Women’s Role in Society
On May 4, 1872, the group detoured from Washington D.C to visit the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Upon arrival, the delegation was surprised to see women entering government buildings. Kunitake Kume remarked on this, saying the strangest custom he witnessed in America was the relation between the sexes. He had seen husbands […]
Emancipation Day
On April 16, 1872, the Japanese delegates arrived in the nation’s capital. Their visit coincided with the 10th anniversary of Emancipation Day, celebrating the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act by President Licoln in 1862 that freed slaves in the District of Columbia. The streets were filled with parade-goers, as African Americans waved banners, marching […]
Ferries and Piers
In 1872 New York City was a major port, surrounded by water. As the delegates arrived into the famed metropolis, they marveled at the size and breadth of the city’s commercial ferry and freight vessels. There were so many people, horses, and goods in transit along the Hudson River! Nothing the men read about America […]
Telegraph
Following the delegation’s visit to the New York Tribune, the group headed to the headquarters of the Western Union Telegraph Company at 145 Broadway Avenue. Inside of the offices men tested out the service. The group received wishes of good fortune along their journey from Western Union offices in Cleveland and Washington D.C. It was […]
Niagara Suspension Bridges
During their stay in New York the delegates made a trip north toward the Canadian border to visit Niagara Falls. Kunitake Kume made detailed descriptions of the falls in his diaries, mentioning the waterwheel and two suspension bridges that had been built over the Whirlpool Gorge downriver. The delegates crossed one of the suspension bridges, […]
Street Cars
During their stay in New York, the Embassy encountered the newly built streetcars passing along the thoroughfares and above the avenues. In his account of the scene, Kume remarks that, “Trains were also [sic] hurtling along in both directions on an elevated railroad supported on iron pillars more than twenty feet above the street.” For […]
A.T. Stewart Store
While in New York City the delegates paid a visit to one of the first department stores, the A.T. Stewart Store on Broadway Avenue. The building had large street level windows, allowing light to filter through as people browsed the latest fashions through the glass. It was the advent of modern window shopping. Kume remarked […]
Saratoga Grand Union Hotel
In the middle of June 1872, the Iwakura Mission group journeyed north to Saratoga, New York, where they stayed in the Grand Union Hotel. They were astonished by the scale and grandeur of the building, saying that, “for sheer size it is unmatched among the hotels which we have seen.” This statement would remain true, […]
Grand Central Terminal
On July 31, 1872, the delegates visited Grand Central Terminal. Kunitake Kume had previously found train depots plain and artless, but the newly constructed Grand Central terminal was beautiful, elegant and momentous. At it’s time of completion in 1871 it was the largest rail facility in the world. The designer Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877), also the […]
The New York Tribune
On the last day in July, 1872, the delegates visited the office of the New York Tribune. Newspapers were massively popular with Americans, and Kunitake Kume remarked that in other countries he had never seen papers be so habitual. By Kume’s calculations, at least half of all American citizens read one or more newspaper editions […]