The Far East was a vast market, while Japan of the same era was an emerging one. Both were important sources of immigration and grain trade markets for the Kingdom of East Africa in the Far East.
To demonstrate its regard for Japan, the Kingdom of East Africa established diplomatic relations with the Japanese Government the day after it established relations with the Qing government.
Sebastian, the general manager of Hechingen Bank's branch in Japan, served as the envoy to Japan. At the same time, East Africa established a number of consulates throughout Japan.
After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese Government began vigorously developing industry. But industrial development required vast amounts of capital, and the Japanese Government had only two means of raising it: borrowing from Westerners and domestic magnates, or squeezing its own people to the limit.
Japanese women and farmers bore the brunt of it. The Meiji government encouraged women to work in textiles and similar fields. At the same time, Japan's second-largest employer of women was the "special service industry."
With such conditions available, East Africa naturally could not let the opportunity slip away. After dispatching diplomatic envoys, it began even more openly bringing in female immigrants from Japan.
The Meiji government first invested in light industries such as silk and cotton, while hiring foreigners to guide industrial production. Yet industrial modernization projects required a great deal of labor, especially the textile industry, which needed huge numbers of female workers. However, recruitment ran into difficulties. Hiring in the countryside did not go smoothly, as farmers' daughters were unwilling to leave their villages. Thus, nationwide government propaganda was launched to persuade women to work in factories. Some local officials, in order to achieve their propaganda goals, first sent their own daughters to work in factories. Once the government's