Tanamoshi

Issei

Some Issei came to the United States as students with the hope of studying English or pursuing higher education at American schools. Others came as farmers or laborers with the hope of finding better working conditions, since the Japanese economic situation was terrible at the time they came to the United States. Many women came as family dependents. Since many lacked English ability, they had to engage in low-paying jobs, yet they worked very hard. Their hard work threatened white Americans’ sense of economic security and dominance, and Issei were harassed and discriminated against. In this hostile environment, tanamoshi gave Issei a way to survive in the United States.

A System of Tanamoshi

In general, to start a tanamoshi, members pool a certain amount of money at designated intervals. For example, if 10 tanamoshi members pay $5 a month, the total amount will be $50. If they save their money for a year, they can accumulate $600. In a year, each member can get $60. Before reaching a year's savings, if a member needs money, the person in charge of a tanamoshi holds a ko (meeting), and a member who bids the highest interest rate can get the principal, but the member must return the interest to other members. Once a member bids and gets money, that member cannot bid again but has to continue to pay for the tanamoshi. If a member can delay taking his or her share, that member can get more and more interest from the other bidders’ payments. Some members therefore use the system to augment their investment.

Tanomoshi was used for various purposes. It is reported that some women started a tanamoshi to buy a wristwatch with a small investment. Others used a large sum of money to purchase real estate for farming or business purposes.

Tanamoshi members were bound by mutual trust, since money was involved, yet some did not fulfill their commitment, and after getting some money, they left their community. They then became a disgrace of the community. Shares they did not pay were taken care of by the person in charge of a tanamoshi. To secure the trust among members of a tanamoshi, kenjinkai played an important role in operating tanamoshi.

Kenjinkai

Tanamoshi members were usually composed of friends, especially friends from the same ken (prefecture). Issei from the same ken, such as Hiroshima-ken, Kumamoto-ken, or Fukuoka-ken, shared the same dialect and cultural habits. It was easier for them to get along with people from the same ken than with people from other kens. Since a tanamoshi dealt with large sums of money, its members needed to be trustworthy, and Issei felt that members from the same ken were more trustworthy. Issei created kenjinkai, associations of Japanese immigrants from the same ken. When they first came to the United States, many Issei were not familiar with the English language and American customs, and they became the target of racial prejudice and discrimination in the United States. They needed a community to survive together in the white-centered American society. Kenjinkai functioned as a buffer to protect Issei from difficulties they faced in the United States.

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