Documents Reveal 19th Century Tensions Between Japan and U.S. Over Hawaii

Above, waterfalls on the Big Island. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Long before the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, there were tensions between the United States, Japan and the then-Kingdom of Hawaii during the 19th Century, newly discovered documents reveal.

According to The Mainichi:

Documents on diplomatic relations between Japan and the then Kingdom of Hawaii recently discovered in the Hawaii State Archives highlight 19th century political maneuvering over the islands' fate among three sovereign actors -- Japan, Hawaii and the United States. 

Last year, a team led by historian Toru Hoya at the University of Tokyo's Historiographical Institute photographed roughly 7,000 archive documents dating from 1861, when Hawaii was still an independent kingdom, to 1898, when it was annexed by the U.S.  

In 1893, American farmers and other mainly non-native citizens overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy in a coup d'etat. The Japanese government dispatched warship Naniwa in the name of protecting Japanese citizens on the islands, while at the same time attempting to keep the U.S. in check.

To read more, go here.