| Usui in America |
My quest to find everything I can about Mikao Usui is much like finding a needle in a haystack, but this needle is a valuable one. In the case of looking for Usui, I have cleared some of the hay away, but no needle has been found. One of the positives in my search is that Mikao Usui is not a common name. So far, I have come up with less than 15 Usui names out of many thousands, so the first Mikao Usui foun is likely to be the correct one. We know from his memorial that Usui traveled to several countries, inculding the USA as an adult (likely before he discovered Reiki). What we do not know, however, is when, why, or for how long. The likey timeline would have been between 1885 and 1914. We know he visited America as an adult but before he discovered Reiki. Once we know the exact date, more information about his trip can be located. I, Jessica Miller, still do not have all of the answers, any of these answers. I do have, however, the story of my search. Perhapsthis will serve as a dramatic backdrop when I do find record of Usui's visit. Maybe this will serve as useful information for others or perhaps just a reminder of where I left off. My search began on the internet within Reiki websites, but nothing came up. I continued with geneology searches, but when nothing came up there, I heard of a search database that came online. this was a joint effort between the nation archives and the Mormons, but I have not yet found or searched it. A Japanese Geneology reference search also exisits at the Gadena Public Library, and I have contacted them. The references, however, are mostely on interment camps, with no information predating such. I went to the INs records with a vague idea that they might have records of arrivals. That they do, but the data is ancient and therefore moved to the National Archives. My travels took me two hours from home to continue my search. I even canceld my plans for the day and ended up in Laguna Nigel, CA. I felt intimidated at first, working my way through all the information and microfilm readers, but I quickly settled. The incides were the easiest to search, typed entires on rolodex or 1/2 page sheets. They are all alphabetized for the whole year range, so looking under Usui was simple. The names are written in English as well, simplifying the process considerably. The records which are not indexed, however, are much harder to search. They are a passenger's list for each vessle, each voyage. In some cases they are handwritten, sometimes illegibly.
I checked the following Passenger Arrival Indexes and Lists: In March 2001: New York Index 1897-1902 In July 2001: Port Townsend and Tacoma passenger lists, un-indexed 1894-1909 This alone was about a thousand pages of passenger lists. Still nothing. Thousands of Japanese went through these ports, most of them in "Asian Steerage" rather than nicer cabins. A huge influx of Japanese came around 1900, this makes sense as they were not allowed to emigrate, and I suspect tourism was discouraged until 1885. Many visitors from Japan were merchants, laborers, and farmers. My search turned up many other names I recognized. Many Hayashis, few Takatas, and Some Dois. I found one Teijiro Hayahi who was 33, the year was around 1905 and the page was 579 on the Towensend/ Tacoma index. I also found a few Misaos, but no Mikaos (at least none of them with a name that even resembled Usui). Some pages were completely illegible, and a few were typed. Many were handwritten, some beautifully, some at least legibly, but some were a challenge. I have not yet checked: Philadelphia Index 1800-1906 Having done the San Francisco Index, I am uncertain if checking the other San Francisco entries is worthwhile Galveston Passenger Lists 1896-1951 (and more, but you get the idea) |
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