Libmonster ID: JP-1285
Author(s) of the publication: P. PODALKO
Educational Institution \ Organization: Osaka State University

The author of this historical essay, Pyotr Eduardovich PODALKO, is a Doctor of Humanities, a lecturer at Osaka State University, where he was invited while still a student of the History Department of Novosibirsk State University, and is engaged in research in the history of Russian-Japanese relations, touching on two interrelated topics: the history of tsarist diplomacy in the East and the history of the Russian diaspora in Japan. He enthusiastically works with unknown and previously unclaimed archival documents, examines necropolises and reveals the graves of Russians buried in Japan, writes and publishes a lot both in Japan and in Russia, is a member of the Japanese Society of Russian Historians and the Russian Society of Orientalists. The publishing house of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences is preparing to publish his book " Japan in the Fate of Russians. Essays on the history of Tsarist diplomacy and the Russian Diaspora in Japan at the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX century". We are publishing some chapters from the forthcoming book with the kind permission of the author in our journal*.

The emigrant theme in today's Russia has already been considered in sufficient detail. But if emigrants who ended up in Europe and the United States, as well as in China (mainly in Harbin), began to talk and write a lot from the beginning of the 1980s, then those who ended up on the Japanese Islands were much less lucky. Among the emigrants "in the Far East itself" there were no grand dukes, prize - winning writers, or famous orators of the State Duma; merchants, small merchants, and peasants who had fled after the defeat of Kolchak's troops predominated here, while the intelligentsia was mainly represented by tsarist diplomats and military personnel, whose anti-Bolshevik position, taken by them after the revolution, did not reflect the situation in the Far East. it has undergone significant changes in the following years. In addition, there were too few of them - according to the most optimistic estimates, in Japan in the 1920s - 1940s, no more than 4-5 thousand refugees from Russia lived at the same time. The Russian colony in Kobe was one of the most numerous in Japan and produced the largest number of figures in various industries who made a significant contribution to the formation of modern Japanese culture.

"THREE WAVES" OF RUSSIAN EMIGRATION

The first months after the February Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent political amnesty were marked by a sharp increase in the number of transit passengers with Russian citizenship traveling through Japan in the "western direction". Soon, however, the first "refugees to the East" begin to appear in Japan, the number of which has been growing since the end of 1918 after the frequent defeats of the Kolchak army and as the "red" units approach Vladivostok. It is interesting that at that time emigrants from Russia practically did not consider Japan as the final destination of their travels, heading mainly to America, Australia and even through a "round-the-world trip" to Europe. The exotic romance of the "land of geishas and chrysanthemums" (as Japan was mostly perceived in Russian society at that time) was little associated for refugees with a place where they could settle for a long time, in addition, cultural differences, the language barrier and much more played a role. This is partly confirmed by statistics: for example, in 1918 there were officially only 52 Russian citizens in Kobe, even 15% less than before the revolution. It is a very difficult task to reliably identify the dynamics of the number of Russian emigrants in Japan today. There are many reasons for this: attempts to arbitrarily change the citizenship of emigrants, their desire to evade official registration in order to avoid possible reprisals and expulsion from the country, etc. For example, immigrants from the western provinces of the Russian Empire often preferred to call themselves "Poles" abroad; Muslim believers, many of whom came to Japan thanks to the support of various Islamic organizations. Some of these organizations (the Idel-Ural Association, etc.) called themselves "Tatars", and sometimes " Turks "(later many Muslims from among former Russian subjects officially adopted Turkish citizenship, which explains the disproportionately large number of "Turkish graves" in Japanese cemeteries); Jews professing Judaism called themselves "Jews".", then "Jews" (in Japanese, these words sound like


* The reader can get acquainted with the previously published articles by P. E. Podalko, which, after additions and revisions, are included by the author in the mentioned book. See: P. Podalko "Russian Hibakusha", "Asia and Africa Today", 2002, N11; Japan. The Last Ambassador of Imperial Russia, "Asia and Africa Today", 2003, N 2.

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almost the same). In the view of the local Japanese administration, which was not experienced in such subtleties, both of them, as a rule, were "Russian" or "white Russian" for Japanese officials, as opposed to "red Russian", that is, the Bolsheviks, which in turn repeatedly caused additional confusion. Hence, there are numerous discrepancies in the figures that reflect emigration statistics: for example,according to the latest data of the Association of Jews from the Far East, only Jewish refugees in Japan in 1917-1918 numbered up to 5,000 people, 1 which is at least twice as high as the real figures. At the same time, however, it should be noted that not all emigrants were in a hurry to register with the police, and transit passengers and those who were in Japan temporarily, waiting for a visa to America (but did not consider themselves a "transit person"), were not subject to mandatory registration at all, and many people lived for months without getting a visa. by officially registering your stay in country 2 .

In the mid-1920s, several thousand emigrants from Russia (who became "stateless persons" in January 1925, since Japan recognized the Soviet government, which automatically revoked the official status of all representatives of tsarist Russia) were simultaneously living in Japan, the bulk of which settled more or less evenly in large, mainly port cities. cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, where it was easier to find work and there were large, compact settlements of foreigners with their own schools and hospitals. Thanks to this, it was easier to get settled here and thereby reduce the level of unavoidable problems associated with adaptation to a new cultural and linguistic environment at first.

