Latin America Library
The former South America Library, the predecessor to the Latin America Library, was established in 1938 in the Institute for Commerce at the Kobe University of Commerce. The majority of this library is built on the rare collection of western books contributed by Ryoji Noda, Hachiro Fukuhara, and Ikutaro Aoyagi.
This collection includes various rare publications, including a collection of poetry by the 16th century Spanish poet Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (1610), Peregrinaçam (1614), a journal by the Portuguese explorer Fernão Mendes Pinto from when he explored Japan and the Eastern Pacific around the time when firearms were introduced to Tanegashima, an original manuscript, Sermoens, by Christovam de Almeida (1681) , a missionary of the Order of Saint Augustine, the History of Spain by Juan de Ferreras (1724), An essay on the natural history of Guiana (1769) by Edward Bancroft, the manuscript of the Treaty of Ildefonso from 1777, an agreement between Spain and Portugal that outlined the return o f colonial land stretching from modern day southern Brazil to the Uruguay region, the French language version (1789) of the logs (1768-1771) by James Cook, who helped discover Australia while traveling through South America, the collection of laws (1791) enacted in relation to the Spanish rule of colonial land, and other rare publications from the 17th and 18th century. Also, the materials related to the geography, history, culture, politics, and economics of South America published in Europe and South America between the 19th and 20th century are extremely rare.
RIEB continues to gather materials related to the politics and economics of contemporary Latin America.
http://www.rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp/rieblib/collection/latin.html
Ryoji Noda
Born in 1875 in Ikaruga-gun, Tanba (modern day, Fukuchiyama, Kyoto). After graduating from the Tokyo Vocational School (current Waseda University), he entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1897. Assignments included the Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Brazil, etc. His works include Notes on Brazil - 18 Years of Study, a collection of records detailing the period of his work in Brazil that began in 1909, The Great Amazonia, and Essays on Latin America, and Visiting Compatriots Fighting at the Core of Latin America, among others. Left the ministry in 1935. After the ministry, independently completed and edited Nippo Jisho (Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary) Volume I & II. Died in 1968 at the age of 93. Reference literature: Kiyoshi Nakagawa/Etsuko Kodama "Seiwa Jiten no Shuhen", Keiai University International Studies Vol. 6, November 2000)
Ikutaro Aoyagi
Born in 1867 in Chiba Prefecture. In 1887, while traveling to North America he read materials related to Latin America at the library at the University of California, after which he conducted on-site research in Peru, from which he published Current Affairs in Peru. Later he researched possilities of the construction of group migration colony in Brazil. In1908, he submitted a letter of opinion to Prime Minister Tarō Katsura but it was ignored by the government. However, he formed the Tokyo Syndicate of Corporate Union and personally launched the colony development projects. From 1910, he spent 18 months in Brazil searching potential immigrant relocation sites and concluded an agreement with the government of São Paulo State for the free transfer of land. However, he failed to gather private funding and thus the first Japanese group immigration colony construction projects were conducted by a Brazilian Colonization Company established by the government. His writings include The History of Japanese in Brazil (Vol. I & II). Died in 1944 at the age of 84.
http://www.cenb.org.br/cenb/index.php/articles/display/52
Hachiro Fukuhara
Born in Miike District of Fukuoka Prefecture in 1874. In 1899, after graduating from the Tokyo Higher School of Commerce (currently Hitotsubashi University), he traveled to North America as a fellow from the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce where he studied spinning and textiles. In 1903, after returning to Japan, he entered the Kanegafuchi Textile Company. In 1926, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs planned to dispatch a survey mission to the Amazon. The president of Kanegafuchi, Sanji Mutoh, agreed to bear part of the costs of the mission and appointed Hachiro Fukuhara, who was a director and head of the Tokyo plant, to lead the survey mission. These surveys led to the founding of the South America Colonization Company in 1927, to which Fukuhara was appointed president. In 1929, the company began sending immigrants to the Amazon and Fukuhara worked to transplant Japanese people to the Amazon regions. The immigration project to such a difficult climate environment proved hardships (novel by Fusako Tsunoda, Song of the Amazon) and saw no success before he returned in 1935. Died in 1943.
http://www.cenb.org.br/cenb/index.php/articles/display/185
http://www.saopauloshimbun.com/index.php/conteudo/show/id/15989/menu/74/cat/155