Masaaki Yamaguchi
A resident of Chikura Town, Minamiboso City, Chiba Prefecture. A researcher at the NPO Awa Cultural Heritage Forum. Using photographs, letters, and documents related to the abalone industry in Monterey, California that remain in Chikura Town, he continues to steadily conduct research into the relationship between the region and America.
(Updated January 2015)
Stories from This Author
Abalone divers crossing the Pacific Ocean
Jan. 30, 2015 • Masaaki Yamaguchi
It was in 1897 (Meiji 30) that Nakajiro Kotani, a young fisheries expert from Minami Boso, set off across the Pacific Ocean for Monterey, California. Monterey, which is at the same latitude as Minami Boso, was home to a large number of abalone. As the momentum for the exclusion of Japanese Americans grew, Noda Otosaburo, a native of Taku City, Saga Prefecture, came up with the idea of catching a large amount of abalone, drying them, and selling them to …