So many foreigners have never arrived in Japan in a short period of time. For a time, Russians became the largest national minority in a foreign country - an exceptional fact in itself .3 At the same time, their number is not comparable with the number of Russian emigrants who found shelter in European countries and neighboring China (where only in Harbin by the early 1920s there were more than 100 thousand of them). There were reasons for this, and among them, first of all, it should be mentioned geographical, since the island position of Japan allowed local authorities to ensure stricter control over unwanted immigration; secondly, the special restrictive measures of the Japanese government worked quite effectively, which, fearing uncontrolled entry of foreigners into the country, introduced the so-called "anti-immigration policy" in February 1920. "cash presentation system". From now on, every foreigner arriving in Japan (except for transit passengers) in the absence of a Japanese guarantor had to confirm to the customs authorities that they had a sum of money equivalent to at least 1,500 Japanese yen (in any of the recognized currencies).4 This was considered as a material security deposit sufficient to ensure a temporary stay in the country. Not every potential immigrant (and certainly not many real refugees) had the necessary amount. In addition, according to the original definition of D. I. Abrikosov*, "Russians somehow feel more comfortable in China" than in Japan .5 At the same time, even those of the emigrants who somehow managed to get to Japan, at first, for the most part, did not consider it as a permanent residence, expecting to receive a travel permit to the United States over time.

In general, in the history of the Russian colony in Japan, and in particular in Kobe, we can distinguish three stages of its formation, in other words, "three waves" of Russian emigration to Japan. In this case, we are talking about a purely local phenomenon, related only to Japan and in no way connected with the division into stages (periods) of the history of Russian emigration in the XX century, which is traditionally accepted in Russian and foreign historiography. These "three waves", or three stages, of the formation of the Russian diaspora in Japan can be distinguished as follows::

1) late 1917-first half of 1923;

2) the second half of 1923-the end of the 1930s.;

3) late 1940s-first half of the 1950s.

The watershed between the first and second stages was the Kanto earthquake of 1923**, and between the second and third stages was the Second World War. In general, it can be argued that the bulk of the refugees who formed the emigrant colony in Kobe belong to the "second wave" of emigration to Japan, that is, to those who arrived in this country since the end of 1923.

The catastrophe of September 1, 1923, divided the Russian emigration into "before" and "after" the earthquake. The "first wave" was mostly made up of people who had accidentally arrived in the Far East, were not adapted to a long life in an alien environment, did not have the necessary professional skills, and, as a rule, did not plan to settle here forever, but only stayed indefinitely on their way to America or Canada. Among them were many representatives of the regional administration of tsarist Russia, minor officials, retired generals, ministers of various Siberian governments, and just townspeople and peasants who were confused by what was happening in Russia and took off in a panic, obeying the general impulse to flee, and then lost in a foreign Asian country6 . The earthquake was a kind of trigger for them to continue fleeing. According to D. I. Abrikosov, a direct participant in these events, few of the emigrants who survived the earthquake stayed in Japan without making an attempt to leave. The main point where survivors were taken from Tokyo and Yokohama was the city of Kobe, where there was a large colony of foreigners and the local infrastructure made it possible to place them on the island.


* Dmitry Ivanovich Abrikosov (1876-1951) - Russian diplomat, descendant of the "chocolate kings" of tsarist Russia; in 1922-1925 - acting ambassador of the Russian "embassy without government" in Japan. (Ed.)

** A devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake in the Kanto region of the eastern part of the country almost completely destroyed a number of cities and towns, including the capital Tokyo and the largest port of Yokohama, killing more than 100,000 people and leaving 570,000 families homeless. (Ed.)

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for a short time, a large number of people.

Immediately after the news of the disaster, the foreign colony in Kobe created an Aid Committee, which formed a special subcommittee on assistance to Russian refugees, consisting of six people, under the chairmanship of F. A. Shishkin. F. G. Thomas. However, according to other sources, the chairman of the Subcommittee was (or in fact played a leading role in it) a certain "Captain James" (as Abrikosov calls him). About this remarkable person, who had such a large part in the arrangement of the destinies of Russian refugees affected by the disaster, it is necessary to tell in more detail.

David James - an influential businessman, representative of an English trading company, was a truly legendary figure in Kobe at that time. Arriving in Japan with his parents in early childhood (at the age of 3, in 1884), he forever connected himself with this country, from where, however, he regularly traveled to other parts of the world, and each time in a new capacity. 7 After being drafted into the US Army, James participated in the Spanish - American War (1898), then mined gold during the" gold rush " in the Yukon (Alaska), as a war correspondent visited the Russo-Japanese War, from where he then went as a journalist to Africa, where he participated in the suppression of the uprising as part of a light cavalry regiment the Zulus. He was wounded on the French front in World War I and finally again as a journalist spent some time in Siberia during the foreign intervention during the Civil War. Finally, many years later, at an advanced age, he was captured by the Japanese in Singapore during the surrender of the British troops defending the city, after which he spent three and a half years in Japanese captivity.

So this amazing man was given the task of organizing the reception of Russian refugees. D. James took up the task with his usual energy, and within three weeks, under his leadership, conditions were created for temporary accommodation of almost 400 people. Many of the refugees were placed in the sports club of which James himself was a member for many years (and which he also headed two years later, becoming its president in 1925) .8

From the Russian side, he was assisted by an employee of the former consulate in Yokohama, P. P. Borovsky, who miraculously escaped during the earthquake. In this very difficult situation, Borovsky had to solve many problems with the placement of victims and providing them with medical care. Soon the consul V. A. Skorodumov arrived here, and he took on the whole burden of the most difficult decisions related to the departure of as many Russian refugees from Japan as possible.

