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The Japan Society of New York City Honors the Visit of Prince Iyesato Tokugawa – Recently Discovered 1934 Photo

February 22, 2020 by Stan S. Katz Leave a Comment

Here is an important moment in history, when the leader of the Japanese peace and democracy movement met with his counterparts in the United States during a challenging period of U.S. Japan relations. This rare, perhaps one of a kind photo presents the Japan Society’s Annual Dinner event honoring Prince Tokugawa on Feb. 27, 1934 – This diplomatic goodwill gathering took place at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. [Source of photo: TheEmperorAndTheSpy.com archives – The actual photo is 14 x 22 inches in size.]

Above: Right half of the Feb. 27, 1934 photo: Prince Tokugawa and other dignitaries sit at a table on the front stage, with an American and Japanese flag hanging behind them. It is amazing how a photo can almost bring people and events back to life. As a potential, future, historical project, it would be interesting to identify as many guests as possible who attended this celebratory event. This current presentation will focus on the individuals seated at the front table.

Above: Left half of the Feb. 27, 1934 photo

Historical note

The global economic depression of the 1930s, combined with the spread of communism and fascism contributed to an internationally unstable and dangerous period in history. Prince Iyesato Tokugawa (aka Prince Tokugawa Iesato 1863-1940), supported by his Japanese and non-Japanese allies, heroically devoted his diplomatic/political career to creatively striving to maintain goodwill between Japan and the U.S., as well as other nations.

Over the many years it took to create the recently published, illustrated biography on Prince Tokugawa, titled The Art of Peace, the author of this blog post was constantly surprised how this great statesman had largely been forgotten, despite Tokugawa having been the diplomatic face of Japan internationally for the first forty years of the 1900s, while also holding significant political influence domestically, as the President of Japan’s upper house of congress, The House of Peers.

During the 1934 Japan Society Annual Dinner, Prince Tokugawa eloquently declared:

“The bulk of public opinion and the best of character and intelligence was on the side of peace,” and that it was “most regrettable, that statements predicting war (between their nations) had been circulated on both sides of the Pacific and even on the other side of the Atlantic.”

“Thinking men in Japan do not wish to disturb the traditional goodwill and friendship that unite us with America, and I believe that sentiment is reciprocated by sensible people in this country. You on this side of the Pacific and we on the other side, all know that a war between our two countries would not only be unprofitable, but highly disastrous to both of us.”

To prove his above statement, Prince Tokugawa gave specific details highlighting the enormous economic interdependence of the U.S. and Japan, and clarified just how mutually beneficial America/Japan trade was. Prince Tokugawa admitted that Japan-U.S. relations had occasionally experienced some strains in the past, but that was true of many other nations as well. He recalled the success of the Four-Power Pacific Pact (signed on Dec. 13, 1921, during the Washington Naval Conference) between Great Britain, France, Japan and the U.S. The Four-Power Pacific Pact required any controversy arising out of any Pacific question, if not settled satisfactorily by diplomacy, should be considered and settled at a joint conference. These four nations agreed to respect the status quo in the Pacific and respect the territorial holdings of these countries and not attempt to pursue further territorial expansion.

Some of the other speakers at this gathering were: Reverend James DeWolf Perry, presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, and great-nephew of Commodore Perry; former Ambassador to Japan Roland S. Morris of Philadelphia; and Henry Waters Taft President of the Japan Society of New York City, who presided over this 1934 event. Henry W. Taft was the brother of former President William Howard Taft.

During this February 27^th event, Henry W. Taft said, “Japan and the Americans were increasingly making themselves understood one to the other,” and that he believed that “despite occasional differences in national policies, the spirit of mutual helpfulness will grow and abide.”

Source: The New York Times article, February 28, 1934: “Japan Shuns War, Says Tokugawa”

-The below newspaper article comes from the Evening Star (Washington, District of Columbia) 26 Feb 1934, Monday Page 16. It highlights some of Prince Tokugawa’s other diplomatic engagements during his 1934 visit to the U.S.

The Society Section headline stated: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was going to hold a luncheon honoring Prince Tokugawa.

The news article also mentioned that during his 1934 visit, Prince Tokugawa was hosted at other diplomatic events given by:

–Ambassador of Japan and Madame Saito

–U.S. Chief Justice and Mrs. Charles Evans Hughes

–Ambassador of Spain Juan Francisco de Cardenas and his wife Senora de Cardenas

–Miss Mabel Thorp Boardman – philanthropist involved with the American Red Cross

–Secretary of State Cordell Hull

– Under Secretary of State William R. Castle Jr.

-Former Japanese Consul General and Madame Horinouchi

-While in Washington, D.C., Prince Tokugawa visited the American Red Cross National Headquarters and the U.S. Senate.

Prince Iyesato Tokugawa, supported by his Japanese and non-Japanese allies, was so influential in Japan & internationally, it was only after his passing in 1940, that a global war erupted in Pacific.

The Japan Society which sponsored the 1934 Annual Dinner that honored Prince Tokugawa’s visit, continues to this day as a leading U.S. organization committed to deepening mutual understanding between the United States and Japan in a global context. Now in its second century, the Society serves audiences across the U.S. and abroad through innovative programs in arts and culture, public policy, business, language and education.

Japan Society was founded on May 19, 1907 by a group of prominent New York business people and philanthropists, many of whom shaped the policies of exchange and collaboration that guided the Society until the outbreak of World War II. After the war, activities slowly resumed. The stewardship of John D. Rockefeller 3rd from 1952 to 1978 led to a unified vision, a firm financial foundation, and a revitalized mission that continues to inspire and sustain the organization.

Today, Japan Society, located at 333 East 47th Street, New York City, has evolved into a world-class, multidisciplinary hub for global leaders, artists, scholars, educators, and English and Japanese-speaking audiences. At the Society, more than 100 events each year feature sophisticated, topically relevant presentations of Japanese art and culture, and also open, critical dialogue on issues of vital importance to the U.S., Japan, and East Asia.

Photo taken Oct. 2008: (Source: Wikipedia, contributor Jim Henderson)

Source for the above description: the Japan Society website.

To learn more about this fine organization, here is their internet link:

https://www.japansociety.org/

To better recognize the guests seated at the front table with Prince Tokugawa, below are some enlarged segments of the photo. The guests have been numbered to assist in identifying them. Some have been identified, but if you recognize any who haven’t, please send this information thru the comment section at the end of this blog post. Thank you.

Prince Tokugawa sits (seventh seat from the left), accompanied his son, Iyemasa Tokugawa, and their hosts. Obtaining good scanned images of the front table was challenging, in that the photographer took this photo from the furthest position from those being honored on the front stage, but an attempt has currently been made to add contrast and modify the lighting to enhance the image. The below sectional views used slightly different modifications to bring out the details as best as possible.

Starting on the Left and moving right, the attendees have been given identifying numbers 1 to 15 to assist in identification. Below are further enlarged segments of the above photo.

Starting on the Left and moving right:

1- Unknown

2- Probably the former Japanese Consul General Horinouchi

3- Probably the wife of former Japanese Consul General Horinouchi

4- Iemasa Tokugawa (徳川家正, March 23, 1884 – February 18, 1963, aka Tokugawa Iemasa, Iyemasa Tokugawa, Tokugawa Iyemasa, and Yoshihisa Tokugawa) – Iemasa Tokugawa was the son and supporting ally of Prince Iyesato Tokugawa. Iemasa was a political/diplomatic figure of the Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was the 17th hereditary head of the former shogunal branch of the Tokugawa dynasty and the final President of the House of Peers in the Diet of Japan. At the time of this 1934 event, he was the Japanese Minister to Canada.

Starting on the Left and moving right:

5- Reverend James DeWolf Perry, presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, and great-nephew of Commodore Perry.

6- Probably the wife of Reverend James DeWolf Perry

7- Prince Iyesato Tokugawa

8- Henry Waters Taft President of the Japan Society, presided over this 1934 event – He was the brother of former President William Howard Taft.In 1929, Emperor Hirohito honored Henry Waters Taft with the insignia of the Second Class of the Order of the Rising Sun, together with a diploma signed by the Emperor. This Insignia was presented to Taft by the Japanese Consul-General, in recognition of Taft’s fostering of international friendship.Source: The New York Times, June 28, 1929, Page 15Biographical note: In 1882, Henry W. Taft was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of law in Ohio. Shortly afterward, he joined Strong & Cadwalader, in New York City, later known as Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft. Taft became one of the most noted lawyers in New York – The law firm that continues to honor his name, Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft is headquartered at 200 Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan, and is New York City’s oldest law firm and one of the oldest continuously operating legal practices in the United States. It operates out of five offices across the United States and Europe. In addition to its Wall Street location, it has offices in Washington, D.C., Charlotte, London, and Brussels.

Starting on the Left and moving right:

9- Roland Sletor Morris (March 11, 1874 – November 23, 1945) was a U.S. diplomat and politician, and one of the founding partners of the international law firm of Duane Morris, in Philadelphia. Morris served as U.S. ambassador to Japan from 1917 to 1920 – To improve U.S. Japan relations in April 1917, the America-Japan Society, located in Japan, was born pledging friendly interexchange and fosterage of mutual understanding between the Japanese and American people. The first president of the Society was Kentaro Kaneko, a Harvard University graduate and one of the members involved in drafting the Constitution of the Empire of Japan; Roland Morris, US Ambassador to Japan at the time, was nominated as honorary president; Iyesato Tokugawa, Eiichi Shibusawa, Korekiyo Takahashi, Jokichi Takamine were honorary vice presidents; Inazo Nitobe, Takuma Dan, Junnosuke Inoue were on the list of the Executive Committee. They were leaders from political and business establishments, as well as from the academic community of that era.

10- Probably the wife of Roland Morris: Augusta Twiggs Shippen West Morris, a relative of both Levi Twiggs and Edward Shippen.

11- Unknown gentlemen behind candelabra

12- Unknown lady

Starting on the Left and moving right:

13- Unknown gentlemen

14- Unknown lady

15- Unknown gentlemen

The 1934 Japan Society Annual Dinner photo was discovered while doing research for the illustrated biography on Prince Iyesato Tokugawa titled THE ART OF PEACE.

The book cover presents Prince Tokugawa receiving an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Southern California during his 1934 visit to the United States – This degree was bestowed upon him by the president of USC, in recognition of Prince Tokugawa’s many academic, diplomatic, and philanthropic contributions.

LINK TO THE INTRODUCTION OF THE BIOGRAPHY

1920 – An Important Event Encouraging Good US / Japan Relations. Recently discovered Photo – Frank A. Vanderlip, a leading US business figure and president of the Japan Society of New York City meets with Shibusawa Eiichi and representatives of Mitsui & Co., and other Japanese leaders.

February 16, 2020 by Stan S. Katz 6 Comments

Above is an original 1920 photo (far right segment) of the larger photo shown just below. It presents an exciting moment in international business relations, an early U.S. Japan trade/economic alliance being formed, while at the same strengthening U.S. Japan political and cultural relations. This gathering took place at the home of Baron Shibusawa (seated front row, seventh from the left in the below photo).

The successful American banker and journalist Frank A. Vanderlip (seated 10th from the left in the upper black and white photo, and standing 7th from the left in the lower black and white photo.

Vanderlip headed this U.S. business delegation to Japan, where he was met by Baron Shibusawa Eiichi and other Japanese business and governmental leaders. Vanderlip was the former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury from 1897 to 1901 and major contributor to the future creation of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. Baron Shibusawa is known as the Father of the Japanese Modern Capitalistic Economy, who among his many accomplishments launched Japan’s first national bank. In 1909, Vanderlip became the president of National City Bank which held more capital than any other bank in the U.S.

The above 1920 photo was taken following a special dinner hosted by Shibusawa Eiichi for Mr. Vanderlip and his family, along with their accompanying U.S. delegation. Several of individuals in the above photos have been identified. The remaining Japanese individuals will hopefully be identified in the future and this article will be updated.

The invited American guests of the day are as follows

Mr. Frank A. Vanderlip and Mrs. Vanderlip, and their daughter(s). (Mr. Vanderlip is standing 5th from the right in the bottom black and white photo, shown above.)

Mr. Harry E. Benedict – nationally known executive and economist,

Mr. Henry W. Taft and Mrs. Taft – Henry Waters Taft (May 27, 1859 – August 11, 1945) was an American lawyer and author. He was the son of Alphonso and brother of President William Howard Taft. A renowned antitrust lawyer, he was a name partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.

Mr. Jacob G. Shurman and Mrs. Shurman – Jacob Gould Schurman (May 2, 1854 – August 12, 1942) was a Canadian-born American educator and diplomat, who served as President of Cornell University and United States Ambassador to Germany.

Mr. Darwin Kingsley and Mrs. Kingsley – Darwin P. Kingsley ~ PRESIDENT NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE CO – 1906-1930

Mr. Julian Street and Mrs. Street, and daughter

Mr. Seymour L. Cromwell and Mrs. Cromwell – President of the New York Stock Exchange

Mr. Lewis L. Clark and Mrs. Clark, and daughter

Mr. Lyman Judson Gage (June 28, 1836 – January 26, 1927) was an American financier and Presidential Cabinet officer.

Mr. George Eastman – George Eastman (July 12, 1854 – March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. He was a major philanthropist, establishing the Eastman School of Music, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and schools of dentistry and medicine at the University of Rochester and in London Eastman Dental Hospital; contributing to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and the construction of several buildings at the second campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the Charles River. In addition, he made major donations to Tuskegee University and Hampton University, historically black universities in the South. With interests in improving health, he provided funds for clinics in London and other European cities to serve low-income residents. NOTE: The author of this blog post lived in Rochester for 10 years and got the chance to see many of the above fine institutions that George Eastman created. (Eastman is seated far left in the lower black and white photo, shown above.)

Mr. J. Lionberger Davis and Mrs. Davis – J. Lionberger Davis (John Lionberger) was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1878. He was a lawyer and banker; he graduated from Princeton in 1900, and studied law at Harvard and Washington University. He was founder and chairman of the Real Estate Mortgage Trust Company and the Security National Bank Savings and Trust Company in St. Louis, Missouri. During World War I, Davis served as managing director of the Alien Property Custodian from 1917-1919. He was an active Democrat and personal friend of Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. He died in 1973. Lionberger was an avid collector of fine art. Much of his art collection was gifted to various art museums around the country.

Mr. Edward Mulligan – might have been a banker.

Mr. Harry Serenbetz

Mr. Ballantine and Mrs. (details unknown); (spelling Valentine?)

Mr. Bors (details unknown)

*Note: Some of the information in the blog post was kindly provided by an individual who is included in the Comments Section at the end of this Blog Post.

Frank A. Vanderlip (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937)

Below is a 1909 photo of Frank A. Vanderlip – Source: Wikipedia, from the book: The World’s Work, 1909, by the Brown Brothers.

Baron Shibusawa Eiichi (渋沢栄, March 16, 1840 – November 11, 1931, aka Eiichi Shibusawa) was a Japanese industrialist who spearheaded the introduction of Western capitalism into Japan after the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

Photo date unknown – Source: Wikipedia

Baron Takuma Dan (團琢磨, September 7, 1858 – March 5, 1932) is on the far right of the 1908 photo of the original photo segment . He was a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was married to the younger sister of statesman Kaneko Kentarō. Dan was a successful Japanese businessman who became Director-General of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (三井物産, Mitsui Bussan) which is currently one of the largest sogo shosha (general trading companies) in Japan. It is part of the Mitsui Group, and its business sectors include energy, machinery, chemicals, food, textile, logistics, finance, and more. The company was established in 1876 with 16 members including the founder, Takashi Masuda.

Takuma Dan – photo date unknown: Source Wikipedia

Baron Takamine Mitsui (三井高棟, 8 February 1857 – 9 February 1948) is on the far left in the original photo segment.

In 1919, Takamine Mitsui was considered for the position of Japan’s new ambassador to the United States. At the time, he was the richest man in Japan and the head of the successful, centuries old, Mitsui family. He had worldwide commercial and financial interests and was described in the Press of his own country as the ‘Japanese Rockefeller’.

Baron Takamine Mitsui – Source: press photo circa 1919

Baron Takamine Mitsui

日本語: 三井高棟

Photo date: October 1913

Source Japanese book “Kazoku Gaho (Pictorial Peerage of the Empire of Japan)” published by Kazoku Gaho Sha.

日本語: 華族画報社「華族画報」より。

No reference photo could be found for Masao Shibusawa, son of Baron Shibusawa.

The below photo is from the 1920 original photo segment which shows what the author of this blog FIRST believed to be Masao Shibusawa. Verification from historians would be appreciated in confirming this information. During the 1920s, Masao Shibusawa was President of Tokyo Ishikawajima, a shipbuilding and engineering firm that also manufactured of cars, trucks, and small buses. This company would be part of the early history of domestic car manufacturing in Japan, leading to the company Isuzu. Source: The New Domestic Automakers in the United States and Canada: History, By A.J. Jacobs, Publisher: Lexington Books, 2016

Below photo: At first, incorrectly, the below individuals were assumed to be Baron Shibusawa left, with his son Masao Shibusawa right. It is not yet clear who they are.

