Reading the Diary of an Omi Merchant: Nakae Katsujiro and His Travel to America

Abstract: "This talk is part of my new book project on the activities of the so-called Omi merchants in the Japanese transpacific diaspora. I will specifically examine the case of Nakae Katsujiro, an owner of a dry-goods store in colonial Korea, who went on an inspection tour of North America in 1924. Using his diary, I will reconstruct his journey through the world of modern retail, punctuated by visits to Japanese immigrant communities. These transpacific encounters had a transformative impact on Katsujiro as an omi merchant, allowing us to see a dynamic interplay between local and global in Japan's overseas expansion."Talk is part of the Asian/Pacific Studies (APSI) Spring Speaker Series and is cosponsored by APSI, AMES, Department of History, Carolina Asia Center, Triangle Center for Japanese Studies