The collection of funds for providing assistance to refugees, as D. I. Abrikosov reported in a report to the Council of Ambassadors in Paris, "exceeded all expectations." To the Russian 30 thousand yen (from the funds of the Russian embassy and a military agent), money allocated by Japan was added, which was very interested in sending Russians affected by the Kanto earthquake as soon as possible.

The Japanese strictly monitored the spending of funds allocated by the state to help Russian refugees, and were absolutely not interested in how the money collected by the Russian embassy was spent. Russian emigrants in Kobe were kept in rooms specially rented for them, and later gradually evacuated from Japan .9

It should be particularly noted that the Kanto earthquake of 1923, which changed the general map of the settlement of foreigners in Japan for several years, largely determined the subsequent formation of the" face " of the local Russian diaspora, its social and professional composition. The few emigrants who still chose to stay in Japan after the earthquake, mostly representatives of the "second wave" of emigration, were in many ways different from their predecessors.

The "second wave" mainly consisted of representatives of the lower classes of the Russian Empire, including many merchants, Siberian peasants, small and medium-sized merchants, former soldiers who had once settled in Manchuria and Vladivostok after the defeat of the Kolchaks and now feared for their fate after the normalization of Soviet-Chinese relations, as well as residents of Primorye who were eager to leave from the sudden impending "red danger". Among this group of refugees were "migrating persons" who, while maintaining their positions in Manchuria and Primorye, at the same time prepared for possible urgent evacuation and transferred capital abroad, opened branches of their companies in Japan. At the same time, the number of emigrants who consciously chose Japan as the end point of their travels increased. Many of them by this time already had the experience of repeatedly moving from country to country, made attempts to settle in China, America and other countries. Unlike the representatives of the "first wave", these people were proactive, had a real profession and most of them had specific plans for their future life in Japan. They quickly settled into a foreign land, learned the language and began to "reclaim their niche" in the then Japanese society. As a result of all the above, their adaptation to unusual conditions was not too painful, although many later could not stand the competition and were eventually forced to leave Japan, continuing their emigrant journey to America, Australia and China, or faced the need to once again change their profession, which for them was already somewhat familiar.

Many of the "second wave" emigrants had already experienced emigrating for several years in various parts of China or in America by the time they moved to Japan. Often, the arrival of representatives of the "second wave" in Japan was caused by the expansion of local small trading companies, including those with Russian owners who had long lived in Japan10 and needed cheap labor. The stray Russian merchants they sent from Harbin, who then went around Japan loaded with various small haberdashery, pieces of cloth and other goods, sometimes baffled the local police, who were not prepared for the appearance of such goods.

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kind of foreigners and at first unable to establish surveillance for them. These people were accustomed to selling scrap metal and small retail items - most of them were already doing this during their life in China, where peddling was, in the words of the well-known historiographer of Far Eastern emigration P. P. Balakshin, "the most popular business" among Russian refugees in the early years .11 I must say that the Russian Embassy in Tokyo from the very beginning treated such compatriots with great caution, trying to distance themselves from excessive contacts with them as much as possible. As for the critical assessment of their actions, the argument was put forward that they "...coming here at their own risk and fear, can in no way be considered Russian refugees, whom fate threw into Japan"12 , and, therefore, do not need support and protection from the embassy. Moreover, according to Abrikosov, those of the traveling merchants who, taking advantage of the inexperience of the inhabitants of the Japanese province, sometimes sold openly substandard goods, trying to deceive the local authorities, by such actions greatly harmed the administration's attitude towards other representatives of the Russian diaspora in Japan .13 Many of the emigrants of the "second wave" later managed not only to grow into Japanese society, but also to achieve a fairly high position in it.

The" third wave "includes those emigrants who arrived in Japan after the end of World War II due to the" reddening "of China and the threat of forced deportation of local "white Russians" to the USSR. But due to the fact that Japan was occupied by American troops in 1945-1952, the entry of foreigners into the country was restricted and actually reduced to a narrow circle of people whose relatives (Japanese or foreigners) had previously lived in this country. For this reason ,the "third wave" of emigration was the smallest and therefore did not significantly affect the qualitative and quantitative change in the composition of the Russian diaspora in Japan.

ABOUT THE ECONOMIC AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY OF EMIGRANTS FROM RUSSIA

It is necessary to note such an important feature of the eastern branch of Russian emigration as its high degree of adaptability to the new environment, because the vast majority of emigrants had to change their previous specialty, based on the specific needs of the local market of goods and services. The desire to survive and find their place in society was reinforced by the lack of other sources of support other than self - reliance, since in Japan there were no charitable public foundations or other organizations, as was the case in Europe. Nor was there any significant pre-revolutionary Russian diaspora in Japan, nor was there any influential pro-Russian elite in the local administration, as was the case, for example, in Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia; 14 nor was there any governmental interest in emigration (as in France). The geographical distance of Japan from the main emigrant centers (only Harbin was close, which led to the emergence of close ties between them) it also deprived emigrants of any external support. All this led to the fact that not only many of the peasants and former soldiers who came here, but also some representatives of intelligent professions easily moved from their usual occupations to entrepreneurship and over time began to play an important role in the business life of the country, earning the recognition and respect of the local population.