The above photo is a section of the original 1920 photo segment: Left: Baron Mitsui, the right photo might be: Taka Kawada

The above 1917 reference photo presents: Baron Shibusawa Eiichi and Taka-Kawada: two of the Greatest Financiers in Japan. The photo was taken on the porch of Baron Shibusawa’s home. Shibusawa was known as the Father of Modern Banking and Economics in Japan (seen as the J. P. Morgan of Japan.) Above information: ”Journal of the American Asiatic Association” volume 17, March 1917-Dec. 1917: the article is titled: Japan’s Prosperity The New Wealth and Its Measure of New Reserve Power written by S. Joseph Reed, Jr. (The article relates to Japan’s economy and to the shipbuilding industry.) Photo source: archives of the author of this blog post.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT THE 1920 original PHOTO segment:

This rare photo was discovered six years ago by the author of this blog post, while doing research for an illustrated biography on Prince Tokugawa Iesato (aka Prince Iyesato Tokugawa 1863-1940), titled: The Art of Peace. The biography highlights the significant political, economic, and social welfare contributions of Prince Tokugawa Iesato and Baron Shibusawa Eiichi who often allied with one another to achieve Japan’s domestic and international goals. It offers a new perspective on U.S. Japan relations, during the first half of the 20th Century.

At first, it was largely a mystery as to who the individuals were and what the date of this photo was as well, and what was the event that brought these individuals together? This was not a press photo, which generally has description printed on the back. Research into newspaper archives found only one article that mentioned a large U.S. business delegation visiting Japan in Dec. 18, 1908, but this article didn’t list even one name of the U.S. delegates. This article did however state that the U.S. delegation was met by leading Japanese, but none of those Japanese were identified.

It appeared that this photo was most likely taken as a personal memory of Frank A. Vanderlip and his business delegation’s visit to Japan.

As part of the research, an inquiry was made with the Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation and Museum, an organization that honors the legacy and values of Baron Shibusawa and his allies. This organization was started over 120 years ago and is based in Asukayama Park in Oji, Tokyo, on the site of the former Shibusawa residence. The head of their library resources section kindly confirmed they didn’t know that Frank A. Vanderlip, along with his family, and his U.S. business delegation might have visited Japan in 1908 and that he might had met with Baron Shibusawa and other Japanese business leaders. Since that time, new information was provided that revealed that this meeting of East and West occurred in 1920, not 1908.

Here is the link to the Shibusawa organization’s website: https://www.shibusawa.or.jp/english/

The 1920 photo is 10 inches by 3.5 inches in size.

The reverse side of this significant, but age weathered photo is shown below.

Written in ink are the words:

“DINNER BY

BARON SHIBUSAWA

TO VANDERLIP MISSION“

If there had been a meeting between a Vanderlip business delegation and Japanese economic leaders in 1908, the reason for the limited press coverage for this meeting might well be that the participants wished privacy as they discussed urgent U.S. economic issues and the unstable and potentially adversarial political relations between the U.S. and Japan.

On the economic front this meeting was quite urgent, because of a recent, major economic downturn in the U.S., called The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers’ Panic, linked to the collapse of the U.S. Stock Market. Based on this U.S. economic crisis, a 1908 US business delegation visited Japan most likely had the goal of working together with their Japanese allies to bring back a stable and prosperous U.S. economy by increasing U.S. Japan trade & through the Japanese extending financial backing thru loans to the U.S. – These supportive measures would simultaneously improve the economy of Japan, and hopefully strengthen U.S. Japan political and cultural relations.

The below photo presents Wall Street during the Bank and Stock Market Crash which was called the 1907 Bankers’ Panic. Anxious crowds gathered around Federal Hall, one of the first of two historic buildings located at 26 Wall Street in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The original, a Federal style structure completed in 1703, served as New York’s first City Hall. Notice the statue of George Washington in front of the building. Source of photo: Wikipedia

Below is the newspaper article believed to be linked to the Vanderlip/U.S. 1908 business delegation visit to Japan:

Courtland Journal (Courtland, Kansas)

December 18, 1908, Friday, Page 2

This news article did not have a title, but appeared in a column with the heading:

“THE COMET”

A. Hoyt Publisher, Courtland, Kansas

Below is a transcription of the December 18, 1908 Courtland Journal article, followed by the scanned newspaper article:

“That visit of a big delegation of businessmen from the Pacific coast of the United States is having good results in Japan. The reception accorded the Americans, both on the part of officials and of the people of Japan generally, has been of the most cordial sort. The delegations has sailed for home, but before doing so held a meeting and adopted resolutions expressing pleasure in the friendship and good-will prevailing between the two nations, and urging the adopting of plans “whereby the commerce of the two countries may be increased and the friendship of the Japanese and American people made perpetual.” Intercourse such as that provided by the interchange of such visits will go far toward promoting those ends and removing all cause for misunderstanding.”

The following year, 1909, Shibusawa headed a Japanese business/goodwill delegation to the United States, that included 40 of Japan’s most prominent business leaders and notables. They came at the invitation of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific Coast. The Japanese delegates and their companions traveled from Pacific to Atlanta, and back again, touring and being welcomed in over fifty U.S. cities. The newspaper: The Buffalo Commercial – 05 Oct. 1909, Tue • Page 1 – gives some general details about Shibusawa and his Japanese delegation’s three month journey and states that that visit was in reciprocation for the fine hospitality given to the U.S. delegates during their 1908 visit. However, no mention is made that the 1908 visit had been headed by Frank A. Vanderlip, nor was there mention made that any photos had been taken of the Japanese and the U.S. representatives coming together in 1908.

With the goal of identifying all of the individuals in the below 1920 Photo, below are enlarged segments of that photo with the individuals given ID numbers. Those who are already recognized are named. Hopefully, historians or family members who visit will be able to assist in identifying those who haven’t yet been recognized. This information can be sent thru the comment section of this blog post. Thank you.

From: Right to left

1- Might be: Baron Takuma Dan (團琢磨, September 7, 1858 – March 5, 1932)

2- Might be Baron Shibusawa’s son, Masao Shibusawa.

3- Might be Baron Shibusawa’s son, Masao Shibusawa.

4- Unknown gentlemen with white mustache

5- Unknown gentlemen in top hat

From: Right to left

5- Unknown gentlemen

6- Unknown gentlemen

7- Unknown gentlemen

8- Might be: Taka Kawada (taller with black tie)

9- Baron Takamine Mitsui (三井高棟, 8 February 1857 – 9 February 1948)

From: Right to left

10- Might be: Daughter of Frank A. Vanderlip

11- Might be: Daughter of Frank A. Vanderlip

12- Might be companion for the Vanderlip children.

In 1909, in reciprocation for a 1908 U.S. business/goodwill delegation’s visit to Japan, Baron Shibusawa Eiichi, accompanied by his Japanese business/goodwill delegation toured the United States. During their visit, the Japanese were greeted by the Vanderlip family and top representatives of American Industry, such as General Electric and Westinghouse.

In the following year, 1910, Prince Tokugawa Iesato visited the U.S., to further strengthen the growing friendship between their two nations. Prince Tokugawa’s 1910 goodwill visit was strongly linked to the 1912 gifting of the Cherry Blossom Trees to the U.S. Capital, whose commemoration is now celebrated annually as the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

The Art of Peace biography presents Prince Tokugawa and his Japanese allies who creatively supported democracy and peace. For thirty years (1903-1933), Prince Tokugawa served as President of Japan’s upper house of congress, the House of Peers.

The below May 5, 1910 – The New York Daily Tribune newspaper article announces the coming arrival of Prince Tokugawa to New York City, after his and his delegation’s visit to Washington D.C. During this visit, Prince Tokugawa met with President William Howard Taft and many other U.S. governmental leaders.

As for Frank A. Vanderlip, in 1910 his services were required for secret business gatherings where press coverage was kept to a minimum, when Vanderlip came together with other U.S. financial experts on Dr. Jekyll Island, to plan out the creation of initial framework for the U.S. Federal Reserve System, a system which would play an important role in stabilizing the U.S. economy by overseeing the U.S. currency supply, to avoid similar events such as ‘The Panic of 1907’.

The below December 24, 1913 newspaper article highlights President Woodrow Wilson’s new currency laws as part of the establishment the U.S. Federal Reserve System. Source of illustration: Wikipedia

In 1915, Baron Shibusawa Eiichi again visited the U.S. on a diplomatic goodwill/business visit.

New-York Tribune (New York City), Dec. 3^rd, 1915, Friday, Page 9.

To honor Baron Shibusawa’s visit, on December 2, 1915 a dinner event was hosted by the Japan Society of New York City at the grand ballroom of the Hotel Astor. At this gathering, Viscount Sutemi Chinda the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. spoke of the growing positive relations between the U.S and Japan. There were 360 guests who attended this dinner and dance.

During his 1915 visit, Baron Shibusawa met with President Woodrow Wilson.

Another significant event linked to honoring Baron Shibusawa’s 1915 visit was held at a well-known restaurant in New York City, called Sherry’s. Among the 65 attendees who attended this banquet were former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft – A rare, perhaps one of a kind photo of this 1915 event is presented in another Blog post on this website.

Note: Upcoming blog posts will present other significant historical photos that require further identification of the individuals and of the events depicted – Historians/educators/researchers are invited to share their insights so as to bring greater clarity to these mysterious pieces of history. Your contributions will be acknowledged – To receive these future blog posts, you’re invited sign up at the top right.

BELOW IS A LINK TO A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE THAT COVERED THE 1920 MEETING BETWEEN THE VANDERLIP BUSINESS DELEGATION AND SHIBUSWA EIICHI, AND HIS JAPANESE COLLEAGES.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/208940552/?terms=shibusawa%20meets%20with%20frank%20vanderlip&match=1

In 1920 Frank A. Vanderlip became the president of the Japan Society of New York City.

The below information comes from the Japan Society website: https://www.japansociety.org/page/about/brief_history

“Japan Society of New York, established in 1907, was one of the pioneers of cultural exchange in the early 20th century. Begun in a time when few Americans knew anything about Japan, it quickly reached a wider audience than the few learned societies that focused on Asia at the time. Japan Society not only hosted leading Japanese visitors to the United States, it sponsored the first important exhibitions of Japanese art, published important books on Japan written by American experts, and promoted the study of Japan in American schools and universities by distributing learning materials and providing funds for prizes at the collegiate level. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, it became the leading forum for Japanese to encounter their American counterparts abroad.

As political and racial tensions worsened between Japan and the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, the Society steadfastly refused to take a political stance, preferring education to advocacy. Nonetheless, Japan Society worked with other internationalist groups, such as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace or the America-Japan Society of Tokyo, to increase contact between Americans and Japanese at all levels. The Society’s Annual Dinner became a venue for leading Japanese statesmen to give major addresses on the state of the U.S.-Japan relationship.”

Japan Society recognized Prince Tokugawa as their guest of honor at their 1934 Annual Dinner Celebration.

During Prince Tokugawa’s 1934 visit to the U.S., he was also greatly acknowledged by a prestigious university – The cover of the below biography highlights Prince Tokugawa receiving an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the president of the University of Southern California, for his contributions to education, international goodwill, and philanthropy.

THE ART OF PEACE highlights Prince Tokugawa and Baron Shibusawa, along with their Japanese and non-Japanese allies as they creatively promoted democracy and international goodwill during the first few decades of the twentieth century, an exciting, but often turbulent period of history.

THE ART OF PEACE comes in two versions: a general reader edition and an ‘expanded’ edition which has an additional 100 pages of historical notes and a comprehensive index to assist researchers.

AVAILABLE THRU AMAZON LINKS BELOW:

General Reader Edition

Expanded Edition

Bibliographical Sources for this blog post:

Courtland Journal (Courtland, Kansas) December 18, 1908, under a column with the heading: “THE COMET”, H. A. Hoyt Publisher” [Technical research details: Please note: It was difficult to discover this newspaper article online, in that no names of the participants were given by the U.S. press. So to find it, required entering the Search words: “Business delegation visits Japan” and the date period “1907-1908” on archival websites. If instead the search words for name of the newspaper “Courtland Journal” with the publication date “December 18, 1908” were used, no successful search results occurred.]
TheEmperorAndTheSpy.com.
Katz, Stan S. (2019). The Art of Peace, California: Horizon Productions. ISBN 978-0-9903349-2-7
“COMMERCIAL EMISSARIES FROM MIKADO’S LAND ARE GIVEN WELCOME”. “The Butte Miner” (Butte, Montana) page 10. September 15, 1909.
“TO MEET PRESIDENT – TAFT WILL MEET JAPANESE EMISSARIES AT MINNEAPOLIS – Baron Shibusawa Has Message From Emperor to Present to Chief Executive”. The Butte Miner (Butte, Montana). September 15, 1909.
“”JAPANESE VISITORS WHO WERE IN THE CITY YESTERDAY” (Prince Iyesato Tokugawa leads a Japanese goodwill delegation to Washington, D.C. and then to New York City, as part of the gifting of the Cherry Blossom Trees to the United States)”. The New-York Daily Tribune. May 5, 1910.
“JAPAN AFFAIRS ROSY, SAYS ENVOY” Relations with U.S. Decidedly Gratifying, Chinda Declares. Shibusawa Hopes for Lasting Peace. “Greatest Man of Affairs” Ends Strenuous Day as Guest at (Japan) Society Dinner: New-York Tribune, New York, New York, December 3rd, 1915, page 9.
“WILSON MEETS SHIBUSAWA. Welcomes Japanese Financier, Who Also Pays Visit to Lansing.” New York Times, published Dec. 7, 1915

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The 1909 Shibusawa Delegation visits Upstate, New York – U.S. and Japanese leaders come together in friendship over a Century Ago

February 15, 2020 by Stan S. Katz Leave a Comment

The Shibusawa 1909 Delegation is welcomed by the City of Ithaca.

Front cover to a celebratory Event Program/Dinner Menu (six page brochure) honoring the visit of Baron Eiichi Shibusawa & his wife, and his accompanying Japanese goodwill/business delegation.

The description reads:

“To The Honorary COMMERCIAL COMMISSIONERS of Japan and the American Trade Experts at the Ithaca Hotel, Ithaca, New York. U.S.A. Friday, October 8, 1909” – (Photo of beautiful Ithaca Falls.)

1909 Postcard of The Ithaca Hotel, where the event occurred.

Background History on Baron Shibusawa and his 1909 delegation:

Baron Shibusawa is known as the “Father of Japanese capitalism” and frequently referred to as the “Japanese J. P. Morgan.” An industrialist and entrepreneur, he was responsible for introducing Western-style capitalism to Japan during the Emperor Meiji period (1868-1912). With financial interests in railroads, steel, printing, gas, electric, mining, fishing, and oil, Shibusawa quickly became Japan’s wealthiest man. During his long life, Shibusawa helped launch over 500 companies, and was responsible for modernizing Japan’s economic and banking systems, including the introduction of paper notes. At one time, he was the director of seventy companies, however, he resisted direct ownership/control of most of the companies he helped launch, preferring an advisory role instead, giving more freedom for these new companies to determine their own strategies for growth.

Shibusawa founded the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the First National Bank of Japan – and for two decades, he was the chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce. His priorities went beyond pure profit, when referring to his business ventures, he called it stakeholder capitalism (rather than traditional capitalism). He felt strongly that the growth of a nation, economically and otherwise, depended on the involvement of many stakeholders. While profit was still a significant goal, he often integrated ethical beliefs, and even Confucianism, into his management practices. Beyond his business interests, he utilized his own funds to establish over 600 organizations aimed at social welfare, including hospitals, universities, and disaster relief programs among others.

At the start of the twentieth century, U.S. – Japanese relations reached a new stage, with Japan emerging as an economic powerhouse in the Pacific, combined with its growing military. To ease potential tensions between the two countries and also increase business/financial relations between their nations, a delegation of U.S. businessmen were invited to visit Japan in 1908. This invitation was sent to representatives of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific Coast. This invitation came from the chambers of commerce of six major cities of Japan: Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and Nagoya. Their invitation was accepted, and approximately sixty U.S. representatives made a tour of Japan, where they were received with generous and even lavish hospitality, not only by the people, but also by the imperial government. Prince Iyesato Tokugawa and Baron Eiichi Shibusawa were central figures in receiving this U.S. delegation.

-In appreciation for the fine cordiality shown to the U.S. delegation during their 1908 visit to Japan, an invitation in 1909 was now sent to the Japanese to tour the U.S. This invitation came from the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific Coast, whose membership included the chambers of commerce of eight principle cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Oakland in California, and Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, and Spokane in the Northwest.

