Chapter 227: The Morally Questionable East Africans
The Far East was a huge market at that time, while Japan was an emerging market. Both served as key sources of immigrants and grain trade for the East African Kingdom in the Far East.
To show its regard for Japan, the East African Kingdom established diplomatic relations with the Japanese government the day after it did so with the Qing.
Sebastian, manager of the Hechingen Bank branch in Japan, was appointed East Africa's minister to Japan, and East Africa set up a number of consulates around the country.
After Japan's Meiji Restoration, the Meiji government rapidly developed industry, which required massive funding. They had only two main ways of getting it: borrowing from the West and from big local merchants, or forcing extreme exploitation at home. Japanese women and farmers bore the brunt of this exploitation. The Meiji government encouraged women to work in textiles and similar industries. At the same time, the second-biggest sector employing Japanese women was the "special service industry."
Given these conditions, East Africa naturally saw an opportunity. After sending a diplomatic mission, they became bolder about bringing in female migrants from Japan. The Meiji government poured funds first into silk, cotton, and other light industries, hiring foreigners to guide industrial production. Yet modernization demanded a huge labor force, especially female labor in textile factories. When recruiting in the countryside, they had trouble, as families there didn't want to send off their daughters. So a nationwide push tried to persuade women to work in factories. Some local officials set an example by sending their own daughters first. With that demonstration, people came to see factories as "safe."
This in turn helped East Africa recruit immigrants. Their method was simple: invest in a Japanese textile factory specifically hiring women, then "transfer" these women workers abroad to "Europe." Next, they'd pull off a sneaky trick: The ship to "Europe" would "encounter storms, pirates," or something leading to a "shipwreck," where hundreds of people supposedly vanished at once. Then the factory owners expressed sympathy and paid out "symbolic compensation," which they handed to the Japanese authorities; whether it reached the families, East Africa couldn't care less.
Since a shipwreck is an act of nature, the Japanese government had nothing to say, and Japan's low international standing meant they dared not press further. After all, East Africa "paid compensation"—what more could they want?
This approach did come with downsides. East Africa's shell companies often had to "fire a shot and change location," so the next group would pull off the same scheme under a different name. They claimed the previous factory owner went bankrupt after the "disaster," so a new owner took over.
As for who took the blame, it certainly wasn't the East African Kingdom. They'd pass themselves off as German or other European investors. Where were they from? Poland, Ukraine in the Russian Empire, Italy, even countries that once existed in the Holy Roman Empire but had disappeared since.
They also had a second approach: directly buying girls from Japanese farmers. In this era, Japanese women's status was abysmal, and they had essentially no rights. Many Japanese had trouble feeding themselves, so they had no choice but to sell a daughter. The son had to stay and continue the family line. This was Japan's reality. East Africa could get them cheaply—even paying in grain, which was a win-win. After all, behind textile work, Japan's second-most-common female employment was the "special service industry." The Meiji government treated abortion and infanticide as crimes, so when famines or poor harvests came, rural families would sell their daughters to the "special service industry." That industry grew faster under Meiji than during the Tokugawa shogunate.
But the East African government used grain to take Japan's extra population, so their families got food, and these women didn't have to get stuck in "special service." Everyone supposedly gained a better future.
Though East Africa's actions were morally questionable, it found ways to make the Japanese government turn a blind eye. Their textile factories were old players in this game, but they always kept a portion of stable female employees who genuinely worked and sent money home. Wages ran higher than average Japanese textile pay, and always on time, thus guaranteeing a steady income. Japan's Meiji government benefited from taxes.
As for these "shipwreck" vanishings, it was just "too bad." With help from stable employees, more unsuspecting workers would arrive. Gaining that stable status wasn't so easy, though; in Japan's textile sector, pay was extremely low, and not until 1880 did the country set a minimum wage—and many still didn't see any. East Africa's factories offered far better conditions, so those stable employees usually had strong local ties with officials. That coincided with local officials who, to persuade women to try factory work, put their own female relatives there as examples.
…
"Thank you so much, Mr. Sebastian—this is all thanks to your help!" A group of Japanese officials in Tokyo bowed deeply, at a perfect 90° angle.
"Haha, it's just my job as a diplomat," Sebastian said.
Just then, Sebastian—the "righteous" East African ambassador—helped local authorities secure some compensation from a "Russian" merchant who had acted tough. Yet the Russian government had no clue who he was—some "Slavic immigrant" from East Africa, well-trained to pose as a Russian merchant. Even Russian diplomats couldn't tell otherwise, for he spoke perfect Russian, knew details about the empire, and acted as if he truly was Russian. With that big, brash personality, it all fit. This "Russian" factory boss had "lost Japanese workers to shipwreck," prompting local official protests, but the "Russian" retorted it was a natural disaster—an act of God—so not his fault! He threatened to throw out those "troublesome" Japanese. Conveniently, Ambassador Sebastian "happened by," denounced the merchant's cruelty, and mediated so that in the end, they shook hands, the merchant paid a sum of "compensation," and the matter ended.
"What a fine gentleman, that Mr. Sebasan—truly a model man!"
"Exactly. If all Westerners in Tokyo were as fair-minded as him…"
"He dared stand up to the Russians, openly telling them off. One day, our Yamato people must also hold our heads high like that…"
"Long live His Majesty the Emperor! We shall…"
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