The description of the Russian diaspora in Japan fully applies to the words of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, who spoke in general about Russian emigration already in the early 1930s, when the main part of the refugees more or less firmly settled in the countries that sheltered them:

"On the whole, they have done well - for a people known for their unpretentiousness and clumsiness. The British or Americans could hardly have achieved more if they had endured such hardships and hardships... Would they (representatives of other nations) be able to find a place in a foreign country, learn its language, endure ridicule and humiliation, and start a new life? The question is a bit ridiculous, but there is no other way to measure the achievements of Russian refugees. " 15

Russian emigrants played a role in the rapid Westernization of Japan in those years. The figure of a foreigner with a bundle of cloth on his back, riding a bicycle or walking along the road from one village to another, who was unmistakably recognized as one of the" white Russians", for a while became an integral feature of the landscape of the entire Japanese province-from the northern island of Hokkaido to Kyushu in the south of the country. The peddling trade that many of the refugees went through, to varying degrees, contributed both to their general familiarity with Japan, including the most remote parts of it at that time, and to their accumulation of primary capital in order to be able to start their own businesses. 16

As a rule, the majority of emigrants went through the standard stages of their activity, which were::

- peddling (mainly cloth, small haberdashery, pieces of cloth, baking products);

- small artisanal and semi-artisanal production in a rented shop, gradually leading to the opening of its own shop (later - shop);

- transition to factory production.

Often, the same building simultaneously housed a factory (more precisely, a workshop for the production of small consumer goods or confectionery and other products), and a store for the sale of products, and in the upper floors lived the owners themselves and employees (if there were any). Some expats have managed to achieve some success, expand production, and even eventually enter the Japanese market. Among the branches of their employment, such as the food industry gradually begin to prevail: the creation of enterprises for the production of European sweets, sweets, chocolate; the opening of restaurants

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Russian cuisine, as well as intermediary trade.

Interestingly, Russian emigrants were most successful in the production of "sweet" products. At that time, the lack of powerful reefer units on ships limited the delivery of chocolate and sweets from Europe and America to Japan, and Japanese manufacturers of Western-style confectionery products in the early 1920s were at the earliest stage of their development. At that time, the country produced mainly the simplest types of sweets and bar chocolate, which did not meet the growing demand for high-grade piece products. This gave emigrants a chance to compete successfully with local producers with a small consumption of raw materials.

The prestige of Russian confectioners (the firms of Georges Bormann, Einem, and the Abrikosov family of merchants), whose achievements were repeatedly awarded prizes at international exhibitions for the high quality of their products before the revolution, was quite high in the world, and the concept of "Romanov chocolate" - named after the Romanov dynasty-has since become firmly established in Japanese life. The concentration of emigrant entrepreneurs in large port cities, on the one hand, made it easier for them to obtain raw materials (mainly imported), and on the other, guaranteed the sale of goods. The foreign colony in Kobe, in addition, became a place of residence not only for Russian merchants, but also for representatives of intelligent professions - musicians, artists, and artists. And in the "First Russian Music School", opened in Kobe in the mid-1920s, there were many children of foreign citizens who wanted their offspring to be taught by Russian teachers "with a name"from the very beginning.

Largely thanks to Russian emigrants, the foundations of the cultural phenomenon that later became known as "Hanshin Modernism" were laid during this period - after the Hanshin district, which includes the cities of Osaka and Kobe. Students of Russian music teachers, pianists and violinists Alexander Yakovlevich Mogilevsky, Emmanuel Metter, Alexander Mikhailovich Rutin and other talented teachers still live and work in Japan. One of the most famous students of E. Metter was T. Asahina, who died in December 2001 at the age of 93, who once studied at Kyoto University and later led the Osaka Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra for many years. Natives of Russia were also at the origin of the musical theater "Takarazuka Kagekidan" (a kind of drama music hall, where all the roles, both male and female, are performed by female actresses) in the city of Takarazuka, located halfway between Osaka and Kobe. The Takarazuka Kagekidan troupe included Russian choreographers Osovskaya (E. Metter's wife) and Luzinsky, singer O. Karosulova and others, as well as conductors and directors of contemporary dance.

Of particular interest to the research are the problems of interaction between Russian and Japanese entrepreneurs in the field of business, their experience in creating mixed joint-stock companies, as well as the impact of these contacts on the behavior of emigrants and their relations with the local population. There were many difficulties along the way. Thus, emigrants often failed in their attempts to establish cooperation with Japanese partners, and, as D. I. Abrikosov, who repeatedly encountered similar stories, wrote about it, "once they fell into the hands of unscrupulous Japanese businessmen, they eventually lost their fortune and the know-how to produce their products" 17. This, for example, happened in the mid-1930s with one of the most successful Russian entrepreneurs in Japan, Fyodor Dmitrievich Morozov (1880-1971).