Based on this pleasant invitation, in 1909, Baron Shibusawa headed a Japanese delegation to the U.S., which included many of Japan’s most prominent business leaders and notables. They sailed from Yokohama, on August 19, on the American steamship Minnesota, and arrived first in Seattle, Washington, on Wednesday, Sept. 1st. They left Seattle on Sept. 6th, and began their journey visiting 53 cities from the West coast to Boston, and returning from New York back to Los Angeles and then to San Francisco.

Of the fifty-eight members in this Japanese delegation, six were women (five of them the wives of the commissioners), thirteen private secretaries, and thirty-nine commissioners. They would travel 11, 000 miles thru-out the U.S. before returning home. This delegation included nine members of the Japanese parliament, two of the largest banking houses were represented by Baron Shibusawa, and the bank of Mitsui & Co. represented by Kenzo Iwahara, Managing Director. There were six other bankers in the group, and also representatives of nearly every line of industry and commerce, including the ownership and management of electric railways, shipbuilding, manufacturing of silk and cotton, exporting and importing, and stock market brokerage – The professions of law and medicine were also represented, as well as some well-known Japanese educators, authors, and newspaper writers.

Their main goals were to develop friendship between the two nations while encouraging bilateral trade and commerce. This sentiment was repeatedly expressed by Shibusawa and other commission members, as well as by their American hosts. The delegation made the news across the United States, during the course of their three month journey. They traveled in a specially outfitted ‘Million Dollar Train,’ provided by the American industrial community. Their meetings included many chambers of commerce. There were also tours of factories, power plants, fire departments, port facilities, mines, farms, schools, universities, libraries, theaters, churches, hospitals, and many other facilities.

1909 – Ithaca, New York – Raised observation platform with a crowd gathered awaiting a Train’s arrival – This postcard gives a sense of the welcoming reception given for the Japanese Delegation.

November 1909 photo from The Coast magazine (Seattle, Washington).

Baron and Baroness Shibusawa (front center), with the other Japanese delegates and their wives, pose at the Forestry Building at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. The delegation included bankers, presidents of the chambers of commerce from the largest cities in Japan, businessmen who were members of the Japanese Diet (Japanese Congress), and several Japanese consuls general, who were stationed in the United States. Delegates included representatives of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, lawyers, publishers, journalists, as well as a university professor and a physician. (Note: The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was a world’s fair held in Seattle, Washington, publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest. The fairgrounds became the campus of the University of Washington.) The Japanese delegation’s trip was arranged by Asahi, one of the largest newspapers in Japan (which is currently known as The Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞).

At the train station in the City of Ithaca, a large reception was given for their honored Japanese visitors – This greeting party included the city’s current Mayor and nine former Mayors. Also attending were five former Presidents of the Village of Ithaca, as well as representatives of Cornell University, including Dean Charles H. Hull, members of his staff, along with eight Cornell professors. Also there to respectfully receive them were the student president and members of the Japanese Club of Cornell. The Ithaca Business Men’s Association, along with many others attended, as displayed in the Menu/Program.

To make the visitors’ experience in the U.S. more enjoyable, six members of the Associated Chambers of Commerce volunteered to accompany their Japanese friends/business colleagues, to assist in managing the events along their journey. Those six individuals are also highlighted within the Menu/Program.

In addition to the above, the U.S. government recognized the international significance of this Japanese visit and sent three U.S. representatives to accompany and be of assistance during their travels.

During their time in the U.S., they were greeted by many distinguished American leaders including President William Howard Taft, whom Baron Shibusawa and Prince Tokugawa had already befriended years earlier, when Taft had served as minister of war, under President Theodore Roosevelt.

Shibusawa and his delegation were also greeted by the inventor Thomas Alva Edison of General Electric, and James Jerome Hill of Great Northern Railway. When their continental journey ended, they left San Francisco on November 30, traveling to Honolulu, Hawaii, then arriving in Japan on December 17, 1909. With them, they carried fresh information on a wide range of industries, as well as many new cultural insights.

The stated goals of the Japanese delegation were:

-To increase and extend trade relations between the U.S. and Japan

-Improve personal acquaintances and friendly relations between representatives of both nations.

*It is significant to note that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1912, just three years after the 1909 visit of the Shibusawa delegation – It is most likely that this highly publicized Japanese business visit served as a catalyst connecting chambers of commerce across America into becoming a national organization. President Taft was one of the U.S. leaders that Shibusawa met with during his visit, and Taft is recognized as one of those who encouraged the establishment of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to support and enhance the economy of the United States.

A lavish meal, followed by Five Minute Talks – This illustration and the four that follow are part of the Event Program/Dinner Menu brochure presented earlier.

Japanese Delegates, along with those who managed the Party. This list is also presented with additional information in Note [1]

American Representatives attending the event. This list is also presented with additional information in Note [2]

Committee Members – This list of notable citizens of Ithaca, is also presented with additional information in the Notes [3]

Committee Members (continued) the notable civic and business leaders of the Ithaca community, who put the Program together, were Speakers, arranged the Dinner, Decorations, and Music, and were part of the Evening Reception. *See Note [4] for more info about the two prominent speakers Robert H. Treman and Jared T. Newman

View of Cornell University – Ithaca, N.Y. – 1909 Postcard

Below is the top segment of a newspaper article that gave an overview of the Japanese delegates’ three month tour and also highlighted the hospitality they had received in the city of Buffalo, New York, three days prior to their reception in Ithaca. [The Buffalo Commercial – 05 Oct. 1909, Tue • Page 1]

– The Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation / Museum (located in Japan) honors and preserves the legacy of Baron Shibusawa and his allies – Their website is: https://www.shibusawa.or.jp/english/museum/

The Honorary COMMERCIAL COMMISSIONERS of Japan felt so appreciative for the fine treatment they had received during their visit, that when they returned to Japan, they sent back a gift to the U.S.A..

It was given to a representative of Northwestern New York State, F. W. Rosenberger, Esq., a member of the City of Buffalo, New York Chamber of Commerce. He was also one of the U.S. representatives who attended the above event in Ithaca, New York. It is a Japanese silver two handled presentation cup on a square pedestal inscribed in Japanese on the base on one side, and in English on the other side, as shown in the below photos.

Decorated with Japanese dragon emblems around the top rim and an American eagle symbol in the circular area between them.

The English inscription reads:

Presented to F W Rosenberger, Esq. by the honorary commercial commissioners of Japan to U.S.A. 1909.

Marked Tamonten Tokio and signed in Japanese.

Meiji period. Height 5 1/2″ Length 8″. Weight 28.25 troy oz.

This silver trophy was sent as a return gift from “The Honorary Commercial Commissioners of Japan to the U.S.A” (渡米実業団) to the people who took care of them.

The Japanese writing on the base of the above silver gift lists the names of many of the Japanese visitors who toured the U.S.A.

Further information about this gift is available in Note 5 in the Notes Section at the end of this blog post.

*The historical content for this article was discovered while researching for an illustrated biography.

This biography comes in two versions: The Art of Diplomacy and The Art of Peace. Both highlight the Japanese international statesmen Prince Iyesato Tokugawa (aka Prince Tokugawa Iesato) and his allies, such as Baron Eiichi Shibusawa – These true humanitarians devoted their lives to creatively promoting peaceful international relations, a prosperous global economy, and democracy – Two decades of historical research was combined with the discovery of hundreds of rare illustrations, to reveal many significant unknown events that shaped the destinies of the United States and Japan.

PRINT & KINDLE EDITION

DIGITAL EBOOK EDITION [includes an additional 100 pages of historical notes to assist researchers]

NOTES FOR THIS BLOG POST

Note 1 –

List of the 1909 Japanese Delegates:

Baron Eiichi Shibusawa

M. Masuda, Private Secretary

Baroness Shibusawa

Miss Takanashi, Companion (niece of Baron and Baroness Shibusawa)

Michio Doi

Nagatake Fujiye

Rinnosuke Hara

I. Tanabe, Private Secretary

Ryuta Hara

Heizayemon Hibiya

R. S. Iiri, Private Secretary

Zenjuro Horikoshi

Madame Horikoshi

Tamenosuke Ishibashi

Morimatsu Ito

K. Kubota, Artist

Kenzo Iwahara

Yeinosuke Iwamoto

Suyeo Iwaya

T. Kadono

H. S. Hibi, Attendant

Kinnosuke Kamino

Baron Naibu Kanda

Baroness Kanda

Kunizo Koike

H. Iida, Private Secretary

Dr. T. Kumagae

Tokunosuke Machida

Kojiro Matsukata

G. Masaoka, Private Secretary

Toshio Matsumura

K. Midzuno Consul General

Madame Midzuno

Dr. Takajiro Minami

Buyei Nakano

T. Kato, Private Secretary

Kaichiro Nezu

S. Uyeda, Private Secretary

Nariyoshi Nishiike

J. Nishimura

Bokushin Oi

S. Oi. Attendant

K. Otani

K. Kameda, Private Secretary

Heibei Sakaguchi

K. Shibahara, Private Secretary

Sakutaro Satake

W. Natori, Private Secretary

A. Shito

K. Soda

Shingoro Takaishi

Narazo Takatsuji

Kumejiro Taki

S. Saito, Private Secretary

Madame Taki

Shinkichi Tamura

Torajiro Watase

Motosada Zumoto – also accompanied Baron Shibusawa when he returned to the U.S. in 1915, and a banquet was held to honor him. This 1915 diplomatic event attended by former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt & William Howard Taft – A PHOTO of that diplomatic gathering is presented as part of another Blog post on TheEmperorAndTheSpy.com) – M. Zumoto served as the translator and secretary for Baron Shibusawa – He was also a part owner and editor of The Japan Times – Japan’s largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper, currently published by The Japan Times, Ltd. (株式会社ジャパンタイムズ) of Tokyo. In addition, M. Zumoto was the Director of the Oriental Information Agency of New York.

K. Matsubara

M. Nagai

Y. Numano

M. Kawasaki

T. Tanaka

H. Kozuka

Tokugoro Nakahashi

S. Murata, Private Secretary

Names of those who managed the 1909 event in Ithaca, New York

Consul General K. Midzuno (Consul General Midzuno also in a 1915 photo when Baron Shibusawa visited the U.S. again and a banquet was held to honor him, which was attended by former President Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft). A PHOTOGRAPH of that event is presented as a Blog post on the website: TheEmperorAndTheSpy.com). Consul General Midzuno is one of the Japanese officials linked to the Japanese gifting of the cherry blossom trees to the U.S. Capital in 1910 and 1912.

T. Kato

M. Kawasaki

H. Kozuka

Note 2 –

American Representatives at the 1909 Ithaca event

Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific Coast

J. D. Lowman, Seattle, President

C. H. Hyde, Tacoma

Charles Stallman, San Francisco

O. M. Clark, Portland

H. Z. Osborne, Los Angeles

C. Herbert Moore, Spokane

Secretaries

Miss Elizabeth Gavlyn,

Miss Camilla Easty

U.S. Government

Roger S. Greene – State Department

Jackson S. Elliott – from Washington, D.C., representing Associated Press for the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and Labor

Professor John Paul Goode – University of Chicago

Other U.S. Representatives

Professor S. W. Gilman – from the University of Wisconsin, representing the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Milwaukee, and Duluth.

F. W. Rosenberger – from the city of Buffalo, he represented the Northwestern New York.

W. H. Manes – of the Chicago Association of Commerce, represents the cities of Chicago, Des Moines, and Omaha.

Governor David Rowland Francis (October 1, 1850 – January 15, 1927) was an American politician and diplomat. He served in various positions including Mayor of St. Louis, the 27th Governor of Missouri, and United States Secretary of the Interior. He was the U.S. Ambassador to Russia between 1916 and 1917, during the Russian Revolution of 1917. He was a Wilsonian Democrat. After graduating from University, David R. Francis became a successful businessman in St. Louis and served as the president of a grain merchant’s exchange. The St. Louis Mining and Stock Exchange was formed in St. Louis in the fall of 1880 with Francis as a founding member. Source: Wikipedia.

Note 3–

Below is a transcription of the names of the Committee Members for the 1909 event:

Reception at Train Station

Honorable Randolph Horton Mayor of the City of Ithaca, N.Y.

Former Mayors:

Jared T. Newman

Bradford Almy

George W. Miller

William R. Gunderman

William C. Elmendorf

David B. Stewart

Leroy G. Todd

Clinton D. Bouton

Henry A. St. John

Former Presidents of the Village of Ithaca:

Albert H. Platts

P. Frank Sisson

Charles J. Rumsey

Collingwood B. Brown

D. Waite Burdick

Business Men’s Association:

Charles C. Howell, President

Former Presidents:

Francis M. Bush

Edwin Gillette

George H. Baker

Representatives of Cornell University:

Dean Charles H. Hull

Emmons L. Williams, Treasurer

Professor Henry H. Wing

Professor Othan C. Guerlac

Professor Arthur W. Browne

Professor Charles H. Tuck

Professor Henry N. Ogden

Professor Martin W. Sampson

Professor Ernest Merritt

Roscoe G. Edlund, President’s Secretary

Japanese Club of Cornell:

Shiro Sano, President

N. Kuroda

T. Odaira

M. Morita

T. Ogata

S. Nakamigawa

J. Murakami

T. Okabe

Marshal: Paul S. Millspaugh

Executive:

Honorable George E. Priest

Honorable Randolph Horton

Julius M. Clapp

James B. Taylor

Charles C. Howell

William M. Driscoll

Finance

Jacob Rothschild

Oliver L. Dean

Nathan Hanford

Thomas G. Miller

Fred C. Barr

James A. McKinney

Patrick Wall

Cornell University Campus:

Dean Charles H. Hull

Treasurer E. L. Williams

Press:

Bert R. Mitchell

Bryan B Dunne

Lewis A. Clapp

Automobiles to pick up visitors:

J. Mitchell Morrison

Honorable Edwin C. Stewart

Herbert L. Cobb Earnest D. Button

Ebenezer M. Treman

Louis P. Smith

F. Harry Warner

Ernest D. Button

Note 4- Robert Henry Treman (1858-1937) was one of the two speakers at the 1909 event honoring the visit of the Shibusawa Delegation.

Based on the author of this article’s enthusiasm for nature and his prior visits to beautiful upstate New York, here is some additional information about Robert Henry Treman, who was an amazing environmentalist and nature lover: Treman was born into an influential Ithaca family in 1858. He attended local schools and Cornell University and joined the family hardware business in Ithaca in 1878. During his association it grew from a small local business to a large corporation. His family also owned an iron foundry, and they had controlling interests in the Tompkins County Bank, the Ithaca Gas Light Company, and the Ithaca Water Works. The Treman family acquired land around Buttermilk Falls and other creeks in case they needed to tap the water for their company. In 1891 he was elected director of a local bank and in 1932 became Chairman of what was eventually known as the Tompkins County Trust Company. He was also a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1913 to 1931.

In 1891, Treman also became a trustee of Cornell University, a post he held for 45 years. He worked with fellow trustee Henry Sackett to improve the Cascadilla and Fall Creek glens near the Cornell campus. This period after the Civil War was a time of increasing awareness of the America’s natural environment. The Trustees of Reservations was established in Massachusetts in 1891 to protect the natural environment in that state. California quickly followed suit. By the 1920s the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society had become prominent. A movement to establish state parks grew up, encouraged by the increased interest in automobile touring.

About 1915, as Treman was bringing friends to visit the Enfield gorge — a well-known Ithaca scenic destination — he noted the decline in the hamlet of Enfield Falls. Remembering his family association from his childhood days, he made arrangements to buy the mill as well as the miller’s house. He closed the mill, which was still operating, temporarily. During World War I, Treman and his wife Laura continued to buy properties in the area. In 1920, when most of the property in the hamlet of Enfield Falls had been acquired, Robert and Laura donated the land to New York State to establish a state park to be called Enfield Glen Reservation. Treman was chairman of the Enfield Falls Reservation Commission from 1920 to 1924. He also donated land, which had been acquired as a possible water source for the city of Ithaca, along Buttermilk Creek to create another park in 1923. He then continued to serve as Chairman of the Finger Lakes Commission, which also oversaw other parks in the area, from 1924 until his death in 1937.

[Source of the above biographical info: The Friends of Robert H. Treman State Park, chartered thru the State Education Department of the State of New York. Its purpose is to conduct educational and history-related programs, services, and activities in keeping with the nature of the park, to assist in fund raising activities, the purchase of objects, equipment, and supplies for the benefit of the park, and to support this park for the benefit of the local community, the residents of the State of New York, and the general public.]

