1906 Takei Nekketsu Map of Japantown, Honolulu, Hawaii

The only known example of this exceptional 1906 or Meiji 39 Takei Nekketsu (武居熱血) Japanese map the old Japantown of Honolulu, Hawaii. The map roughly corresponds to Honolulu's modern day Downtown and Chinatown districts, but at the time, this area was the center of Japanese life on the islands. The map identifies and advertises utilities, Japanese businesses, government offices, the Japanese consulate, banks, railroads, and more.

Japanese Immigration to Hawaii

Japanese exchange with Hawaii dates to the early 19th century when, in 1806, when the survivors of the ill-fated Japanese cargo ship Inawaka-maru, were stranded on the archipelago. These survivors were treated well by the king, leading to an official Hawaiian delegation to Japan in 1866. The first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii, the 142 men and 6 women, known as the Gannenmono (元年者) arrived to years later in 1868 (Meiji I). These first Japanese immigrants were brought to Hawaii as low-cost labor to work sugar plantations. Following mistreatments associated with the sugar plantations, the Emperor banned further immigration to Hawaii until 1885. In that year, a second wave of 153 Japanese immigrants arrived, also to indentured to work sugarcane and pineapple plantations. Further immigration followed, with about 900 total immigrants arriving in 1885 alone. Nearly 30,000 followed in the subsequent years. Many returned to Japan when their three-year plantation contracts expired, but some stayed, becoming known as the Issei, the first generation. Their children, born in Hawaii, were consequently known as the Nisei.

Brought to Hawaii as indentured plantation workers, the Japanese immigrants to Hawaii were generally ill-treated as second-class citizens. They nonetheless maintained their Japanese language, religion, and traditions, often preferring to bring marriage partners from Japan rather than wed locals. Thus, a large and mostly homogenous Japanese community emerged, with their own businesses, neighborhoods, hospitals, and schools. This large Japanese population was one of the regions the Japanese Empire during World War II set their sights on Hawaii. Today, Japanese culture remains a vibrant part of Hawaii culture and Japanese Hawaiians make up the second largest ethnic group in Hawaii.

Publication History and Census

This is one of two large format maps apparently issued by the same publisher in Hawaii. The present example focuses on the Japantown or Japanese district of Honolulu, and the second on the Hawaiian islands in general (see Geographicus: HawaiiShopping-japanese-1906). The map was prepared by Takei Nekketse (武居熱血) in Hawaii, but printed in Tokyo, Japan. It printed on Printed February 20, 1906 and released on March 1 of the same year.

We have identified no other surviving examples of this rare and important cartographic documentation of early Japanese life and settlement in Honolulu. Important and rare.