Tanomoshi: Financial Secret Societies

Thesis• The presence of Tanomoshi in Japanese

communities serves to solidify social bonds between participants, strengthen morale in ethnically isolated Japanese enclaves, and encourage economic growth and individual financial achievement in the private sector.

What Is Tanomoshi?• Informal credit and loan associations• Membership usually organized along ethnic lines• Meets monthly• All members contribute the same predetermined

amount at each meeting• Rotating pay-out system• Continues until all members have been paid• Remaining funds allocated amongst members• Peer pressure

Origins• Meiji Period

• Early 1900s Resurgence

• Practice transplanted toU.S., other countries

Tanomoshi in Early Hawaii

• Former laborers had savings• Lacked funds to buy large appliances and

property or start businesses• Banks refused immigrants loans• Tanomoshi instituted by word of mouth• Became “one-stop” source for desired funds• Tradition passed from one generation to next• Exists to present day

Locals Reminisce• “Tanomoshi was a(n) integral part of family financing.”-

Katsugo Miho, owner of the Kahului (Miho) Hotel

• “They need money (my parents)… so got to make tanomoshi to borrow from all the friends.”-Anonymous interviewee whose parents purchased a boat using the Tanomoshi system

• “From two tanomoshi I draw $1600. The first time I buy an electric stove and refrigerator and my neighbor and I… we’re so happy we cry.”-“Mrs. K”, Korean picture bride

Locals Reminisce• “Tanomoshi is where they (members of the

Asian Community) loan money to each other. They meet once or twice a month and give it to each other. That’s how Frank (former husband) got his money. He was Okinawan. The Okinawans used to do that a lot.”-Kikue Roumain, former Moiliili resident and past owner of the Fair Grill restaurant in Nuuanu (a business started with Tanomoshi funds).

Legacy• Sueoka’s

• Miura Store

• Preponderance of modern credit unions

Hawaii: America’s Credit Union Capital

Hawaii Credit Union Membership

A Global Phenomenon• Exists in most American states with significant

Japanese populations• California is most notable• Also in Peru, Brazil, Argentina• Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and West

Indians all have own systems

Other Areas of Interest• Percentage of businesses started using

tanomoshi• Percentage who use(d) tanomoshi

Sources• http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-23/news/ci-39041_1_traditional-loans/3• http://books.google.com/books?

id=butvuwnn0l4C&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=tanomoshi&source=bl&ots=tcguRRPP6L&sig=dzM9nvIsq747EwMcGdJvsgCExak&hl=en&ei=gOrRTKSZJYOusAOAg8yNCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CC0Q6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=tanomoshi&f=false

• http://books.google.com/books?id=QZg6Ft_jvJ0C&pg=PA326&lpg=PA326&dq=tanomoshi+interview&source=bl&ots=XjY69JQRm7&sig=GmCbZuLv5zXssHrWUde2DWxT3AA&hl=en&ei=GTTjTJudLJG4sQPo0tRm&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=tanomoshi%20interview&f=false

• http://www.courts.state.md.us/opinions/cosa/2009/507s08.pdf• http://d-arch.ide.go.jp/je_archive/society/book_jes4_d06.html• http://www.densho.org/about/enews/enews-201007.asp• http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:RswFpEDn1OwJ:www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Periodicals/De/pdf/67_02_03.pdf+Study+of+

%22TANOMOSHI%22+%28Mutual+Financial+Association%29+in+the+Late+Tokugawa+Period&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjMBaLEcpLZyAE9mEL3jH7fiAONMFsJz6Zf9-p2JgxMQKU_tuhq-LG6i5-xSIsF-REKouIlESsqUWG1WCXOQB1yyzv5hoJiQpFBxJJB_flgPInBN9AdsAqRES3lYnL_OhHHvxsP&sig=AHIEtbQbuscCESdIXOrKP3hojR7a27NCiQ

• http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:_ur5sCx9Q6gJ:www.womeningovernment.org/files/file/fes/Asset-Building_Policy_for_Hawaii.pdf+tanomoshi+interview&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjlbhyMBHm_XJ3AGemFe_p0QrjsEEhxcLj3IIQJ6D6Fi9_by-i-X7foQ_kQXSdBHzqqaqhsy6Mh8bnrqjk_R0BCNnKz89Qc4jjP03jAVEyRnyLbu2wQk30oRongTci8Yf5uGAcl&sig=AHIEtbQWAQ8HZT2iITfKB7VFmbhF9W7WgQ

• http://www.evekushner.com/writing/japanese-peruvians-reviled-and-respected/• http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/637/2/JL35021.pdf• http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Dec/05/ln/FP512050322.html• http://www.jstor.org.eres.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/stable/25159510?seq=4&Search=yes&term=tanomoshi&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction

%2FdoBasicSearch%3Ffilter%3Diid%253A10.2307%252Fi25159504%26Query%3Dtanomoshi%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don&item=1&ttl=1&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null&

• http://leeds-faculty.colorado.edu/selto/CURISES%202009%20Cost%20Mgt/CURISES%20Readings/Ouchi%20mgt%20control.pdf• http://nisei.hawaii.edu/object/io_1206611924671.html• http://www.sueokastore.com/history.html• Interview with Kikue Roumain. Conducted Dec. 1, 2010.