– Jared Treman Newman – the other listed speaker at the 1909 event honoring the visit of the Shibusawa Delegation – Jared Treman Newman was an Ithaca, New York attorney, 1893-1896, and Mayor, 1907-1908; Cornell University Trustee, 1895-1903 and 1907-1933; and a bank official. Cornell University Class of 1875.

NOTE 5

Further details about the silver gift given by the Honorary Commercial Commissioners are as follows: Its photo appears on the gravure page of the following book, and the circumstances are described on page 627 of the following book.

渡米實業團誌 | WorldCat.org

https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/1020991311

渡米實業圃誌 – Tobei Jitsugyōdan – Google ブックス

https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=HBOlWY_1Q30C

Parts of this book is cited in “Shibusawa Eiichi Denki Shiryo,” which states that Rosenberger was a member of the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce and served as the Northwest New York State representative when accepting the Honorary Commercial Commissioners of Japan.

第32巻（DK320013k）本文｜デジタル版『渋沢栄一伝記資料』｜渋沢栄一｜公益財団法人渋沢栄一記念財団

https://eiichi.shibusawa.or.jp/denkishiryo/digital/main/index.php?DK320013k_text#DK320013k-0005

紐育州西北部代表者（バッファロー商業会議所会員）

エフ・ダブリュー・ローゼンバァガー殿

A Time Capsule to Cornell University from over a Century Ago. Looking for suggestions and assistance to bring its fascinating contents to life through a documentary film, an illustrated book, and classroom curriculum.

February 13, 2020 by Stan S. Katz Leave a Comment

This Photo/Memory Album Presents a Intimate View of Student Life during the early 1900s.

By Dr. Stan S. Katz – February 14^th, 2021

Most of the blog posts that you’ll find on this website are linked to historical relations between the U.S. and Japan. However, on occasion another interesting historical topic is discovered that sparks the imagination and inspires the sharing of its story with others.

This Cornell University project began a dozen years ago in 2008, while exploring the Del Mar Antique Fair in southern California, when this maroon-colored, very old photo album/scrapbook with the white letter “C” printed on its cover caught my eye. The seller didn’t know much of the history linked to it, other than that it was connected to Cornell University, and that at least thirty individuals that morning had immersed themselves while examining its fascinating contents.

Having once been an antiquarian bookstore owner, this description grabbed my attention. After just a few minutes of scanning the amazing variety of items in the album, I knew that many other folks would enjoy this time capsule to university life from the distant past – So I purchased the album, thinking that one day I’d figure out how best to share this engaging material.

The album had been owned by a Cornell student, Melvin Lorrel Nichols (1894-1981), who majored in Chemistry, which coincidentally, was also my major at Brooklyn College (Class of 1973). However, Melvin graduated from Cornell almost a half century earlier, attending as an undergrad from 1914-1918. And it is specifically those four years that his album depicts. Melvin would later become a significant member of the Cornell Chemistry Dept. teaching staff for almost four decades.

Top section of a university yearbook page from “The Cornellian and Class Book 1918”. It presents several members of the graduating class, including Melvin Nichols third from the left. Melvin’s nicknames were “Pete” and “Nick”.

Below are some ephemera from the period: a 1914 musical event and some colorful 1916 postcards.

From his earliest days, Melvin saved diverse mementos of his time spent at Cornell. Above is the first page of the large album (10.25 x 13 inches, and 3 inches thick). Please note a future presentation of this material for a eBook or documentary film would scan and highlight each of these historical items to a higher image resolution than what is available for this blog post presentation.

Below is an enlarged section from the above album page:

Both sides of the thirty-four pages of this album are filled with rare historical materials – Melvin was amazingly meticulous, his album displays interesting ephemera from all four of his student years, with many photos of him with his friends/fellow students. There is also a wide array of letters, student event pamphlets, colorful period postcards, newspaper clippings of intermural sport events, along with the original tickets to some of those games, and news clippings for other Cornell related topics. The illustration to the left displays his receipt for transporting his trunk up the hill during his first day at the school.

There is also the Cornell Freshman Handbook that he describes as the “Frosh Bible”, which contains 168 pages filled with the relevant topics that incoming students needed know about their school’s academic activities, fraternity and sorority related info, and a directory to city services to meet their needs, giving insights to life in the City of Ithaca during that period. The album also presents photos of fanciful university pageants, celebrations, and public events.

And with those years being impacted by World War One, some of Melvin’s photos are linked to the ROTC. As a senior, Melvin was temporarily drafted into the military. Despite the tragic backdrop of war, this album instead gives a sense of a pleasant & meaningful university experience being had, with Melvin most appreciative to have been able to attend Cornell with the financial support of student grants from the university.

Below is an enlarged photo from the prior illustration:

This album goes beyond exclusively revealing university life at Cornell, it also intimately presents what student life was probably like at hundreds of other fine universities during the early nineteen hundreds, prior to our current high tech computerized age, filled with its smart cell phones, Facebook, and social networking which has in many ways changed how we relate to one another. Early presidents of Cornell strove to create a sense of community among the students and faculty; they wanted their surroundings to have natural and poetic beauty, while also honoring the impressive stately architectural designs from the past – It was their intention that this would inspire students to feel better about themselves and the world they lived.

One of the goals of this blog post/illustrated article is to introduce this unique view of the past to others, perhaps leading to potential future joint historical/educational/entertainment projects. Whether it be as an illustrated eBook, an online museum exhibit, the source for a documentary on Cornell’s history, or perhaps, even an animated film that brings these photos and documents to life. Those who might interest in these creative pursuits such as historians, Cornell’s Alumni Association, those in media, such as film, and others, are invited to discuss the possibilities through the below email contacts. These email addresses are linked to an historical biography and novel titled: The Art of Peace & The Emperor and the Spy written by the author of this article. Those books also began with the acquisition of a rare collection historical documents.

[email protected]

-Besides the Album’s wonderful 250 items to draw from, there’s an additional one hundred antique items linked to Cornell history that have been collected, which could contribute to a colorful reminiscent sense of that period. These include Cornell’s illustrated yearbook, “The Cornellian and Class Book 1918”.

Additional biographical details about Melvin Lorrel Nichols, the creator of the 1914-1918 Cornell Album:

Born: November 30, 1894 in city of Dayton, Ohio.

Died: March 29^th, 1981 in California.

Melvin Lorrel “Pete” Nichols was a chemistry professor and author.

Early life:

Nichols was the son of Joseph Wiseman Nichols, a cabinetmaker, and Sarah Rebecca Heidelbaugh. He was the youngest of six children. [Source: Geneology.com]

Personal life:

Melvin married Mary N. Bancroft in 1926. They had one daughter, Sarah, “Sally”.

Career:

Nichols was awarded his PhD from Cornell University in 1922. His thesis was “Dinitrosoresorcinol as a reagent for the quantitative determination of cobalt in the presence of nickel and other metals of the third group”.

He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Chemistry in 1929. (See Note 1)

Nichols was on the faculty at Cornell University from 1923-1962, rising to become Emeritus Professor of Chemistry.

“Pete” Nichols’ wrote two textbooks on analytical chemistry: Gas Analysis, co-authored with L.M. Dennis, and a Laboratory Manual of Analytical Chemistry.

In 1950, Pete Nichols agreed to become Executive Director of Cornell’s Chemistry Department, a new position which involved supervision of the support facilities and the non-academic staff of what had become a large and complex establishment. He held this position until his retirement in 1962.

A letter of Tribute to Melvin Lorrel Nichols was written by fellow members of the Cornell faculty. (Note 2)

OVERVIEW OF THIS MEMORY ALBUM

1-It is engaging and entertaining, with a backdrop of nostalgia.

2-This relic is in many ways a commemorative to a young man and future imminent professor.

3-It is a testimonial, offering a unique window to student life at a fine university over a century ago, to the friendships and the various on and off campus activities of that time.

4-It depicts the academic and social values that were thought necessary to be passed on to future generations, representing a Window to the past.

5-It must be emphasized that this Cornell album assembled and protected hundreds of historical items called ephemera that would have otherwise been lost forever. The below definition of ephemera comes from The Ephemera Society of America:

“Precious primary source information . . . that is what the ephemera world considers its bits and bobs of vintage (and current), usually paper items. Much of it was likely expected, back in its day, to be briefly useful then discarded. Today such items which have survived the vagaries of time often reveal things we might not otherwise ever learn. A story last year in the New York Times reported the stunning information that NASA—unthinkably—had somehow managed to lose the original tapes of Mankind’s first landing on the moon! Surely this monumentally important video document was expected to be carefully coddled and treasured forever. And yet even something as priceless as that somehow proved ephemeral. As it happens, derivative copies do exist, so that particular record has not totally disappeared. But it could have. If information as important as that could be so easily lost for eternity, imagine how much lesser—yet culturally relevant—historical information has indeed been lost with the passage of time. Each collected piece of surviving paper Americana serves up information, and some of it available nowhere else on earth. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.

“In a nutshell, to collectors “ephemera” are vintage printed or written items which originally served some specific purpose and were not expected to be retained or preserved, but which are now cherished. A few decades ago much of it was called “Paper Americana”, though ephemera is not necessarily American. Or even paper: these days the field has been expanded to include such things as tobacco tins, photographs, radio premiums, textile swatches, vinyl record albums, items made of celluloid or wood. Also included are various items which were indeed likely to have been saved, such as wedding invitations, marriage certificates, passports, birth certificates, wills, deeds, divorce papers, stock certificates, promissory notes, and many other vintage documents…

“Maurice Rickards, author of the definitive Encyclopedia of Ephemera and a founder of The Ephemera Society in England, dubbed such items “the minor transient documents of everyday life.” That organization says that—produced to meet the needs of the day—“such items reflect the moods and mores of past times in a way that more formal records cannot.” Besides being enjoyable to find and collect, vintage ephemera is valuable primary source information which offers unique windows into cultures past.”

(Note 3) presents more information about The Ephemera Society of America.

This Album might contribute to Classroom Curriculum:

Classroom Discussion Questions:

A-What does a well-rounded university education mean? As an individual and as a society, what makes us who we are culturally and academically, what are those values?

B-This album might serve as a springboard for classroom discussions about how the world has changed and in what ways have things remained the same?

C-Are there lessons that can be learned from that period a century ago, that might well serve us in our modern world?

D-As a related research project, there could be interviews of current university students, alumni, and faculty to hear their response to the album, giving an intergenerational insights to the interpretation of its contents.

E- In our time of rapidly advancing technology, filled with uncertainties regarding the future, this album invites students to compare life then and now, to recognize our roots, the values of our ancestors, and the foundation of who we are. Does this album perhaps serve as a compass/roadmap to cherished values of our society from long ago?

F-The album could augment the presentation of related historical material, such as the events of World War One. How did that conflict impact student life and the ways students saw themselves? Has the role of intra-mural sports in university life changed? The possibilities continues as the project unveils new insights into the album’s contents.

G-Are there universal values? Where are we going as a society and as a world? What might we be losing or gaining in the process of moving forward? The album is a sociological study into human nature, then and now.

NOTES

Note 1 – In 1929, Professor Melvin Lorrel Nichols was honored by receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship. That award is intended for individuals who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability.

Fellowships are awarded through two annual competitions: one open to citizens and permanent residents of the United States and Canada, and the other open to citizens and permanent residents of Latin America and the Caribbean. Candidates must apply to the Guggenheim Foundation in order to be considered in either of these competitions.

The Foundation receives approximately 3,000 applications each year. Although no one who applies is guaranteed success in the competition, there is no prescreening: all applications are reviewed. Approximately 175 Fellowships are awarded each year.

During the rigorous selection process, applicants will first be pooled with others working in the same field, and examined by experts in that field: the work of artists will be reviewed by artists, that of scientists by scientists, that of historians by historians, and so on. The Foundation has a network of several hundred advisers, who either meet at the Foundation offices to look at applicants’ work, or receive application materials to read offsite. These advisers, all of whom are themselves former Guggenheim Fellows, then submit reports critiquing and ranking the applications in their respective fields. Their recommendations are then forwarded to and weighed by a Committee of Selection, which then determines the number of awards to be made in each area. Occasionally, no application in a given area is considered strong enough to merit a Fellowship.

The Committee of Selection then forwards its recommendations to the Board of Trustees for final approval. The successful candidates in the United States and Canada competition are announced in early April; those in the Latin America and Caribbean competition, in early June. The Guggenheim Fellowship organization guarantees that their advisers and Committee of Selection members, as well as those who submit letters of reference, absolute confidentiality. Therefore, under no circumstances will the reasons for the rejection of an application be provided.

Source for Note 1: The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation website: https://www.gf.org/about/fellowship/

That organization’s website presents the below photo and technical details linked to Professor Nichols being honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship:

MELVIN L. NICHOLS

Fellow: Awarded 1929

Field of Study: Chemistry

Competition: U.S. & Canada

Born: 11-30-1894

Died: 03-29-1981

As published in the Foundation’s Report for 1929–30:

Nichols, Melvin Lorrel: Appointed to make a study of the adsorption of anions by barium sulphate and a study of the conductivity of alkylated ammonia salts in non-aqueous solvents, in certain German and Austrian laboratories; tenure, twelve months from July 15, 1929.

Born November 30, 1894, at Dayton, Ohio.

Education: Cornell University, B. Chem., 1918, Ph. D., 1922.

Instructor in Analytical Chemistry, 1918–22, Assistant Professor, 1922—, Cornell University.

Publications: “Gas Analysis,” 1929. Articles and reviews in Journal of the American Chemical Society, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Journal of Physical Chemistry.

Note 2 – Cornell University Faculty Memorial Statement

Source: http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/17813

Melvin L. Nichols

November 30, 1894 — March 29, 1981

Melvin L. “Pete” Nichols, emeritus professor of chemistry, who died March 29, 1981, at the age of eighty-six, enjoyed a career that almost perfectly characterizes a true-blue Cornellian. He was, in fact, a member of that very small group of our faculty that had been personally acquainted with every Cornell president. As Melvin Nichols, he left his home town of Dayton, Ohio, in 1914 to enter Cornell as a freshman. He remained in Ithaca, known to his many friends as Pete, until 1978, when, in failing health, he moved to California to be close to his only daughter, Sally. After receiving his Bachelor of Chemistry degree in 1918, he was appointed an instructor in chemistry at Cornell and simultaneously embarked on a graduate study program under Professor Orndorf, majoring in organic chemistry. He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1922 and was promptly appointed assistant professor in chemistry. He remained on the chemistry faculty until his retirement in 1962.

Nichols’s field of teaching and research was analytical chemistry, and for many years he was unofficial head of the analytical teaching group of the Chemistry Department. He wrote two textbooks on analytical chemistry, Gas Analysis, coauthored with L. M. Dennis, and Laboratory Manual of Analytical Chemistry. In 1950, Nichols agreed to become executive director of Cornell’s Chemistry Department, a new position which involved supervision of the support facilities and the nonacademic staff of what had become a large and complex establishment. He held this position until his retirement in 1962.

The forty-eight years of Pete Nichols’s life as a student and teacher at Cornell were years of great change for Cornell chemistry. The science itself became more physical and more theoretical. Applied fields such as agricultural chemistry, sanitary chemistry, and chemical microscopy, which had once been central at Cornell, were spun off or phased out. Industrial chemistry was transformed into chemical engineering and moved into the College of Engineering for its separate and independent development. There was a disastrous fire in 1916 which destroyed Morse Hall, the chemistry building; fortunately, a splendid new Baker Laboratory building opened in 1922. That chemistry at Cornell survived these changes and indeed grew stronger and more effective over the years was due in large measure to the successful adjustments and continuing contributions of Pete Nichols and other faculty members of his generation. Cornell is in their debt.

In 1926 Nichols married Mary Bancroft, the attractive and lively-minded daughter of one of Cornell’s eminent chemistry professors, Wilder D. Bancroft. When newcomers to Cornell first learned of this marriage, they were prone to mutter something about “marrying the boss’s daughter,” and were chagrined to learn that the true situation had been almost the exact opposite. Nichols was a coworker and protégé of the other strong-willed Cornell chemist of the time, L. M. Dennis, and Dennis and Bancroft had a long-established and well developed dislike of each other. Hence, to Dennis, a Nichols involvement with a Bancroft was akin to joining up with the enemy. It is a tribute to his tact and his persistence that Pete Nichols rode out the storm and kept his Cornell position.

Mary Nichols died suddenly in 1967, and Pete Nichols lived on alone in Ithaca, actively involved with his wide circle of friends. He will be missed by his Ithaca friends and colleagues as well as by the hundreds of Cornell students that he taught.

Albert W. Laubengayer,

William T. Miller,

Franklin A. Long

Cornell

Note 3 – History of the Ephemera Society of America from their website:

A small band of collectors interested in promoting the collecting, study, and preservation of ephemera established the Ephemera Society of America (ESA) in 1980, to serve as a link between and among collectors, archivists, researchers and dealers, and to encourage interest in all aspects of vintage paper. Five years earlier, in 1975, Maurice Rickards and his associates in England had established The Ephemera Society of the United Kingdom., and similar organizations have arisen in Canada, Austria, and Australia.

