Diffusion and Transformation of Farmers' Cooperativism in Japanese Overseas Communities: A Cultural Geographical Study

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Japanese overseas emigration started in the mid 1880s and continued throughout the pre-World War II period to various parts of the world. This reflected the domestic conditions of Japan as well as the situation of host countries. Farming was one of their most important activities. California and Sao Paulo constituted the two major host areas, where Japanese immigrant farmers contributed a great deal to the development of agriculture. It is suggested that in the development of farming activities of those immigrants the sprit of agricultural cooperation was one of the most important strategies for their success. This study was to analyze the process of diffusion, application and modification of agricultural cooperativism in California and Sao Paulo, and to compare and contrast the immigrants farming communities in two different cultural traditions. During the two-year study period, a great deal of primary and secondary sources were collected. The process of development and change of agricultural cooperatives in both study areas were particularly clarified. Although the spirit of farmers' cooperation played the major role in the development of immigrant communities both in California and Sao Paulo, the differences in the physical environment, the social and economic structure, and the farming tradition in such host areas combined to create differed forms of organization and process of change of Japanese farmers cooperation and cooperatives. This study also suggests that the compartive analysis of Japanese communities in California and Sao Paulo is an important theme of cultural geography.