Inns and Hotels at Which Emigrants Stayed

The inns at which overseas migrants stayed in Yokohama or Kobe before their departure were more than mere lodging places in the 1890s and 1900s. Those inns provided many important functions and services that the migrants needed. The inns' managers
helped to book a passage, and if it was necessary, purchased a ticket. They gave advice to the overseas migrants as to what the latter should buy in preparation for a long sea journey as well as for overseas ventures. They also helped the migrants to go through bothersome quarantine inspections required before departure. More importantly, the owners and managers of those inns acted as employment agents. They maintained intimate ties with fellow hotel owners in Honolulu or San Francisco, and they could give assurances to the lodgers that their contacts on the other shores of the Pacific would be able to offer jobs or positions when they landed at the destination. In the 1900s, there were established the well connected and closely tied network of hotels and inns acrossthe Pacific to help worrying overseas migrants.