Shortly after ESA was formed, it was granted non-profit tax-exempt status as an educational organization. The society embarked upon a publishing program to educate its members and the general public about the world of ephemera. Issue #1 of our Ephemera News newsletter came out in the summer of 1981, and this regular newsletter continues its unbroken publication run to the present time. Printed as ink-on-paper until mid-2011, it is now entitled eNews and sent electronically each month to every member. ENews delivers news, details on conferences and other activities, a calendar of upcoming shows and events, auction notes, new book notices, links to stories of interest, announcements and other content of interest to ephemerists.

ESA publishes The Ephemera Journal, a highly regarded print publication devoted solely to illustrated scholarly articles on many different topics. Journal authors have included faculty and staff from a long list of distinguished institutions including the American Antiquarian Society, Winterthur, the Huntington Library, the Library Company of Philadelphia, Colonial Williamsburg, the Clements Library, Brown University and many other distinguished organizations. Many fine articles have come from independent scholars and collectors. https://www.ephemerasociety.org/

About the Author:

Stan S. Katz wrote the historical novel The Emperor and the Spy about an adventurous, high ranking U.S. intelligence agent Colonel Sidney Mashbir. He also authored the illustrated biography The Art of Peace about Prince Tokugawa Iesato, heir to the last Shogun of Japan. But when that dynasty ended, Prince Tokugawa instead became an international statesman who promoted good relations between U.S. and Japan.

Stan’s journey into historical writing began while he was the owner of two antiquarian bookstores. It was through these bookstores that he acquired the secret personal papers Colonel Mashbir. During the 1920s and ‘30s prior to WWII, Mashbir allied with many influential, peace loving Japanese leaders in an attempt maintain goodwill between their nations. Two of Mashbir’s closest Japanese allies were Prince Tokugawa Iesato and Baron Shibusawa Eiichi. Regrettably, WWII could not be prevented.

During his long military career, Mashbir served closely with General John Joseph Pershing during WWI, and Admiral Joseph King and General Douglas MacArthur during WWII. As one of MacArthur’s closest intelligence advisors, Mashbir took a pivotal role in shortening WWII in the Pacific. And during the post-war Occupation of Japan, he guided the U.S. and Japan to once again become allies. Colonel Mashbir’s primary source collection of historical documents unveiled significant unknown U.S. Japan relations during the first half of the twentieth century.

The website TheEmperorAndTheSpy.com presents many blog posts containing important rare and never before available photos and written documents linked to U.S. Japan history…One of these blog posts highlights a 1909 visit by Baron Shibusawa to Ithaca, New York, where the president of Cornell University, along with many Cornell professors, the mayor of the Ithaca, and other prominent individuals assembled to greet their honored guest from Japan. Baron Shibusawa Eiichi is remembered as a great humanitarian who promoted friendship between the East and the West, and is known as the Father of Modern Japanese Capitalism.

Based on Katz’s curiosity for international relations, for many years he’s been a member of and on the board of directors for the San Diego World Affairs Council, which is a local chapter the World Affairs Councils of America. Through this fine non-profit, non-partisan international affairs educational forum, he’s attended many fascinating presentations and met ambassadors, consul generals, and other political, economic, academic, and military representatives from around the globe. You’re invited to visit their websites to learn more about these organizations.

1915 – Former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft secretly attended a diplomatic banquet sponsored by the Japan Society of New York, honoring the visit of Baron Shibusawa Eiichi. Their goal to strengthen the future US Japan alliance for World War One.

February 11, 2020 by Stan S. Katz Leave a Comment

Photo above: William Howard Taft (next to the gentleman whose image reveals only half of his face)

Photo below: Theodore Roosevelt (centered beneath the chandelier)

These rare photos are segments from a much larger 1915 photo (20 x 12 inches) that presents the many guests at this U.S. Japan diplomatic event. This antique photo appears to be the only one in existence. It was discovered while researching for the illustrated biography on Prince Iyesato Tokugawa, titled: The Art of Peace.

Prince Iyesato Tokugawa (1863-1940) and his close ally Baron Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), along with their Japanese and non-Japanese supporters devoted themselves to creatively encouraging international goodwill and promoting democratic principles.

The entire 1915 group photo is shown within another blog post on this website. That blog post presents enlarged images of all of the sixty-five attendees and there is also a description the significant topics discussed during this gathering – Historians and family members are invited to assist in identifying the guests at this event; a dozen have thus far been recognized.

This 1915 photo is a time capsule which gives a fuller understanding of the history of U.S. Japan relations and a window to the exciting world of New York City during the early twentieth century. Several of the attendees thus far identified were actively part of the goodwill organization the Japan Society of New York City, which began in 1907, and actively continues to this day.

The below illustrations are from a 1910-1911 Japan Society of New York City publication which highlights the membership of the organization. This membership list will likely to be helpful in identifying many of the distinguished guests attending this significant 1915 event linked to the alliance between the U.S. and Japan, and with other Allied nations during World War One.

Below are several leading members of the Japan Society of New York City that have already been identified as attendees at the 1915 banquet event:

Jacob H. Schiff – Honorary Vice-President of Japan Society

Dr. Jokichi Takamine – Honorary Vice-President and Life Member of Japan Society

Consul-General K. Midzuno – Executive Committee of Japan Society

Dr. John H. Finley – Executive Committee of Japan Society

M. Zumoto – Executive Committee of Japan Society

Baron Eiichi Shibusawa – Life Member of the Japan Society

*Prince Iyesato Tokugawa – was a political ally of Baron Shibusawa. Prince Tokugawa was not at the 1915 event, but he is listed as being a Life Member of the Japan Society.

Below is the General Annual Membership List of the Japan Society – Some of these prestigious individuals might also have attended the 1915 dinner event honoring Baron Eiichi Shibusawa’s visit.

This Japan Society publication highlighted the 1853 visit to Japan by Commodore Perry which helped launch many years of friendship between the U.S and Japan.

Here is the link to the blog post that presents the entire 1915 diplomatic banquet photo. This blog post gives brief bios on the attendees that have been identified.

1915 Photo: Diplomatic banquet honoring the visit of Baron Shibusawa

To learn more about the Japan Society of New York City and their many social/cultural/educational activities, here is a link to there website:

Japan Society

Former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt & William Howard Taft secretly attend a 1915 diplomatic banquet in N.Y.C. honoring the visit of Baron Shibusawa. Their goal to establish a strong US Japan alliance for World War One. This photo was only recently discovered.

February 6, 2020 by Stan S. Katz 7 Comments

This is the only known photo of a significant 1915 U.S. Japan diplomatic event. The description on the photo’s lower left corner states:

Dinner to Baron Shibusawa. East & West Meeting, Sherry’s [Restaurant] New York City, December 3, 1915. (Actual photo size: 20 by 12 inches.)

This original photo is age-darkened and missing a small segment in the lower left. These imperfections have been corrected during the restoration process as shown in the photos below:

INTRODUCTION

This almost discarded photo was acquired by the author of this blog post while researching for a biography on Prince Tokugawa Iesato (1863-1940) titled The Art of Peace, which is also now available in a “general reader” edition titled: The Art of Diplomacy. Both versions also highlight Baron Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931). Prince Tokugawa & Baron Shibusawa were lifelong friends and allies who promoted successful domestic policies in Japan and strove for peace internationally. They were among the most powerful and inspiring leaders of Japan during the first decades of the twentieth century.

Prince Tokugawa held the influential position of President of Japan’s upper house of congress, the House of Peers, for thirty years, and was so politically influential in promoting democracy and international goodwill, that it was only after his death in 1940, that Japan was pressured into allying with the Axis Powers during World War Two.

Baron Shibusawa is known as the ‘Father of Japan’s Modern Economy of Japan,” and recognized for having launched Japan’s first national bank, as well as helping start hundreds of other business ventures, many of which exist to this day. He also supported hundreds of social welfare organizations. To honor his memory in 2024, Baron Shibusawa’s likeness will be on the face of the highest denomination Japanese currency bill, the ten thousand yen note.

General visitors are most welcome to explore this material, while at the same time this blog post invites those who are able to kindly assist in identifying the attendees at this important 1915 diplomatic event. Small segments of the restored 1915 photo have been enlarged and each attendee has been given an ID number, with the numbering starting from the upper right corner of the photo and moving counterclockwise around the large banquet table.

Thanks go to out to the American Historical Association for highlighting this blog post in their website discussion room, so my fellow AHA members from around the world might contribute to the identification of the unknown guests at this 1915 event. AHA membership includes university professors, high school teachers, archivists, librarians, general historians, historical writers, along with many other professionals who share a passion for history.

Of the sixty-five guests, thus far a dozen prominent individuals have either been identified or their names are known as having been at this event. They include: presidents of universities, political and social rights activists, founders of publishing firms, newspaper editors, journalists, biographical and historical fiction authors, also business/finance and government leaders. This photo offers a new perspective on early U.S. Japan relations, while highlighting many of the most influential individuals in the U.S. over a century ago.

-This is an invitation to those individuals or organizations who are able to identify any of the as-of-yet unknown individuals in the 1915 Photo, please share your insights thru the Comment section at the end of this blog post. Please include the attendee’s ID number and anything else you might know about that person, including internet links when available. Thank you so much for being part of what I believe will be an engaging and enjoyable historical research project, and how exciting to see from where around the world this information will come from.

Thank you.

The Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation / Shibusawa Memorial Museum

This fine organization located in Tokyo commemorates the legacy of Baron Shibusawa Eiichi, known for his high ethical values in business and for his many social welfare/humanitarian contributions. The museum collects and displays documents and artifacts from his life. Adjoining the main museum building is the tranquil Old Shibusawa Garden. That garden and two structures from the original Shibusawa estate, the Bankoro Cottage and the Seien Bunko Library, date from the Emperor Taisho era (1912–26). These buildings have been designated as Important Cultural Properties by the Japanese government.

The Head Librarian for the Information Resources Center of the Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation, Toru Shigehara, kindly assisted in my research. They knew of the December 3^rd 1915 banquet event based on a December 4^th, 1915 New York Times article which mentioned the event and gave the names of some attendees, but they weren’t aware a photo had been taken of this event. They found it most surprising and exciting to hear that former U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft had attended, because the December 4^th, 1915 New York Times article made no mention of this. Below is a Review:

“Dear Dr. Stan S. Katz,
We appreciate your kindness and all the work you have done to promote understanding of Shibusawa Eiichi and US-Japan relations as a whole. I wish you all the best in your current and future endeavors.

With gratitude,”

Toru Shigehara: Head Librarian/Information Resources Center,
Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation and Museum located in Japan

——————————————————————————————————-

Of the sixty-five attendees at the event, the December 4^th, 1915 New York Times article only mentioned the below ten individuals: Comparison photos could be found online for nine of them. Only one, M. Zumoto, had no photos available. Four additional attendees have since also been identified, leaving fifty-two guests yet to be recognized. One possible clue: some attendees might have been members of the Japan Society or the Nippon Club. Both are U.S. Japan goodwill organizations that continue to be active to this day and are located in New York City.

Below are the names given in the New York Times article.

Baron Shibusawa Eiichi
Willard D. Straight
Osward G. Villard
William Morgan Shuster
Dr. Albert Shaw
Don C. Seitz
Edward J. Wheeler
Dr. Toyokichi Iyenaga (one of the two hosts for the 1915 event)
Dr. Jōkichi Takamine (the other host for the 1915 event)
M. Zumoto – both the translator and secretary for Baron Shibusawa. He was also a part owner and editor of The Japan Times – Japan’s largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper, currently published by The Japan Times, Ltd. (株式会社ジャパンタイムズ) of Tokyo. M. Zumoto was also the Director of the Oriental Information Agency of New York.

During the 1915 diplomatic event there was a frank discussion presented between Baron Shibusawa and Willard D. Straight on the following topics:

-How to improve relations between the U.S. and Japan.

-How to eliminate injustices and discrimination against Japanese-Americans living in the U.S.

-Both Shibusawa and Straight felt optimistic about Japan-U.S. relations and that problems could be solved with justice and benefit to both nations.

– They discussed the possibility of the U.S. and Japan working together to peacefully assist China in her development, to the economic gain of all three nations. The translator for Baron Shibusawa was M. Zumoto.

-Another discussion was between Osward G. Villard and Morgan Shuster regarding the recent outbreak of war in Europe. They recognized the U.S. might soon find itself in that conflict. They discussed how America’s resources might best be spent in preparation for that conflict. They commented that Japan and America should work together to go against the “criminal” powers who had started the war.

-Other speakers at the Baron Shibusawa event were Dr. Albert Shaw, Don C. Seitz, and Edward J. Wheeler.

Source: New York Times, December 4th, 1915: “Plea for Japanese Now in California: Baron Shibusawa Asks That Fair Treatment Be Accorded in Land Legislation. / Opportunities in China / He Urges That This Country Combine with Japan in Developing New Republic.”

During his 1915 visit to the U.S., Baron Shibusawa also met with President Woodrow Wilson.

What is most surprising about this 1915 banquet event is that in spite of the many magazine and newspaper editors and journalists in attendance, the media made no mention of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft being in attendance to honor Shibusawa – The reasons for this secrecy are open to conjecture, perhaps, with WWI having just begun in Europe, it was considered prudent not to advertise where U.S. and Japanese leaders could be targeted, in that these two nations would find themselves playing an essential role in the Allies’ victory in that major conflict.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prior Introduction

Section I – Presentation of larger segments from the 1915 banquet photo.

Section II – Presentation of smaller segments from the 1915 banquet photo, which have been further enlarged to aid in individual identification.

Section III – List of the already recognized attendees, with the source photos that helped identify them. This section will include crediting those who assisted in identifying them.

Section I

Below are some larger sections of the restored 1915 photo:

The first two photos highlight where during the event, Baron Shibusawa had probably been seated near Theodore Roosevelt – Roosevelt is centered beneath a grand chandelier and just two seats to his right is the vacant chair where Shibusawa sat. It took creativity on the part of the photographer to capture such a large gathering in one photo. Shibusawa went to the other end of the table to stand near William Howard Taft, allowing the photographer to incorporate all the attendees into one photo, while at the same time capture a larger image of their honored guest, Shibusawa. [Notice the reflection in the mirror behind Roosevelt, it reveals the front section of the table.] This event took place at Sherry’s, one of the most impressive New York City banquet facilities of its time.

Enlarged segment from the restored photo.

Further enlarged section from the prior photo, highlighting Theodore Roosevelt centered beneath the chandelier.

Shown below, Shibusawa is at the other end of the table closer to William Howard Taft (seated far right, next to the gentleman whose image reveals only half of his face).

Standing at Shibusawa’s right is the Japanese-American Dr. Jōkichi Takamine, one of the two hosts for this event. Dr. Takamine was a highly successful and respected chemist and businessman who helped establish a pharmaceutical company that continues to this day. Standing at Shibusawa’s left side is Count Chinda Sutemi Japanese Ambassador to the U.S.

Dr. Takamine, Ambassador Sutemi, Prince Tokugawa, and President Taft were all closely linked to the gifting of the cherry blossom trees to Washington, D.C. in 1912. Further details of this Japanese gift are presented in another blog post on this website.

Section II – Presentation of smaller segments of 1915 banquet photo:

Attendees Right to Left: 1, 2, 3

1- Unknown

2- William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913). Taft was the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, and was succeeded by Woodrow Wilson. After Taft’s presidency, he became the 10th Chief Justice of the United States from July 11, 1921 – February 3, 1930, the only individual to hold both offices.

3- Albert Shaw (July 23, 1857 – June 25, 1947) was a prominent American journalist and academic of the early 20th century. In 1890, Shaw was elected professor of international law and political institutions at Cornell University, but resigned the post in 1891 to establish an American edition of the Review of Reviews. The Review of Reviews was a noted family of monthly journals founded in 1890-1893 by British reform journalist William Thomas Stead (1849–1912): It was established across three continents in London (1891), New York (1892) and Melbourne (1893). Shaw served as editor-in-chief of this publication until it ceased publication in 1937. Shaw was also a member of the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts. This AAS was both a learned society and national research library of pre-twentieth century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in the United States with a national focus.

Attendees Right to Left: 4, 5, 6

4- Unknown

5- Edward Jewitt Wheeler (1859-1922) was the Editor of The Literary Digest. The Literary Digest was an influential American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, Public Opinion and Current Opinion. Beginning with early issues, the emphasis was on opinion articles and an analysis of news events. It offered condensations of articles from American, Canadian and European publications. Type-only covers gave way to illustrated covers during the early 1900s. In the 1920s, the covers carried full-color reproductions of famous paintings. By 1927, The Literary Digest climbed to a circulation of over one million. In 1938, it merged with the Review of Reviews, only to fail soon after. Its subscriber list was bought by Time.