Having passed, like many emigrants, the path of the first "cut-off" (that is, a peddler of fabrics), Morozov in March 1926 opened a confectionery shop of his own production. At the same time, he met his colleague and future competitor Makar Goncharov, who was formerly an employee of a Vladivostok confectionery company owned by the famous merchant family Tkachenko in the Far East. Goncharov, having emigrated from Russia, began the production and sale of chocolate products in Seoul in 1923, and in 1925 moved to Japan (now his name is one of the largest confectionery companies in Japan, Goncharoff, whose main office is still located in Kobe). Goncharov's proposal for joint activity did not arouse Morozov's interest, and although contacts between them did not stop completely, in the future both entrepreneurs acted independently. It is interesting that, contrary to the traditional ideas about the laws of competition, they resolved the "question of superiority" very peacefully among themselves, and this despite the fact that the current successors of the business both in Morozov's firm and in Goncharov's firm always emphasize their priority in the production of "Russian Romanov chocolate" in Japan in advertising. The fact is that formally both of them were the first and had reason to say so. The possibility of such a "double championship" lies in the nuances of recent events. After the establishment of a protectorate over Korea (which became, in fact, the seizure of it by Japan) in 1910 and up to 1945. Seoul, like the entire Korean territory, was considered part of the Japanese Empire, so M. Goncharov, in this situation, could formally claim the championship "in time". On the territory of Japan proper, that is, the Japanese Archipelago, and in particular in the city of Kobe, it is located on-

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he appeared later than Morozov, and here the "palm of superiority" belongs to the latter. However, there were no conflicts between them on the issue of primacy or copyright in the period under review18 .

During the global economic crisis of the late 1920s and early 1930s, which also affected Japan, F. Morozov and M. Goncharov failed to preserve the family character of their enterprises and, in order to strengthen the financial base and expand production, they corporatized their companies, entering into partnerships with local Japanese industrialists. However, the relationship between them was very difficult, and after some time, both Russian entrepreneurs eventually lost their firms, in which they invested so much work. In addition, Morozov, who tried to resolve the conflict between him and his Japanese partners by judicial means, as a result of the subsequent unfavorable court decision, lost the right to use the trademark "Morozoff" in his production, although it was derived from his own surname and by the time of sentencing had already served as the trademark of his products for ten years.

The future life of the "fathers of Japanese chocolate" is noticeably different from each other: Fyodor Morozov found the strength to start all over again and restored the confectionery production under the name "Valentine Company" (taking the name of his son Valentin Fedorovich as a trademark). At the same time, the Morozovs permanently abandoned the joint-stock form of capital organization (their company, which currently exists under the name "Cosmopolitan", still remains a purely family enterprise). For his part, Makar Goncharov, having completely transferred all business to his Japanese partner, left the borders of Japan with his family, and the existing company "Goncharoff" is still a joint-stock company, where almost nothing reminds of its creator and original owner, and the hall of the main building is decorated with a sculptural image of his successor-the Japanese I. Mito 19 .

But there were other examples of very successful business activities of Russian emigrants in Japan. Often, those of the emigrants who did not settle permanently in Japan were in a better position to conduct trade here through branches and representative offices of their companies (as did, for example, N. G. Ankudinov, V. M. Naumov, P. Ilyin, etc.). They were located outside of Japan, although the owners had the right to freely visit Japan and other benefits, including the opportunity to conduct entrepreneurial activities and even, without being Japanese citizens, act as guarantors (!) for Russian artists coming on tour from Shanghai and Harbin. Some of these entrepreneurs eventually managed to obtain Soviet citizenship, which, while maintaining the actual status of an emigrant, made it much easier for them (from the legal side) to conduct trade operations.

Interesting is the activity of our compatriot Vladimir Mikhailovich Naumov, who, having emigrated from Vladivostok to Harbin in the autumn of 1922, began working in 1923 in the firm of I. Y. Churin as a simple clerk, and after a couple of years managed to open his own business for the export and import of everyday goods, having permanent representative offices in Tokyo and Yokohama. Before the outbreak of World War II, he regularly increased the turnover of his trade, while at the same time promoting tours of Harbin artists in Japan. Being a "stateless person" himself, he nevertheless had a visa to regularly visit Japan, where he lived almost constantly, conducting active trade in the cities of Tokyo, Yokohama, and later in Osaka and Kobe. As the acting head of the Japanese branch of the Union of Monarchists "For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland!" Naumov in the mid-1930s. once specially visited the Ministry of the Imperial Court in Tokyo, where he left a congratulatory note in connection with the birth of Emperor Showa (Hirohito) heir Akihito (the future Emperor Heisei, born December 23, 1933), which he later mentioned in his memoirs 20 .

CHANGES IN THE LIVES OF EXPATS

The mid-1920s were marked by the creation of the first emigrant societies in Japan .21 In 1927, the Kobe City Society of Russian Emigrants was established at 2 Kamitsutsui-dori in Kobe, the purpose of which was to organize assistance and support to compatriots, conduct cultural events among them (for example, one of the most popular forms of activity of the Society was the organization of dance evenings).22 . In addition to the Kobe Emigrant Society, other similar organizations have emerged, for example, in Tokyo - the Society of Russian Emigrants in Japan (1930) and, a year ahead of it, the Hokkaido Society of Russian Emigrants (1929)23 . Among the active members of the Society of Russian Emigrants of Kobe, who at various times were members of its governing body, one can name such surnames as Krainev, Dolmatov, Shrubak (Shcherbak?), Goncharov, Lazarev, Nikolsky, Chernikov, Shmakov, etc. Subsequently, the Society moved several times from place to place, until in the early 1930s it settled at the address: Yamamoto-dori, 2 - 25 - 15. Its members did not conduct any significant political activity in Kobe, and it continued to exist for another decade and a half, until the natural decline of members led to the actual cessation of its activities.

