Porfirio Díaz to Emilio Rabasa, 1893, Colección Porfirio Díaz, Legajo 18, Documento 012549Governor Licenciado Emilio Rabasa My dear friend -
I have the pleasure to introduce to you, by means of this letter, Mr. Thomas Namoto, who would like to purchase lands in the state which you govern with such dignity in order to establish on them Japanese agricultural colonies. ...
And so on.
This is one I have been looking forward to reading. Why were the Japanese interested in investing in Chiapas? Did the Japanese drink coffee in the late nineteenth century? I have no idea (as yet). I knew this document existed and used it to add to the evidence of internationalism at work in such a remote place when proposing my dissertation. Yet, in itself, it is so straight forward, simple, with little explanation. The letter is not long, no reply is registered. Yet, from here on out, a number of East Asian names do appear in my documents: Kabayashi, Albert Huy, Tock Lee. Never nearing the number of German or Anglo Saxon names, but they were there.
I should like to find out more. Hints, of course a bit dismissive and disgruntled (be happy I don't post their labels for the Chinese) here:
J García Soto, Soconusco en la historia : historia geografía, etimología, etnografía, arqucología, estadística, producciones. (México, 1964), p. 85.'Kato, who after opening various businesses, established an ice cream shop at the end of the highway.' Businessmen all, apparently. What became of the interest in land?
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