Wheeler was also the Editor of The Voice, 1884-1898; President of the Poetry Society of America, 1909-1919; Trustee of Ohio Wesleyan University; Officier de l’Instruction Publique. He was also Managing Editor of The Homiletic Review, a temperance publication.

Wheeler also served as Secretary of the Westerleigh Collegiate Institute (1896–1900). Westerleigh Collegiate Institute was the first school on Staten Island to provide a complete kindergarten-to-college education; the surrounding neighborhood, previously called National Prohibition Park, gradually came to be known as Westerleigh.

6- Unknown

Attendees Right to Left: 7, 8, 9

7- Count Chinda Sutemi (珍田捨巳, January 19, 1857 – January 16, 1929) was the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. at the time of the 1915 banquet event. Sutemi studied at DePauw University and got his B.A. in 1881, and M.A. in 1884. From 1890 to 1894, he served as Japanese Consul in San Francisco, California. In 1897, he was appointed first Japanese Minister Plenipotentiary to Brazil, following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two states in 1895. He served as Japanese Ambassador to Germany from 1908 to 1911, to the United States from 1912 to 1916, and to the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1920, during which time he took part in the Japanese delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 at the end of WWI…Sutemi was also a Methodist minister.

Count Chinda stood at Shibusawa’s left side, and Dr. Jōkichi Takamine was on Shibusawa’s right side in the photo: Ambassador Chinda and Dr. Jōkichi Takamine are closely linked to the gifting of cherry blossom trees to Washington, D.C. in 1912. It was Ambassador Chinda’s wife Japanese Viscountess Iwa Chinda and President Taft’s wife First Lady Helen Herron Taft, who each ceremonially planted one of the first two Japanese gifted cherry blossom trees in the U.S. Capital in 1912. This diplomatic gesture has since become the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, one of the most celebrated goodwill events in Washington, D.C., attended by hundreds of thousands of Americans and visitors from around the world.

8- Baron Shibusawa Eiichi (渋沢栄一, March 16, 1840 – November 11, 1931)

9- Dr. Jōkichi Takamine (高峰譲吉, November 3, 1854 – July 22, 1922) a famous chemist and highly successful businessmen, who became the first President of Sankyo Company, Ltd., a pharmaceutical company. Sankyo Company Ltd. was founded in 1899, and was initially named Sankyo Shoten Company Ltd. It was launched through a joint investment by businessmen Matasaku Shiobara, Shotaro Nishimura and Genjiro Fukui. Two of their first successful products were the digestive enzyme Taka-Diastase® (launched in 1894, Dr. Jokichi Takamine discovered the enzyme from a fungus). In 1902, they launched Adrenalin®, an adrenal cortex hormone agent. Dr. Jokichi Takamine had discovered and patented the isolation of adrenalin. In 1910, Dr. Umetaro Suzuki, a future Sankyo scientific adviser, made the world’s first discovery of vitamin B1 (Orizanin®) in rice bran and established a foundation for the theory of vitamins.

In 1913, Sankyo Shoten Company, Ltd., changed its name to Sankyo Co., Ltd, and appointed Dr. Jokichi Takamine as its first president. He remained its president from March 1913 – July 1922.

In 2005, Sankyo Shoten Company, Ltd., merged with Daiichi Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd., both of them were century-old pharmaceutical companies. The name of the company from this merger is Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd., a global company and the second largest pharmaceutical company in Japan. It is a producer of medical equipment, pharmaceutical products, and veterinary medicines. Number of employees 32,229 (as of December 2013). Company headquarters: Tokyo, Japan.

Sources: Wikipedia and the pharmaceutical company website: www.daiichisankyo.com

Additional information about Dr. Jōkichi Takamine: in 1905, he established The Nippon Club, to tighten the unity of the Japanese community and to develop a better relationship with the American people. Since then, The Nippon Club, which is the only Japanese social club in the U.S., has contributed to the continued friendship, not to mention ongoing business and cultural exchange between the two countries through various events, workshops and cultural classes. By holding athletic events and cultural activities, as well as by providing the facilities where these events can occur, The Nippon Club has cemented itself as one of New York City’s oldest cultural institutions. It continues to serve the community from the center of the world’s most international metropolitan area. Source: The Nippon Club website.

Attendees Right to Left: 10, 11, 12

10- Unknown

11- Willard Dickerman Straight (January 31, 1880 – December 1, 1918) American investment banker, publisher, reporter, Army Reserve officer, diplomat and by marriage, a member of the Whitney family. Straight was the founder of the American magazine: The New Republic, which remains one of the most influential liberal magazines in the United States from its launch in 1914. The magazine was begun by Straight with Herbert David Croly as its editor. The New Republic reflected the progressive movement and sought reforms in American government and society. Among its early editors or contributors were Randolph Silliman Bourne, Walter Lippmann, and Malcolm Cowley. The journal supported the formation of labour unions, the eight-hour workday, and woman suffrage. It also supported President Woodrow Wilson’s foreign policy during World War I, but later broke with him and opposed the Treaty of Versailles. The magazine’s popularity declined in the 1920s, when its liberal viewpoint was out of favour, but it revived in the 1930s. After earlier opposing him, The New Republic ended up supporting President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration and the New Deal. Source: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica…Today, The New Republic continues to take a largely modern liberal stance on governmental fiscal policies and social issues.

12- Unknown

Additional notes:

During Baron Shibusawa’s 1915 visit to New York City, he was also the luncheon guest of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt (oldest son of former President Theodore Roosevelt) at Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, 25 miles east of Manhattan. George Walbridge Perkins and Clarence H. Mackay were present at this luncheon to meet Baron Shibusawa.

While in the U.S., Baron Shibusawa also enjoyed a visit to the Pan-Pacific Exposition of 1915-1916, held in San Diego, California. The current expansive Balboa Park in San Diego, is largely composed of exhibition buildings from that wonderful event. The first beginnings of the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, began with a popular Japanese Teahouse at that exposition.

Below are some larger segments from the 1915 restored photo. Certain segments of the photo have greater clarity in the half-tone versus the black and white version:

Right to left: Attendees numbered from 1 to 27

Right to left: Attendees numbered 10 to 27

Attendees Right to Left: 13, 14, 15

13- William Morgan Shuster (23 February 1877 in Washington, D.C. – 26 May 1960 in New York City), was an American lawyer, civil servant, and publisher, who is best known as the treasurer-general of Persia by appointment of the Iranian parliament, or Majles, from May to December 1911. Shuster tried to free Persia from Russian and British colonialism, so Persia could gain independence and control its own destiny. Shuster felt he could improve the Persian economy. However, due to great pressure put on him by Russia and Britain, Shuster was forced to leave Persia. He felt bitter and wrote a book condemning the colonial powers. Upon his return to the U.S., Shuster entered the publishing industry and became president of Century Publishing in New York. He led the firm, which had been established in 1870, through a merger with Appleton in 1933 and Crofts in 1947. By his death in 1960 the firm was known as Century-Appleton-Crofts.

14- Unknown

15- Unknown

Attendees Right to Left: 16, 17, 18

16- Unknown

17- Unknown

18- Unknown

Attendees Right to Left: 18 to 29

Attendees Right to Left: 19, 20, 21

19- Don Carlos Seitz (1862-1935) American newspaper correspondent and manager. He was also an accomplished biographer and historian. He served as city editor (1889–91) of the Brooklyn Eagle, assistant publisher of the New York Recorder (1892–93) and managing editor of the Brooklyn World (1893–94), and thenceforth was connected with the New York World as advertising manager (1895–97) and as business manager after 1898. Note: The Brooklyn Eagle, originally The Brooklyn Eagle and Kings County Democrat, was a daily newspaper published in the city and later borough of Brooklyn, New York, for 114 years from 1841 to 1955.

Don Carlos Seitz’s historical books and biographies include: Discoveries in Everyday Europe (1907), Writings by and about James McNeill Whistler (1910), Elba and Elsewhere (1910), Letters from Francis Parkman (1911), The Buccaneers (1912), Whistler Stories (1913), Braxton Bragg, general of the Confederacy (1924), Joseph Pulitzer; HIs Life and Letters (1924), Under the Black Flag: Exploits of the Most Notorious Pirates (1925), The Great Island: Some observations in and about the Crown Colony of Newfoundland (1926), and The James Gordon Bennetts: Father and Son Proprietors of the New York Herald (1928, a biography about newspaper publishers).

20- Unknown

21- Unknown

Attendees Right to Left: 22, 23, 24

22- Unknown

23- Unknown

24- John Huston Finley (October 19, 1863 – March 7, 1940) was a Professor of Politics at Princeton University from 1900 to 1903, and the third President of the City College of New York from 1903 until 1913, when he was appointed President of the University of the State of New York and the 2nd Commissioner of Education of the State of New York from 1913–1921. He was also the 9th President of the American Geographical Society from 1925–1934 – His position in the American Geographical Society placed him in contact with the great explorers and fliers of the day, who signed their names for him on a terrestrial globe, which he presented to the Society in 1929. During World War I he headed the Red Cross Commission in Palestine.

In 1921 Finley was appointed The New York Times associate editor. On April 21, 1937, The Times announced Dr. Finley’s appointment as editor-in-chief. He held that position until Nov. 16, 1938, when because of poor health he took the title of editor emeritus. During his long distinguished career he received honorary degrees from over thirty colleges and universities, and twelve governments bestowed thirteen decorations on him.

During the 1915 banquet event honoring Shibusawa, John H. Finley recalled an incident when the Baron visited the U.S. back in 1902. Mr. Finely stated that writing poetry was a passion for Baron Shibusawa. Finley related that Baron Shibusawa had become friendly with Townsend Harris, the first American Minister to Japan, who went there in 1856 and stayed many years. Mr. Harris died in New York in 1878, and on the day of Baron Shibusawa’s arrival to New York in 1902, he asked to be taken to his friend’s grave. When he reached it he pinned a personal poem he had written to Mr. Harris upon the tree overhanging the grave.

Attendees Right to Left: 25, 26, 27

25- Unknown

26-Unknown

27- Unknown

Vacant Seat between 27 and 28: presumed to be where Count Chinda Sutemi Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. sat during this event.

Attendees Right to Left: 28, 29

28- Unknown

29- Unknown

Attendees Right to Left: 28 to 54

Attendees Right to Left: 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

30- Unknown

31- Unknown

32- Unknown

33- Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) 26th President of the United States: in office September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909

34- Dr. Toyokichi Iyenaga (1862-1936) one of the two hosts of the 1915 banquet. Dr. Iyenaga was Japanese by birth, but came to America early in his life, where he received a PhD degree from Oberlin in 1887 and a PhD degree from Johns Hopkins in 1890. After his education in the United States, he returned to Japan and from 1890 to 1895 he was professor of political science at Waseda University and Higher Commercial College in Tokyo, Japan. In 1895 he was appointed secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs, and in 1898 he became a commissioner of the Formosan government to India, Persia, Turkey, and China. He was also lecturer at the University of Chicago from 1901 to 1920 and at Columbia University from 1913 until retirement. While in New York he operated a news bureau known as the East and West. He also spent some time in Washington, D.C. as an aide to the Japanese ambassador to the United States.

The Vacant seat between 34- Dr. Toyokichi Iyenaga and 35- Jacob Henry Schiff is presumed to be where Baron Shibusawa Eiichi sat during this event. This would place Dr. Toyokichi Iyenaga between Baron Shibusawa and Theodore Roosevelt to assist in translation between these two statesmen.

Attendees Right to Left: 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40

35- Jacob Henry Schiff (born Jakob Heinrich Schiff; January 10, 1847 – September 25, 1920) was a Jewish-American banker, businessman, and philanthropist. He helped finance the expansion of American railroads and the Japanese military efforts against Tsarist Russia during the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Schiff migrated to the United States after the American Civil War and joined the investment firm Kuhn, Loeb & Co. From his base on Wall Street, he became a foremost Jewish leader from 1880 to 1920 in what later became known as the “Schiff era.” He grappled with all major Jewish issues and problems of the day, including the plight of Russian Jews under the Tsar, American and international anti-Semitism, care of needy Jewish immigrants, and the rise of Zionism. He became a director of many important corporations, including the National City Bank of New York, Equitable Life Assurance Society, Wells Fargo & Company, and the Union Pacific Railroad. As a sign of the close relationship with Baron Shibusawa, in the 1915 banquet, Mr. Schiff sits at the right side of Baron Shibusawa.

36- Unknown

37- Unknown

38- Unknown

39- Unknown

Attendees Right to Left: 39, 40, 41, 42,

40- Oswald Garrison Villard (1872–1949), was the publisher of both the New York Evening Post (which describes itself as the nation’s oldest continuously published daily newspaper), and The Nation (the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States, covering progressive political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis). Oswald was the son of railroad tycoon Henry Villard and grandson of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. He used his fortune to promote liberal causes, including women’s suffrage, anti-imperialism, and Negro uplift. Villard originally supported Booker T. Washington, believing education was the solution to the “Negro problem,” but the Brownsville affair and Atlanta riot convinced him of the need for a stronger strategy. The “Committee for the Advancement of the Negro Race” (1906) he envisioned became the blueprint for the NAACP. Villard funded the NAACP’s budget and provided free office space in the New York Evening Post building.

41- Unknown

42- Believed to be Motosada Zumoto (aka M. Zumoto) the Japanese with dark mustache. Zumoto was both the translator and secretary for Baron Shibusawa – He was also a part owner and editor of The Japan Times – Japan’s largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper, currently published by The Japan Times, Ltd. (株式会社ジャパンタイムズ) of Tokyo. M. Zumoto was also the Director of the Oriental Information Agency of New York. A full facial image of M. Zumoto is presented at the end of this blog in Section III. This image comes from another blog post on this website that presents a 1934 diplomatic event.

Attendees 39 to 54, starting from the back of the photo and moving forward

Attendees 43 to 48 starting with the individual furthest back and moving forward:

43- Unknown (not looking forward)

44- Unknown

45-Unknown

46- Unknown

47- Unknown (resting head on his hand)

48- Unknown (eyes looked closed)

49- Unknown [only the top of his head is shown and his face does not appear in the following photo. A mystery guest.

Attendees 50 to 53 starting with the individual furthest back and moving forward:

50- Unknown

51- Unknown (entire face shown)

52- Unknown (has mustache)

53- Unknown (wearing glasses, chin is not visible)

Larger view of the left side of the banquet table: Attendees 35 to 61

Attendees 52 to 59 starting with the individual furthest back and moving forward:

52- Unknown (has dark mustache; was shown in prior photos)

53- Unknown (shown in prior photos)

54- Unknown (looks Asian or African American?)

55- Unknown (brown mustache)

56- Unknown

57- Unknown

58- Unknown

59- Unknown

Attendees 58 to 61 starting with the individual furthest back and moving forward:

58- Unknown (also listed in earlier photo)

59- Unknown (also listed earlier photo)

60- Unknown

61- Unknown

Left to Right: Attendees 61 to 65

The Vacant chair between attendees 63 and 64 is presumed to be where Dr. Jōkichi Takamine sat during this event. As one of the two hosts of this event, Dr. Takamine likely sat at one end of the large banquet table near William Howard Taft, while the other host, Dr. Toyokichi Iyenaga, sat at the other end of the table between Baron Eiichi Shibusawa and Theodore Roosevelt, allowing him to serve as a translator for these two statesmen.

Left to Right: Attendees 62 to 63

62- Unknown

63- Unknown

From Left to Right: Attendees 64 to 65

64- Unknown

65- Unknown

Based on suggestions from The American Historical Association fellow members and further research, here are the names of some Japanese who accompanied Baron Shibusawa during his 1915 visit to the U.S., who might be in the 1915 photo:

M. Zumoto – editor/part-owner of Japan Times, Director of the Oriental Information Agency of New York, both the translator and secretary for Baron Shibusawa.
The Baron’s son: T. Shibusawa
The Baron’s son M. Shibusawa
M. Masuda, the private secretary for Baron Shibusawa
Z. Horikoshi, a silk merchant who also accompanied Baron Shibusawa during his 1909 visit to the U.S.
K. Noguni
S. Hoyomi
I. Wakita, managing Director of the Tokyo-Sakaye Bank
T. Yokoyama – businessman
K. Noguchi on the staff of the First Bank of Tokyo

Section III

As displayed above in Section II, there were many fascinating and inspiring individuals who attended the 1915 event honoring Baron Shibusawa’s visit.

Below are the photos that were utilized for comparison.

This section will also include the names of those individuals and organizations who assist in identifying the guests at this event.

2- William Howard Taft

Image result for william howard taft

Circa 1915 Photo source: Biography.com

3- Albert Shaw

File:Portrait of Albert Shaw.jpg

Circa 1910 Circa 1989

Photo source: Wikipedia

5- Edward Jewitt Wheeler

Circa 1900. In the above photo he is forty-one years old.

