Japanese-American Commercial Year Book / Nichibei taisei nenkan: 1914

New York: Japanese-American Commercial Weekly / Nichibei Shuhosha, 1914. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. The first and only yearbook/almanac issued by the Japanese-American Commercial Weekly (Nichibei Shuho, later Nichibei Jiho). While similar in format to the yearbooks and directories published at the time on the West Coast, this book is much more focused on the import-export businesses that were located on the East Coast, as opposed to the heavily agricultural economies of Japanese-American communities in California and the surrounding states.

The yearbook/almanac-style section covers the history of US-Japan relations, including the Gentlemen's Agreement, an explanation of the US Constitution, a summary of the Pure Food Law, copyright, banking, and all manner of government forms and permits. The Who's Who section provides profiles (in Japanese) of many if not all of the business men and government representatives listed in the accompanying short English-language directory. The end of the book (or the beginning, if it is opened in the Western fashion) collects English-language press items and speeches by well-known Americans on the benefits of improved US-Japan relations.

[2], [3 leaves of plates], 2 (introduction), 8 (contents), 224 (yearbook), 112 (Who's Who), 16 (ads), 20 (guide to New York), 17-22 (ads continued), 14 (business and organization directory in English), 56 (English section) pages. With ad leaves printed on green paper inserted between most of the sections.

See A Buried Past, 646, for the newspaper.

OCLC: 40218345 (as Nichi-Bei taisei nenkan). First edition (first printing). A very good copy in the publisher's red cloth binding. Inscription in Japanese on the title page.