The Four Immigrants Manga
In 1904, 19 year-old Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama sailed from Japan to San Francisco to begin life in the United States. An artist by training, Henry Kiyama recorded his adventures in an illustrated comic book titled Manga Yonin Shosei ("The Four Students Manga"). This comic book, self-published in San Francisco in 1931, is considered one of the world's first comic books.

Kiyama created his comic book in 1927 -- nearly seven years before what we think of as "modern comic books" (with all original material) appeared. There were books made up of comic strips reprinted from newspapers for children long before Kiyama's book, but his was one of the first (if not the first), with all-original material, which is a hall-mark of modern comics.

Henry Kiyama's comic book has recently been translated into English by Frederik L. Schodt under the title The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924. This delightfully illustrated book depicts the adventures of Henry Kiyama and three friends as they struggle to follow their dreams, survive and adapt to American ways. The following panels illustrate Henry's experiences from encountering anti-Japanese racial discrimination to surviving the Great Earthquake, and reveal what life was like for a Japanese immigrant in the 1920's. Throughout these experiences, Henry and his friends keep a sense of humor and a keen eye for cultural differences.

Experience the true adventures of Japanese immigrants in San Francisco in early 1900's...

Arrival in San Francisco
Henry and his friends arrive in San Francisco, and are detained at an island immigration station.

Mistaken Identity
A local woman mistakes a Japanese dignitary for a servant!

The Great San Francisco Quake
Henry and his friends survive the April 18, 1906 earthquake and experience being homeless in San Francisco.

Picture Brides
Picture brides were women who came from Japan to marry recent Japanese immigrants in the United States. Fred considers such a marriage to remedy his loneliness.

The panels that appear here are selected from the recently published The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924, a translation by Frederik L. Schodt of Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama's Manga Yonin Shosei. The images appear here with permission from Stone Bridge Press and the Kiyama family. For information about The Four Immigrants Manga publication, please call Stone Bridge Press at 1-510-524-8732 and visit the Stone Bridge Press web site.