In 1915, during the Shibusawa banquet, he was fifty-six years old.

7- Count Chinda Sutemi Japanese Ambassador to the U.S.

File:Picture of Chinda Sutemi.jpg

Circa 1913 Photo source: Harris & Ewing

8- Baron Shibusawa Eiichi

Circa 1918 Photo source: Wikipedia

9- Jōkichi Takamine

File:Jokichi Takamine.jpg

Circa 1920 Photo source: Science History Institute

11- Willard Dickerman Straight

Circa 1915 Photo source: Geni.com

13- William Morgan Shuster

Circa 1912 Photo source: Wikipedia

19- Don Carlos Seitz (1862-1935)

1931 Photo Source: The Library of Congress

In the above photo he was 69 years old.

In the 1915 photo, he was 53 years old.

24- John Huston Finley (October 19, 1863 – March 7, 1940)

The above photo is labelled as no later than 1903 – Source: Wikipedia

John Huston Finley appears to be 40 years old.

How would he look twelve years later?

In the 1915 banquet photo, he was 52 years old.

33- Theodore Roosevelt

1911 Photo source: U.S. National Park Service

34- Dr. Toyokichi Iyenaga

March 10, 1918 Photo source: Underwood & Underwood

35- Jacob Henry Schiff

1903 – Photo source: Wikipedia

40- Oswald Garrison Villard

Circa 1910 Photo source: NAACP Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

42- M. Zumoto

February 27th, 1934 – Source: TheEmperorAndTheSpy.com photo archives

Section IV

The illustrated biography of Prince Tokugawa Iesato brings to life this fascinating period of history and the friendship and alliance between Prince Tokugawa and Baron Eiichi Shibusawa, as they promoted goodwill between the US and Japan.

Available in a Print and Kindle EBook Edition

Prince Tokugawa Iesato’s biography is also available in an expanded digital edition titled: THE ART OF PEACE.

This edition is similar to THE ART OF DIPLOMACY, but it presents an additional 100 pages of historical notes to assist researchers.

Both versions offer a new significant perspective on U.S. Japan relations during the first half of the 20^th Century.

Prince Tokugawa encouraged Emperor Hirohito’s younger brother Prince Takamatsu and Princess Takamatsu to take a fourteen month Goodwill World Tour during 1930-1931. In Washington, D.C., they were personally escorted by President Herbert Hoover down Pennsylvania Avenue, as part of their special reception.

January 14, 2020 by Stan S. Katz Leave a Comment

These rare antique photos present a long forgotten 1931 diplomatic event where Prince and Princess Takamatsu as a gesture of international goodwill visited the US Capital and were personally escorted down Pennsylvania Avenue. by President Herbert Hoover, as thousands of onlookers gathered to honor their visit. Surprisingly, it has proved difficult to find news coverage about the above diplomatic procession.

Left to right in the center of the procession photo: Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Katsuji Debuchi speaks with President Hoover (wearing a top hat and holding a cane); Princess and Prince Takamatsu walk side by side. Included above are two earlier individual photos of Princess and Prince Takamatsu.

In 1988 an international goodwill organization PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE was created to honor Prince Takamatsu and his efforts to utilize the arts as a means of bringing nations and peoples together in mutual appreciation and goodwill.

The below Sunday, Sept. 19th, 2021 full page announcement in the NEW YORK TIMES honors this prestigious organization’s 2021 artist award recipients.

The Praemium Imperiale is a global arts prize awarded annually by the Japan Art Association. Since its inauguration in 1988, it has been recognized as a significant supporter of the arts – Six nomination committees, each chaired by an International Advisor, propose candidates in five fields: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music and Theatre/Film.

The below link gives you a detailed introduction to Praemium Imperiale and its laureates in words, image, audio and video.

https://www.praemiumimperiale.org/en/

Prince Tokugawa’s biography highlights Prince and Princess Takamatsu, who served as representatives of Japan, promoting international friendship through the exchange of the arts and intercultural events. This biography includes many more rare photos of Prince Takamatsu and Princess Takamatsu’s exciting 1930-1931 Goodwill World Tour. Over the past two decades, a large collection of rare photos of Prince Takamatsu and Princess Takamatsu were collected by the author of this blog post. Perhaps, a film documentarian who also enjoys history will assist in creating a documentary about this Royal Couple, highlighting their 19301-1931 Goodwill World Tour.

PRINCE TOKUGAWA’S BIOGRAPHY IS AVAILABLE IN TWO VERSIONS: “THE ART OF PEACE” & “The ART OF DIPLOMACY”

PRINT & KINDLE EDITION

EXPANDED EBOOK EDITION

Prince Tokugawa’s Spirit of International Goodwill lives on thru the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan. During the late 1930s, Prince Tokugawa and Kanō Jigorō, the educator and martial artist who founded the sport of Judo, promoted the 1940 Olympics come to Japan.

January 13, 2020 by Stan S. Katz Leave a Comment

Prince Tokugawa and his allies vigorously advocated that the 1940 Olympics take place in Japan, hoping it would encourage peaceful international relations. Regrettably, that event was canceled due to the expanding conflict in Europe leading to WWII. Since then, the event was been staged in Japan several times, and Tokugawa would be delighted to know that 80 years after his passing, the Olympics is once again coming to his nation, to be shared with the world.

Prince Tokugawa was a devoted fan of American Baseball and encouraged its introduction into Japan from the early 1900s. This sport has been intermittently part of the Olympics in past years and will be in Summer Olympics in Japan in 2020. Prince Tokugawa is quoted as saying:

“How much better to compete on the playing field, than on the battlefield!”

Prince Tokugawa also had enthusiasm for wrestling and judo, sports that are also part of the Olympics.

The above Jan. 12, 1937 press photo presents the Members of the Japanese Olympic Committee. Left to right in photo: Mayor of Tokyo Torataro Ushizuka; Kanō Jigorō; Count Michimasa Soyejima; Prince Tokugawa Iesato (aka Prince Iyesato Tokugawa); and Dr. Taku Iwahara. They are in conference at the Tetsudo Hotel in Tokyo to discuss Tokyo as the probable site for the 1940 Olympic Games.

Of Interest: Kanō Jigorō (Dec. 10, 1860–May 4, 1938) also known as Jigorō Kanō, was a Japanese martial artist who founded the sport of Judo. Source of the below pre-1938 photo: the Japanese book Kano Sensei Den (嘉納先生伝)

Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Kanō introduced the use of black and white belts, and the dan system to show the relative ranking among members of a martial art style.

Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include:

“Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort”

“Mutual Welfare and Benefit”

The illustrated biography The Art of Peace highlights the life and many accomplishments of the truly amazing international statesmen Prince Tokugawa and his allies, offering a new window to this fascinating period of history.

AVAILABLE THRU AMAZON:

General Reader Edition

Expanded Edition

In Support of Democracy during World War One, Prince Tokugawa and Baron Shibusawa guided Japan to aid the U.S., Britain, and France, as well as her other Allies – Theodore Roosevelt praises Japan for her important role in winning that war.

December 28, 2019 by Stan S. Katz 2 Comments

When war first erupted in Europe in 1914, there was uncertainty as to whether or not, or to what degree, Japan would support Great Britain and Britain’s other allies in their struggle with Germany, a conflict that seemed far away from Japan’s shores. Prince Tokugawa and Baron Shibusawa along with their Japanese supporters had spent the prior decade promoting peace. But when war erupted, out of respect international justice, they guided Japan to play a significant role in aiding the Allies – Despite Japan’s important contributions to the winning that conflict, relatively little is remembered today. Japan strongly assisted militarily and aided the Allies’ sick and wounded.

In 1917, out of empathy for the enormous suffering, death, and destruction in Europe during World War One (1914-1918), Prince Tokugawa and Baron Shibusawa, along with their Japanese supporters published a condolence booklet honoring their Allies. The photo illustration above is the first page from that condolence booklet that described the Japanese creating an association that collected a monetary fund that was gifted to Allied nations to help with their healthcare costs.

The portrait photos on the above page illustration are:

Prince Iyesato Tokugawa president of this organization, with Baron Eiichi Shibusawa (left) and Baron Saburo Shimada (right) the vice-presidents.

This booklet was titled:

“Japan to her Allies: A Message of Practical Sympathy from the Japan Association for Aiding the Sick and Wounded Soldiers and Others Suffering from the War in the Allied Countries.”

Below are the English and the French Editions of this booklet:

Theodore Roosevelt’s deep appreciation & heartfelt regard for the Japanese people in general & for Japan’s significant role in winning World War One is revealed by the below New York Times article written November 30, 1919, just seven months prior to his death.

WHAT THE JAPANESE HAVE STOOD FOR IN WORLD WAR

“This country should feel for Japan a peculiar admiration and respect.”

“There is not the slightest real or necessary conflict of interest between the United States and Japan in the Pacific.”

By THEODORE ROOSEVELT

(A Hitherto Unpublished Article, Written by the Late Ex-President Seven Months Before His Death)

The New York Times

Published: November 30, 1919

Japan’s career during the past fifty years has been without parallel in world history. Japan has played a part of extraordinary usefulness to the allied cause in this war for civilization. Japan’s friendship should be peculiarly dear to the United States, and every farsighted public man in the United States should do his utmost to keep a cordial working agreement of sympathy between the two nations. These three facts should be continually in the minds of every good American; and especially at this precise moment.

Japan’s sudden rise into a foremost position among the Occidental civilized powers has been an extraordinary phenomenon. There has been nothing in the past in any way approaching it. No other nation in history has ever so quickly entered the circle of civilized powers. It took the yellow-haired barbarians of the North who overthrew Rome six or eight centuries before the civilization they built up even began to approach the civilization they had torn town; whereas Japan tore down nothing and yet reached the level of her western neighbors in half a century. Moreover, she entered the circle of the higher civilization bearing gifts in both hands. Her appreciation of art and nature, her refinement of life, and many of her social conventions, together with her extraordinary and ennobling patriotism, convey lessons to us of America and Europe which we shall do well to learn. Every thoughtful American who dwells on the relations between Japan and the United States must realize that each has something to learn from the other.

In this war Japan has played a great and useful part. That she had her special and peculiar grievances against Germany goes without saying. So had we. She took these grievances to account precisely as we took our grievances into account. But she signed herself on the side of humanity and freedom and justice exactly as we did. Her duty has been, first of all, to drive Germany from the Pacific and to police and protect the Orient. If she had not done this it is probable that at the present moment a British and American force would be besieging Kiao-Chau and that our commerce would be suffering from German raids in the Pacific. Great Britain and the United States are able to keep their fleets out of the Pacific at this moment because the Japanese fleet is there. But she has done much more than this. Gradually, as the war has grown, she has extended her assistance all over the globe. Her volunteers have appeared in that most hazardous of all military branches, the air service, at the extreme fighting front. She has sent her destroyers to protect English and American troop ships and cargo ships in the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean. Japan’s part has been great; far greater than anything that she was called upon to do by her alliance with Great Britain. She first captured Kiao-Chau, and sank all of the Austrian and German ships out of the Pacific. *Soon thereafter she lent three of her cruisers to Russia to strengthen her fleet in the Baltic. At present her destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea and off the coasts of England, Spain, and France. Her submarines have been working in company with the Italians. The Transports from Australia and New Zealand have been conveyed safely by Japanese warships. Our own war vessels are free for convoying our troops across the Atlantic largely because of what Japan has done in the Pacific. She supplied enormous quantities of arms and munitions to Russia. She lent Russia heavy guns, and loaned her millions of dollars. She has given to the Allies quantities of copper. She has sent medical units to England, France, Russia, Serbia, and Rumania. She has offset the German intrigue in India. One in twenty-eight of the people of Japan belong to the Japanese Red Cross; one in four of the Japanese in this country are in the American Red Cross. Two thousand Japanese are fighting in the Canadian Army. ** Japan has done everything she has been asked to do or permitted to do in this war. And this statement will be questioned by no human being who is both honest and acquainted with the actual facts.

Yet, at this very time, when Japan’s sons are fighting beside ours in the waters of the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay and the North Sea and in the air over the western front, there are blatant Americans who have served Germany against America, who have played the German game to the limit, by striving to make trouble between Japan and the United States; by seeking every way to rouse suspicion and distrust of Japan in the United States; and by doing all that malevolent and unscrupulous baseness can do to taunt Japan into hostility to our country. There are in this country certain demagogic politicians, certain agitators seeking notoriety, and certain conscienceless and sensation-mongering newspaper owners and writers who are willing to make money or obtain preferment for themselves by any appeal to distrust and suspicion, no matter what infinite harm it does to this country. These sordid creatures have worked hand in glove with the scarcely more sordid creatures who are paid by Germany in downright cash to advance Germany’s aims, whether by striving to provoke an ill-will that might eventually produce war between the United States and Japan or in any other fashion. They have been guilty of conduct so shameful that it cannot be too strongly condemned.

Japan has a real admiration for America, dating back for sixty years to the time of Perry. The two nations have been in relations of close friendship. The Japanese have patiently borne misrepresentation, insults, and false accusations from various authors, writers, and public speakers of this country. They are a proud nation. They have suffered under this vilification. They have believed that our people would themselves realize the injustice of these attacks. Their belief is justified. Our people are beginning to understand that of recent years that most flagrant of these attacks have been made by German agents who worked diligently and secretly with ample Government money to create distrust between the two countries. The time has come for us Americans to show our trust and confidence in Japan as a great, loyal, modern people, whose seat at the table of the family of nations is next to ours, and who sit there on a full equality with all other civilized peoples. The rights and duties of the United States and Japan toward each other musts be treated on a basis of exact reciprocal equality. Each must have full control of all things vitally affected its own well-being; each must treat the other with frank and loyal courtesy and consideration.

The origin and persistence of German propaganda for the purpose of embroiling Japan and the United States is now fairly well recognized. Yet until Viscount Ishii openly and publicly accused Germany of being the agent of this nefarious work, the people of our country knew practically nothing about it. At a reception given by the National Press Club in Washington to Viscount Ishii as the head of the commission from Japan, September, 1917, he made an address which was for the most part devoted to exposing these insidious efforts of Germany. He said in part:

“For more than ten years a propaganda has been carried on in this country, in Japan, and, in fact, throughout the world, for the one and sole purpose of keeping nations of the Far East and Far West as far apart as possible; to break up existing treaties and understanding; to create distrust, suspicion, and unkindly feeling between neighbors in the Far East and in the West, and all in order that Germany might secure advantages in the confusion. I do not think that you, gentlemen, in your busy lives here during the last ten years have given more than passing attention to developments in the Far East. The well-equipped agent of your enemy and mine has taken advantage of your preoccupation or of your kindly credulity. For many years his work was easy. The world was flooded with talks of Japan’s military aspirations and Japan’s duplicity. Have these been borne out by history? Even now the German publicity agent whispers first in your ear and then in mine.”

His story is specious, and is told in dim light which falls upon sympathetic pictures cleverly painted by himself and presented to you and to me in the past. To the accompaniment of appeals to the human heart he tells to me other stories of your duplicity and to you of mine.

“For twelve years, gentlemen, up to the present time, those agents have worked among us and elsewhere persistently and cleverly. They have been supplied with unlimited resources. No wonder we have been deceived. A short time ago a bad blunder gave us a clue. The Zimmermann note to Mexico involving Japan was a blunder. It made such a noise that we were disturbed in our slumbers and so were you. This gave a check for a time, but since the agents have been hard at work. They were at work yesterday, and they are at work today. Every prejudice, every sympathy, every available argument has been appealed to and used to show to your people and to ours what a low, cunning enemy we have each in the other, and how much dependent we are upon the future friendship, support, and good-will of Germany.”

The Zimmermann note was an official invitation from Germany to Japan and Mexico to join in dismembering the United States; for Germany has with cynically impartial bad faith striven to draw her own profit from the ill-will she has endeavored to excite in each of the two nations, Japan and America. Every American public man, newspaper editor, speaker or writer who since the publication of the Zimmermann note has striven to excite America against Japan has been deliberately playing Germany’s game against this country. Such action amounts to moral treason to the United States.

If any person thinks this too strong a statement, I call his attention to the recent deliberate utterances of Secretary of State Lansing, ex-Secretary of State Root, and ex-Ambassador Gerard.

