Jack London and Japan: Connections Across the Pacific

As part of a series co-hosted by Jack London Park Partners and the Jack London Society, this is a rare opportunity to hear distinguished scholars from Japan present their research exploring the lives and relationships that connected Jack London with Japanese immigrants in early twentieth-century California.

Professor Takaharu Mori will explore Jack London’s relationships with Japanese immigrants, focusing on Yoshimatsu Nakata and Kanae Nagasawa, a descendant of samurai and one of California’s most influential early winemakers at Fountain Grove Winery in Santa Rosa. Through their stories, the presentation reveals the personal and cultural connections that linked Jack London with members of the Japanese community in Northern California.

Nagako Muto, Ph.D., a scholar of classical Japanese literature, will examine the remarkable 1914 diary of Yoshimatsu Nakata, a Japanese immigrant who lived and worked closely with Jack London. Nakata’s firsthand observations provide an intimate view of London’s daily life, physical challenges, and interactions with California’s legal and cultural landscape.

Professor Mori’s former student, Dr. Kaoru Nishihara, will conclude the program with a brief presentation highlighting her own research into Jack London’s changing views of Japan and the Japanese people.