administrative system.