Mr. Lansing says: “There had unquestionably been growing up between the peoples of the two countries (Japan and the United States) a feeling of suspicion as to the motives inducing the activities of the other in the Far East, a feeling which, if unchecked, promised to develop a serious situation. Rumors and reports of improper intentions were increasing and were more and more believed. Legitimate commercial and industrial enterprises without ulterior motives were presumed to have political significance, with the result that opposition to those enterprises was aroused in the other country. The attitude of constraint and doubt thus created was fostered and encouraged by the campaign of falsehood which for a long time had been adroitly and secretly carried on by Germans whose Government, as part of its foreign policy, desired especially to so alienate this country and Japan that it would be at the chosen time no difficult task to cause a rupture of their good relations. Unfortunately there were people in both countries, many of whom were entirely honest in their beliefs, who accepted every false rumor as true, and aided the German propaganda by declaring that their Government should prepare for the conflict which they asserted was inevitable, that the interests of the two nations in the Far East were hostile, and that every activity of the other country in the Pacific had a sinister purpose.”

Mr. Root says: “There never has been in this country, so far as my observation and reading go, any more dangerous and persistent misrepresentation regarding the relations, the purposes, the character of another country with which we have relations than in the case of the relations between the United States and Japan. I haven’t the slightest doubt that the misrepresentations and the attempts to create the feeling among the people who have it all in their hands now, the attempts to create bad feeling between the United States and Japan, have been very largely the result of a fixed and settled purpose and that purpose, it seems to me, growing day by day more clear, was the purpose that formed a part of the policy of the great ruling caste of Germany which is attempting to subjugate the world today.

“For many years I was very familiar with our Department of Foreign Affairs, and for some years I was especially concerned in its operation. During that time there were many difficult, perplexing, and doubtful questions to be discussed and settled between the United States and Japan. During that time the thoughtless or malicious section of the press was doing its worst. During that time the demagogue seeking cheap reputation by stirring up the passions of the people to whom it appealed was doing his worst. There were many incidents out of which quarrels and conflicts might have arisen, and I hope you will all remember what I say. I say that, during all that period, there never was a moment when the Government of Japan was not frank, sincere, friendly, and most solicitous not to enlarge but to minimize and do away with all causes of controversy. No one who has any familiarity at all with life can be mistaken in a negotiation as to whether the one with whom he is negotiating is trying to be frank or trying to bring on a quarrel. That is a fundamental thing that you cannot be mistaken about. And there was never a more consistent and noble advocacy of peace, of international friendship and of real, good understanding in the diplomacy of this world than was exhibited by the representatives of Japan, both here and in Japan, during all these years in their relations to the United States. I wish for no better, no more frank and friendly intercourse by which Japan in those years illustrated the best qualities of the new diplomacy as between rulers.”

Mr. Gerard says: “All during the winter of 1914 Berlin Germans from the highest down tried to impress me with the great danger which they said threatened America from Japan. The military and naval attaches of the United States Embassy and I were told that the German information system sent news that Mexico was full of Japanese colonies and America of Japanese spies. Possibly much of the prejudice in America against the Japanese was cooked up by German propagandists, which we later learned to know so well.”

Japan’s friendliness and good faith were strikingly shown in the early days of the war, when the question arose whether, in case of war between the United States and Japan, Great Britain would be obliged to assist Japan. This was excitedly discussed here and in England. The proposed treaty of arbitration between Great Britain and the United States came up about this time and it was found that such a treaty was precluded by the terms of the alliance between Great Britain and Japan. It was at Japan’s request that the terms of her treaty with Great Britain be revised so as to remove the obstacle to the arbitration treaty to which Great Britain consented. This was Japan’s contribution to universal peace. Regarding this, Viscount Ishii said in his address to the National Press Club in Washington, “Now if Japan had the remotest intention of appealing to arms against America, how could she thus voluntarily have renounced the all-important cooperation of Great Britain? It would have been widely quixotic. Treaties are not ‘scraps of paper’ to Great Britain. Japan knew she could rely on Great Britain religiously to carry out her promise. It was my good fortune to be in the Foreign Office at Tokio at the time of the revision of the Treaty of Alliance with Great Britain, and, modest as was the part I took therein, I can give you the personal and emphatic assurance that there was at the time no one in the Government or among the public of Japan opposed to the terms of that revision. There is, one may surely be safe in saying, only one way to interpret this attitude of Japan. It is the most signal proof- if, indeed, any proof is needed – that to the Japanese Government and nation anything like armed conflict with America is simply unthinkable.”

Japan, alone among the Allies, has borrowed no money from the United States; and she has lent hundreds of millions to the other allied nations. The Japanese have made a record in war charities during the last four years which is of really extraordinary fineness and disinterestedness. The women of Japan used the same methods for raising money to be sent to Belgium and Serbia and elsewhere that our own women did. They had their “Japan Belgian Relief Society,” their “Japan Serbian Relief Society,” & they sent $150,000 to the Italian refugees who lost their homes when the Teutonic armies invaded Italy. Stimulated by these smaller but very active organizations, a movement was started which spread from end to end of the empire and then across to Korea. Its title is “The Japanese Association for Aiding the Sick and Wounded Soldiers and Others Suffering from the War with Allied Countries.” Its President is Prince Iyesato Tokugawa, President of the House of Peers. The Vice President is Baron Shibusawa, the financier so well known in this country. This fund collected amounted to $1,000,000 and was distributed as follows:

To Great Britain $184,000

France 184,000

Russia 184,000

Italy 184,000

Belgium 184,000

Serbia 60,000

Rumania 60,000

Ordinarily funds of this size and character are distributed by a committee, but this association adopted a less expensive and much more modern method. The money was sent to the Japanese official representatives in the various countries. A pamphlet was published in Japanese and in English under the title “Japan to Her Allies,” which stated the purposes of the association and also included articles written by leading men of the country, in which they set forth their sympathy with the sufferers, their opinion of Germany’s responsibility for the war, and her abominable methods of conducting it, and their belief in the ultimate victory, of the Allies. It is a remarkable publication; nothing quite equal to it has originated in any of the Occidental countries. The quality of the pamphlet is shown by the following quotation from the dignified and impressive statement of Count Terauchi, the Prime Minister and official spokesman of the Japanese people: “Far removed as the Empire of Japan is from the centre of action, and little as the people of Japan has suffered in comparison with their European allies, Japan and her people, none the less, know the meaning of war, and are able, therefore, to appreciate the sufferings and sacrifices of their allies as their own. The people of Japan feel themselves one with the people of the invaded countries, just as the people of the Allies do. They are one in sympathy and in the fight for international justice, and stand ready to share the hardships of the struggle to the fullest extent. *** As the Prime Minister of Japan it is my privilege and pleasure hereby to express the sympathy and good-will of the people of Japan for the allied armies and peoples in this day of trial. *** Though the amount contributed may seem no more than a mere trifle in comparison with the need of the suffering nations, the heartfelt sympathy and admiration of a whole nation go with it. Those who receive the gift of Japan may well look upon it as the widow’s mite that means more than all of the offerings of the rich.”

There is not time in this message to discuss fully our proper relations to Japan; I have set them forth as I see them- and as I see our proper position as regards all our international relations- in my book “Fear God and Take Your Own Part.” But there is always time to point out the elemental fact that this country should feel for Japan a peculiar admiration and respect, and that one of the cardinal principals of our foreign policy should be to secure and retain her friendship, respect, and good-will. There is not the slightest real or necessary conflict of interest between the United States and Japan in the Pacific; her interest as in Asia, ours in America; neither has any desire or excuse for acquiring territory in the other continent. Japan is placing a great part in the civilized world; a good understanding between her and the United States is essential to international progress, and it is a grave offense against the United States for any man by word or deed to jeopardize this good understanding.

The case has been put in a nutshell in Viscount Ishii’s eloquent and appealing address at Fair Haven, Mass., on July 4, which he closed with these words:

We trust you, we love you, and, if you will let us, we will walk at your side in loyal good-fellowship down all the coming years.

All good Americans should act toward Japan in precisely the spirit shown toward America by this able and eloquent Japanese statesman.

*The names of the three Japanese cruisers that were given back to Russia after the outbreak of the war, together with their original Russian names, are: Sagami, (Per aviet) 12,074 tons: Tango, (Poltava.) 10,960 tons, and Soya, (Varyag) 6,500 tons.

** Japan has financed her own part in the war without borrowing and has lent more than $500,000,000 to England, France, and Russia.

THE ART OF PEACE highlights the exciting and inspiring achievements of Prince Tokugawa and Baron Shibusawa, offering a new perspective and clarity on Japan and U.S. Japan relations during this fascinating and often tumultuous period of history.

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THE EMPEROR AND THE SPY is an exciting, historical espionage novel about the adventurous life of a masterful U.S. intelligence agent, Colonel Sidney Forrester Mashbir. The 2019 Revised Edition has just been published – Among Mashbir’s many exploits during his long military and diplomatic career, this saga presents his friendship with Prince Tokugawa and Baron Shibusawa, and their alliance to maintain goodwill between their nations.

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Friendship & Alliance between Presidents Theodore Roosevelt & William Howard Taft with the Japanese leaders Baron Shibusawa & Prince Tokugawa and a Tour of the Japanese Friendship Garden San Diego

December 9, 2019 by Stan S. Katz 1 Comment

The Spirit of International Goodwill

President Roosevelt – Prince Tokugawa – Baron Shibusawa – President Taft

During the first decades of the 1900s, these four accomplished statesmen allied together to promote amity between their nations.

This relief sculpture has been accented with metallic paint to look like a bronze – If the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, San Diego welcomes this gift, it will be cast in bronze and be presented as a token of goodwill from the San Diego World Affairs Council (a chapter of the World Affairs Councils of America) and perhaps also from the San Diego Diplomacy Council & the East West Center – Fine organizations that support international cooperation for a more peaceful and democratic world.

TheEmperorAndTheSpy.com website presents additional blog posts revealing the strong alliance between them.

The inspiration for this sculpture arose while the author of this blog was researching for the biography The Art of Peace, which highlights the friendship and political alliance between these four leaders. It includes hundreds of illustrations, including many rare photos, offering a new perspective on U.S. Japan relations during the first half of the twentieth century, and illustrates that nations come together thru their mutual appreciation of one another’s arts and culture – To further enhance the friendship between the U.S. and Japan today a gift of a bronze sculpture was created by the author of this article to honor these four fine diplomats, who worked shoulder to shoulder in the pursuit of peace.

Below is the clay version of the sculpture

President Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919)

In office as president from September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909.

Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for guiding the arbitration that ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

Prince Tokugawa Iesato aka Prince Iyesato Tokugawa (1863-1940)

President of Japan’s upper house of congress The House of Peers for thirty years from 1903-1933. He was also the President of the Japanese Red Cross Society and headed many other significant Japanese organizations. Prince Tokugawa took a pivotal guiding role in both the Japanese gifting of the Cherry Blossom Trees to Washington, D.C. in 1912 and in this gesture of international goodwill becoming the official National Cherry Blossom Festival beginning in 1935, an event celebrated annually by hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and visitors from around the world.

Baron Shibusawa Eiichi aka Baron Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931)

Known as the ‘Father of Japan’s modern economic system,‘ Shibusawa helped launch hundreds of business ventures as well as social service organizations, including universities, hospitals, social welfare and international relations/relief organizations.

Baron Shibusawa was twice nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for the years 1926 and 1927.

President William Howard Taft (1857 – 1930)

In office as president March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913

President Taft and his wife First Lady Helen Herron Taft were the official U.S. recipients the Japanese Gift of Cherry Blossom Trees in 1912.

Eight years after his presidency, Taft became the first U.S. President to later become the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court from July 11, 1921 – February 3, 1930.

You are now invited to take a brief tour of the beautiful Japanese Friendship Garden.

Here is the link to the Japanese Friendship Garden Official Website: http://www.niwa.org/

Their mission statement: to develop a traditional Japanese garden as a center to educate, engage, and inspire people of diverse backgrounds about Japanese culture and community legacy.

An outside view from inside of one of the tranquil buildings in the garden.

Photos taken by the author of this blog on August 2019

Near the entrance to the Japanese Friendship Garden is a presentation board displaying the history of this beautiful place, whose roots go back to the 1915-1916 Pan-American Exposition, where there was a popular Japanese Teahouse that was enjoyed by many visitors. Over the following century, the hospitality theme of that teahouse has evolved into the current Japanese Friendship Garden. Much of the impressive architecture that today comprises the expansive Balboa Park in San Diego, were part of that exposition.

Charles C. Dail Memorial Gate (above)

Close-up view (below) of the Bronze plaque near the gate honoring Charles C. Dail, who was the Mayor of San Diego from 1953-1963 and the Founder of the San Diego – Yokohama Sister Cities Program.

Above: in the distance, a mother reads a statue’s dedication plaque, while her daughter (seated to the left) appreciatively looks at the lovely Buddhist statue in the shadows, which is called ‘The Goddess of Mercy and Compassion’ – To learn more about this sculpture from the 1700s, the dedication plaque describes its fascinating history.

Hope you enjoyed your visit to the Japanese Friendship Garden.

THE ART OF PEACE book cover presents Prince Tokugawa receiving an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Southern California. The president of the university Dr. Rufus B. von Kleinsmid hands the degree to Prince Tokugawa on March 19^th, 1934. This presentation took place during a special luncheon given in Los Angeles, hosted by George I. Cochran, the president of USC’s Board of Trustees. Prince Iyesato Tokugawa was accompanied by his son Iyemasa, the newly appointed Minister to Canada.

Left to right in photo: Prince Iyesato Tokugawa; Iyemasa Tokugawa; George I. Cochran; Dr. Rufus B. von Kleinsmid.

In accepting the honor, Tokugawa respectfully said,

“He wished to receive it in the name of the Japanese people as a whole rather than as a personal distinction.”

During Prince Tokugawa’s 1934 visit to Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Times stated that a banquet dinner in his honor was hosted by the Japan America Society of Los Angeles. The Japan America Society of Los Angeles is now known as the Japan America Society of Southern California, its goal

“Building Japan-America Relationships Since 1909“

In 1909, during the first year of The Japan America Society of Los Angeles, they had also welcomed and hosted Baron Eiichi Shibusawa and fifty members of his goodwill/trade delegation.

THE ART OF PEACE biography highlights U.S. – Japan relations during the first half of the twentieth century.

The friendship and alliance between Prince Tokugawa, Baron Shibusawa and President Roosevelt and President Taft is presented as part of this history.

The Japan Society of New York City Honors the Visit of Prince Iyesato Tokugawa – Recently Discovered 1934 Photo

1920 – An Important Event Encouraging Good US / Japan Relations. Recently discovered Photo – Frank A. Vanderlip, a leading US business figure and president of the Japan Society of New York City meets with Shibusawa Eiichi and representatives of Mitsui & Co., and other Japanese leaders.

The invited American guests of the day are as follows

The 1909 Shibusawa Delegation visits Upstate, New York – U.S. and Japanese leaders come together in friendship over a Century Ago

The Shibusawa 1909 Delegation is welcomed by the City of Ithaca.

*The historical content for this article was discovered while researching for an illustrated biography.

NOTES FOR THIS BLOG POST

A Time Capsule to Cornell University from over a Century Ago. Looking for suggestions and assistance to bring its fascinating contents to life through a documentary film, an illustrated book, and classroom curriculum.

1915 – Former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft secretly attended a diplomatic banquet sponsored by the Japan Society of New York, honoring the visit of Baron Shibusawa Eiichi. Their goal to strengthen the future US Japan alliance for World War One.

Former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt & William Howard Taft secretly attend a 1915 diplomatic banquet in N.Y.C. honoring the visit of Baron Shibusawa. Their goal to establish a strong US Japan alliance for World War One. This photo was only recently discovered.

2- William Howard Taft

Available in a Print and Kindle EBook Edition

PRINCE TOKUGAWA’S BIOGRAPHY IS AVAILABLE IN TWO VERSIONS: “THE ART OF PEACE” & “The ART OF DIPLOMACY”

PRINT & KINDLE EDITION

Prince Tokugawa’s Spirit of International Goodwill lives on thru the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan. During the late 1930s, Prince Tokugawa and Kanō Jigorō, the educator and martial artist who founded the sport of Judo, promoted the 1940 Olympics come to Japan.

In Support of Democracy during World War One, Prince Tokugawa and Baron Shibusawa guided Japan to aid the U.S., Britain, and France, as well as her other Allies – Theodore Roosevelt praises Japan for her important role in winning that war.

Theodore Roosevelt’s deep appreciation & heartfelt regard for the Japanese people in general & for Japan’s significant role in winning World War One is revealed by the below New York Times article written November 30, 1919, just seven months prior to his death.

WHAT THE JAPANESE HAVE STOOD FOR IN WORLD WAR

Friendship & Alliance between Presidents Theodore Roosevelt & William Howard Taft with the Japanese leaders Baron Shibusawa & Prince Tokugawa and a Tour of the Japanese Friendship Garden San Diego

You are now invited to take a brief tour of the beautiful Japanese Friendship Garden.

The General Reader Edition of PRINCE TOKUGAWA’S BIOGRAPHY IS TITLED:

THE ART OF DIPLOMACY

AVAILABLE IN PRINT AND KINDLE EBOOK