In October 1929, the Russian colony in Kobe was replenished with another member - Alexandra Lvovna Tolstoy, the youngest daughter of the great writer, arrived in Japan from the USSR. The formal reason for her arrival was "to give lectures on Tolstoy and study teaching in Japan"; in fact, she was emigrating from a country where things were getting "very bad" and "living there is unbearable" in freedom .24 A. L. Tolstoy's life after the revolution in Russia was difficult, she was repeatedly arrested and spent several months in prison. With great difficulty (officially-at the invitation of the Japanese newspapers "Tokyo Niti-Niti" and "Osaka Mainichi") She finally succeeded

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get a temporary exit permit from Russia. Together with Alexandra Lvovna, her companion (who once taught at Yasnaya Polyana) O. P. Khristianovich and her daughter Maria came to Japan as a secretary and assistant. They settled in the town of Asia near Kobe, from where A. L. Tolstaya regularly traveled around the country to give lectures and meet with the Japanese public, where she talked about her great father. In addition to lectures, she had to earn a living by teaching Russian, giving private lessons to 25 Japanese students .

It should be noted that, contrary to expectations, the appearance of the daughter of the great writer here did not become a noticeable phenomenon in the cultural life of the Russian colony of Kobe. There were reasons for this, however. First, one of the conditions for obtaining permission to leave the USSR was not to come into contact with representatives of emigration (Tolstaya herself later wrote that in response to the question of why she wanted to go to Japan, and not to Europe, she explained that since there are few Russians in Japan, it is in the eyes of the Russian people. the Bolshevik authorities, her appearance there will make less noise, as was later confirmed). In addition, officially holding a Soviet passport, Tolstoy had to, at least at first, observe a certain amount of caution. As she wrote to her sister, there were indeed few Russians in Japan, but even so, she once "almost ran into a provocateur"in Asia .26 As a result, it turned out that the main part of her entourage, which included "many nice noble people", were Japanese, among whom she particularly noted M. Konishi, who met in Russia with Leo Tolstoy, Professor M. Enekawa (translator of Leo Tolstoy's works into Japanese) and the widow of the writer R. Tokutomi, who also worked as a translator of Tolstoy's works. who has been to Yasnaya Polyana. At the same time, according to V. F. Morozov, he and especially his father, Fyodor Dmitrievich, regularly met with A. L. Tolstoy during her visits to Kobe. Later, while in the United States in 1949, V. F. Morozov saw A. L. Tolstoy again, as evidenced by the photographs that have survived from that time, although she herself does not mention these meetings either in the Russian or English versions of her memoirs about Japan .27 The reasons for this forgetfulness of a man known for his amazing memory are unclear, perhaps behind this was an unwillingness to at least indirectly damage his "Russian Japanese" acquaintances with such a publication. Gradually, the situation around Tolstoy's daughter began to escalate and, fearing being subjected to forced deportation to the USSR, she left in mid-1931 for America, living in Kobe for a total of about two years. Already living in the United States, A. L. Tolstaya published a series of essays about her life in Japan, where she gave a number of interesting observations and conclusions concerning Japanese society in the early 1930s, the attitude of the Japanese towards Russia and Russians, where, in particular, she noted the craze of Japanese youth and intellectuals in the late 1920sIn the 1920s and early 1930s, they were so revolutionary that, according to her, showing "sympathy for the Bolsheviks"was considered a sign of good taste in certain sections of society in Japan at that time .28

As a rule, Russian emigrants, getting to a new country and barely getting stronger, immediately sought to establish any cultural centers, schools, and first of all-Orthodox churches .29 So, with the money raised with their participation, the Tokyo Orthodox Cathedral, built in 1891 and later destroyed by the earthquake of 1923, was restored (it is still widely known in Japan under the name "Nicholas-do", in honor of the high priest Archbishop Nicholas).30 . At the same time, in Kobe, by the efforts of the local emigrant committee and with the active assistance of a large entrepreneur Krainev (who provided a plot of land), as well as the Morozov family of confectioners (who actually paid for all the construction), an Orthodox church was built, which has survived to this day. Donations were also collected for disabled people and war veterans. When the consecration of the cathedral was held in Tokyo in November 1929-

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This celebration was attended not only by almost the entire Russian colony of the Kanto region, but also by specially arrived representatives from Kobe, as well as Harbin delegates and priests led by Archbishop Nestor of Harbin and Archimandrite Juvenal .31

The Tokyo Cathedral played a central role in the life of the entire Russian Orthodox colony in Japan, and the fact that it was restored in such a short time was very important. Many Russians sang in the cathedral choir, and for free (on a small salary of 25 yen per month, there was only a choir director), took part in public gatherings "for the temple", "for the church school", held concerts and charity performances in favor of the church. So, theater productions were often staged in Yokohama, which was gradually revived from the ruins and rebuilt again, as a rule, they were held on the stage of the Yokohama Grand Hotel, where a large hall allowed to gather numerous spectators. Yokohama, where the diplomatic missions were located, has long been home to a large foreign colony, which also provided full halls. It is interesting that many employees of foreign missions at that time had Russian wives who actively helped the emigrant committees in organizing and conducting charity concerts .32

