The First Time Japanese People Were In Utah

A group from Japan visited in 1872

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints faced extreme discrimination because of their religion in the 1800’s. They were forced out of their homes and moved to a place in the west which later became the State of Utah. Native Americans were living in the area, and these white people made their home in Utah. They established their church headquarters in Salt Lake City.

The first time that Japanese people were known to be in Utah was in 1872. More than one hundred Japanese government officials and others were traveling the world on a trip which started in 1871. It was a diplomatic journey headed by Sionii Tomomi Iwakura, Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister.

The Iwakura Mission or Iwakura Embassy was conducted between 1871 and 1873 by leading statemen and scholars of the Meiji Period. The mission set sail from Yokohama on December 23, 1871, bound for San Francisco. They arrived in California on January 15, 1872. The group traveled by train via Salt Lake City and Chicago. Then they went on to Washington, D.C.

One of the purposes of this diplomatic mission from Japan was to search for methods to position Japan among the most powerful nations in the world. There were other missions, but the Iwakura Mission was possibly the most important venture for the modernization of Japan after a long period of isolation from the western world.

The delegation arrived in Salt Lake City in February 1872. Although they had intended to have a very short stopover on the train, the group was delayed from leaving the state due to heavy snowstorms. The trains were prevented from running because of the storms.

This group of people from Japan spent nearly three weeks in Utah before they could leave. During this time, they forged friendships with government leaders in Utah and with officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These Utah leaders accepted these visitors from Japan and recognized them as a highly cultured and well-mannered group.

After they were able to travel, the group left Utah by train for Chicago. They eventually reached Washington, D.C. on February 29. Members of the Iwakura Mission were also interested in schools and the educational policy in the United States as well as other matters.

They were unsuccessful in renegotiating the existing unequal treaties, and they left in August 1872 for the United Kingdom.

The visit of the Japanese delegation to Utah was largely ignored by the national media so this trip by Japanese people was little known. It took a century for the mission’s stay in Utah to be reported.

Japanese immigrants to the United States started to arrive in Utah mostly during the early 1900’s. More people of Japanese heritage settled in Utah after World War II.

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