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The Nippon Maru and her sister ships, the Hong Kong Maru and the America Maru, were important vessels in the history of immigration from Asia, particularly Japan, China, and Hong Kong, to America. In 1899, the San Francisco Chronicle made note that four Sihks on the Nippon Maru were allowed to land in San Francisco. They were originally from Lahore District in India but had been living in Hong Kong for 20 years. Another San Francisco Chronicle from November 27, 1912 told the story of four Chinese girls who were smuggled as slaves into San Francisco by Leong Moon, a Japanese interpreter on the Nippon Maru. Moon was confronted by immigration officials as he disembarked the liner at Pier 34 with the girls, who were disguised as men. The girls said they had been drugged in Hong Kong, lured aboard the ship, and placed in a compartment in the coal bunker. During the long voyage across the Pacific, food was lowered to them. Moon, an American-born Chinese, tried to bribe Customs Guard W. H. Deasy with a sum "more than equal to that which the official derives from the Government annually." Moon was taken into custody while the four girls were detained at Angel Island. An subsequent investigation into a slave smuggling conspiracy was launched. Even more noteworthy was the Nippon Maru's involvement in a US Supreme Court case in 1902. FOK YOUNG YO v. U S, 185 U.S. 296 (1902) was argued on January 7, 1902. The case involved Fok Young Yo, a citizen of China, who purchased a ticket from Toyo Kisen Kaisha for transport from Hong Kong to San Jose, Guatemala, via San Francisco aboard the Nippon Maru. When he arrived in San Francisco on September 19, 1901, he was examined by a customs inspector, his baggage and private papers opened, and his person searched. The collector of customs at the port made an order of deportation, denying him the privilege of transit, and, by virtue of that order, detained by the agent of the steamship company to be deported back to China. Fok Young Yo, however, argued that US Customs had no legal right to detain him since he was in transit to another country as a final destination. The Supreme Court noted that foreigners were allowed to travel through the US to other countries as final destinations provided that there existed substantial proof of intention, such as tickets issued to the final destination. Fok Young Yo, however, was issued a ticket from Hong Kong to San Francisco aboard the Nippon Maru and an order for a ticket from San Francisco to San Jose, Guatemala. The latter did not meet sufficient proof that Fok Young Yo had indeed planned to continue his travels. Thus, majority opinion of the court, delivered by Chief Justice Fuller on May 5, 1902, upheld the legal authority of the customs inspector to detain Fok Young Yo for deportation. Justice Brewer and Justice Peckham dissented. The
Nippon Maru was abandoned near Point Honda off California
on May 28, 1933.
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The
Nippon Maru was a steamer ship that first set sail in 1899
at the start of growing competition on the trans-Pacific route.
It marked the entry of a second Japanese line, Toyo Kisen Kaisha,
with its eastern terminus at San Francisco. As its first vessel,
the Nippon Maru, at about 6,200 tons, arrived at San Francisco
in January. The main ports of call for the Nippon Maru
were Yokohama (Japan), Shanghai (China), Hong Kong, Honolulu,
and San Francisco. In addition to carrying passengers, the Nippon
Maru ferried loads of cotton from the Pacific Northwest of
the US for the mills of Japan. Eastbound, the steamer brought
in Oriental fabrics. A typical Hawaii-San Francisco crossing took
seven days. 