In order to raise the spirits of Russian refugees, regular tours of Russian theater artists from Harbin and Shanghai, as well as opera performances with Russian singers, began in 1924. A great event for the Russian colony was the performances of F. I. Chaliapin, who arrived in Japan in 1936 accompanied by his daughter and gave several concerts in Tokyo and Kobe. After one of the concerts, the singer was given a rest, during which the daughter of Chaliapin together with his concertmaster made a trip to the city of Nara, where they were driven by their car by the youngest daughter of F. D. Morozov - Nina Fedorovna.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s. (after the outbreak of the war between Japan and the United States) some expats in Kobe suddenly have a new source of income - filming. In Japan, they began to produce emphatically propaganda films designed to raise the morale of the population in conditions when the military situation was becoming increasingly gloomy .33 To portray the enemy, primarily Americans, "foreign" (i.e., European) faces were needed, and some emigrants managed to find work here. The roles in this case could be very different, up to the image of US President F. D. Roosevelt (Starkov, an emigrant from Kazan, "specialized" in this). In this case, history, as it often happens, repeated itself with the opposite sign: half a century ago, during the Russo-Japanese War, American and English whalers who came to Kobe happened to portray Russian soldiers and officers in street theater productions depicting the siege of Port Arthur; now the Russians began to play the role of " enemies"the Yankees."

During the Second World War, with the general deterioration of the population's life, Russian emigrants suffered hardships on a par with the Japanese. Those of the emigrants who managed to develop their own business activities in the pre-war years were forced to curtail trade, as restrictions on the import of various goods to Japan aggravated the problem of purchasing raw materials: this particularly affected the food industry, in particular, the most famous Russian confectioners at that time - Morozov and Goncharov firms-suffered. Like other" neutral " foreigners left at large, the emigrants were subject to the card system, which was provided with irregular and very poor security. In addition, as often happens in extreme conditions, internal contradictions in the emigrant environment have become more acute, old resentments and the mutual intolerance that usually distinguishes the society of people who are subjected to deprivation have come to the surface.

As Japan began to suffer defeats in the war, the situation of foreigners began to worsen. Some of them were interned in special camps: sometimes-as representatives of a "hostile" country, sometimes-on denunciation, and someone-and just like that, "just in case". Russian emigrants were initially not considered a "dangerous element" by the Japanese authorities and mostly remained at large, but their movement inside Japan was limited to a distance of several miles from their place of residence, as it was almost a hundred years ago, and other trips required special permission, which was necessary to obtain.

page 66


difficult. Many emigrants lost their jobs at the very beginning of the war, and in order to survive in these conditions, some of them became informants in the police, but their poor knowledge of Japanese, as well as their specific "foreign" appearance, limited the possible scope of their use to spying mainly on each other and on the other few foreigners.

* * *

In general, it can be argued that the Russian diaspora in Japan, despite its small size, has managed to become a significant phenomenon in the economic and social life of the country. This is all the more surprising because, not having initially in their ranks personalities of the level of I. Bunin, I. Sikorsky, F. Chaliapin and consisting mainly of representatives of the lower classes, deprived (in contrast to the European and American branches of emigration) of real support from international and local organizations, emigrants in Japan could count exclusively on their own resources. powers and abilities. Nevertheless, they were successful with their creativity, courage, and creativity.


1 Based on the materials published in the Bulletin "Igud Iocei Sin" No. 35, 1997. (Tel Aviv-Jaffa), "during the Bolshevik revolution, the Jewish community of Kobe received about 5,000 refugees from Russia" (p. 47). However, the publication does not say what kind of refugees we are talking about, as well as whether they were only transit passengers or some of them stayed in Japan for a longer period of time.

2 For more information, see: Kurata Yuka. Russian emigration to Japan between the two World Wars: dynamics, numbers, composition.

3 It is true that the presence of more than 70,000 foreign soldiers in the inner Russian provinces, namely, the number of Japanese in Siberia and the Far East during the intervention of 1918-1922, is also a phenomenon unprecedented in Russia since the war with Napoleon, so that the" irony of history " touched both sides here.

4 The exchange rate of the yen was 0.8 US dollars per 1 yen.

5 Дословно: "...though I do not know why, Russians generally feel more at home in China"- См. Revelations of a Russian Diplomat, с. 294.

6 See also: Podalko P. Russian entrepreneurs-emigrants in Japan in the 1920s-1930s-ECO, 2000, N9, pp. 181-187.

Williams U. S. 7 Kobe Regatta and Atletic Club. - The First 100 years. KR&AC. 1970, c. 41 - 42, 49 - 50. Aka: Foreigners in Mikadoland. Tokyo&Vermont. 1983, pp. 209-210.

8 Kobe Regatta and Atletic Club, p. 42.

9 Report of 10.09.1923 In total, the Aid Committee had already collected 300,674 yen by September 30.

10 Abrikosov calls them "undignified Russian enterprises". See: Report of 12.01.1924. Also about this: Podalko P. Edict. op., pp. 17-29.

Balakshin P. P. 11 Final in China. San Francisco, 1958-1959, vol. 1, p. 330.

12 Report of 12.01.1924

13 In contrast to his reports to the Council of Ambassadors, which were sent, so to speak, "in hot pursuit", in his memoirs written much later, Abrikosov repeatedly speaks with admiration about the emigrants of the "second wave", their enterprising spirit, the desire not to lose their cheerfulness and faith in ultimate success under any circumstances. Being generally not very high opinion of his compatriots (apparently, this is due to the peculiarities of the emigrant environment, the monotony of the social circle and the problems that inevitably arise), Abrikosov at the same time emphasizes the active activity of these Russian immigrants, comparing their mobility and adaptability with the indigenous Japanese population in the province, and not always in favor of the latter.

14 One of the reasons why many Russian refugees in the Czechoslovak Republic were relatively well settled is the patronage provided to them by the Government of Karel Kramarz (1860-1937), the former leader of the Young Czech Republic, who was married to N. Abrikosova, whose activities in this area allowed her to be called the "mother of Russian emigration". In the obituary dedicated to K. Kramarzh, the famous cultural figure A. A. Amfiteatrov wrote:: "In the darkness of our vale, rich only in privations, sorrows and disappointments, Karel Petrovich shone for 20 years as an unquenchable welcome light" ("Past" N22, St. Petersburg, 1997, p. 32). Also see: Buryshkin P. A. Moscow kupecheskaya St. M., Vysshaya shkola, pp. 173-174.

15 Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. Memories. Paris, 1933, pp. 370-371.

16 Here the author has included fragments of an article previously published in the journal "ECO" (See: Podalko P. E. Russian entrepreneurs-emigrants in Japan in the 1930s-ECO, 2000, N 9).

17 См.: Lensen G. A. (ed.). White Russians In Wartime Japan: Leaves from the Diary of Dmitri Abrikossow. - Russian Review, N 25, July, 1966, с 276 - 277.

18 In this section, the author, in addition to official sources and interviews, also used numerous materials of a private nature, kindly provided by the management of the companies "Cosmopolitan", "Morozoff", "Goncharoff".

19 There are two versions of Goncharov's fate: according to the first, "official" version, which is held by the management of Goncharoff, "during the 12 years spent in Japan, M. Goncharov could not fully adapt to life in this country, and around 1934 he transferred the management of the company and the trademark to his partner Mito Inoske, after which the company's management was not able to fully adapt to life in this country. then he went to Australia himself." According to another version, told to the author by V. F. Morozov, Goncharov and his family left Japan for Shanghai, while an incident at the factory prompted him to leave, which entailed significant losses (i.e., the departure was, in fact, an escape).

20 See Naumov V. M. My memoirs. San Francisco, 1975, p. 54.

21 Pre-existing associations of Russians in Japan did not include the word "emigrant"in their names. So, even before the revolution, the "Zai-Niti Rosia kyo" was created.:kai "(Association of Russian Citizens in Japan with Ambassador V. N. Krupensky as honorary chairman (see: "Tokyo Niti-Niti Shimbun" of December 17, 1917); in July 1918, "Nihon Rokokujin Kyo" was formed:kai" (Association of Russians in Japan).

22 See: Naimuse keihokyokuhen. Gaijikeisatsu gaike (Reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Foreign Surveillance), Ryukei-sosa. 1980, vol. 2, p. 178.

23 Naimuse keihokyokuhen. Gaijikeisatsu gaike, vol. 3, pp. 158-159.

24 Letter of A. L. Tolstoy to her sister T. L. Sukhotina-Tolstoy dated April 2, 1930-See: Unknown Alexandra Tolstaya, Moscow, IKAR, 2001, p. 45.

25 The average monthly fee per student was 5 yen (about $ 5). The price level allowed the three of them to live on 40 yen a month (half was spent on renting a house, the rest was spent on food, as well as on teaching Maria Hristianovich in an American school). - See: Tolstaya A. L. Daughter, Moscow, 1992, p. 363. Interestingly, although her lectures were successful and brought in good money, Tolstoy herself looked at it differently and confessed to her sister:"I hate reading lectures, this is the biggest torment for me." - See: The Unknown Alexandra Tolstaya, p. 46. At the same time, lessons cost little, and, as A. L. herself admitted, "in material terms, sheepskin is not worth dressing" (ibid., p. 53).

26 The Unknown Alexandra Tolstaya, p. 49.

27 Both versions differ in some minor details. However, the English edition is provided with rather detailed notes and explanations regarding a number of persons and phenomena, which are not available in the Russian edition. See: Tolstoy A. L. Daughter, Moscow, 1992. Tolstoy, Alexandra. Out of the Past. NY, Columbia Univ. Press, 1981. Tolstoy, Alexandra. The Daughter. London-Ontario, 1979.

28 The Unknown Alexandra Tolstaya, p. 50.

29 In 1930, a Russian school was opened at the Orthodox Church in Kobe, which, however, lasted less than a year in total.

30 The Great Tokyo Cathedral was thoroughly destroyed: the dome and bell tower collapsed, only the main walls survived, and almost all small buildings were burned down. Archbishop Sergiy of Tokyo and Bishop Mikhail of Vladivostok, who lived on the territory of the ecclesiastical mission, initially took refuge in the Russian embassy; later they were settled by Japanese Christians. Of course, the overall small number of Russian refugees in Japan and the predominance of poor people among them did not allow them to immediately collect the necessary amount to rebuild the cathedral. This prompted Archbishop Sergius of Tokyo to repeatedly travel to Harbin and Shanghai to raise funds among the local Russian population. As a result, by the end of 1927, about 100 thousand yen was collected - the amount that allowed construction to begin.

Naumov V. M. 31 My memoirs, p. 50.

32 Ibid., pp. 52-53.

33 It is interesting that it was with such works that the famous director Akira Kurosawa began his creative biography.


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