Japanese American collection

Finding aid prepared by Special Collections Processing Archivist Andrew Lippert
Special Collections & University Archives
The UCR Library
P.O. Box 5900
University of California
Riverside, California 92517-5900
Phone: 951-827-3233
Fax: 951-827-4673
Email: specialcollections@ucr.edu
URL: http://library.ucr.edu/libraries/special-collections-university-archives
© 2023
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.


Descriptive Summary

Title: Japanese American collection
Date (inclusive): 1905-2006, undated
Collection Number: MS 151
Extent: 1.67 linear feet (2 boxes, 5 flat file folders)
Repository: Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
Riverside, CA 92517-5900
Abstract: This collection primarily contains transcripts, audio cassettes, and other material pertaining to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) EO 9066 Project. Also includes material pertaining to Japanese American life in Riverside, California and the Inland Empire.
Languages: The collection is primarily in English with a handful of items in Japanese.

Access

This collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction, and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], [date if possible]. Japanese American collection (MS 151). Special Collections & University Archives, University of California, Riverside.

Acquisition Information

Provenance unknown

Collection Scope and Contents

This collection primarily contains transcripts, audio cassettes, and other material pertaining to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) Executive Order 9066 Project. Also includes material pertaining to Japanese American art, entertainment, and culture as well as Japanese American life in Riverside, California and the Inland Empire. The transcripts in Series 1 include notes identifying which "assembly centers" and/or concentration camps are discussed in the interviews.

Terminology Note

Terminology used in this finding aid referring to the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II is drawn from the community created guidelines for description. See https://densho.org/  for further reading on the topic.

Related Materials

See also the Fujimoto family diaries  for more material related to the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Japanese Americans
Riverside (Calif.)
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans -- Exclusion and incarceration, 1942-1945
Santa Anita assembly center
Gila River Concentration Camp
Granada (aka Amache) Concentration Camp
Heart Mountain concentration camp
Jerome Concentration Camp
Manzanar concentration camp
Poston Concentration Camp
Rohwer Concentration Camp
Topaz Concentration Camp
Art and music
Theater

Genres and Forms of Materials

Audiocassettes
Oral histories
Transcripts


 

Series 1. Oral Histories 1991-2001 1991-1992

Series Scope and Contents

The materials in this series are related to oral histories conducted by the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center related to the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans following Executive Order 9066 during World War II. Most of the folders include transcripts of the interviews along with notes by the interviewer. Most of the folders also include agreements for participation in the project, some of these are signed and some of them are unsigned.

Series Arrangement

The oral histories are arranged alphabetically by last name as noted on the included documentation.
Box 1, Folder 1

Tets Bessho 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, signed agreement, and notes. Interview discusses Heart Mountain Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 2

Nami Ota Donals 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Amache Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 3

Kansuma Fujima 1991-2000

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, signed agreement, and clippings. Oral history includes mention of George Takei at Rohwer Concentration Camp. The interview also discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center, Manzanar Concentraton Camp, and Poston Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 4

Reverend Julius Goldwater 1991-1992

Scope and Contents

Julius Goldwater was a Buddhist monk and visited a number of the Japanese American Concentration Camps and Assembly Centers. File inlcudes interview transcript and copy of signed agreement.
Box 1, Folder 5

Mabel Hibi 1991-1992 & 1994

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview mentions the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Poston Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 6

Arthur and Lillian Kaihatsu 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Poston Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 7

Bruce Kaji 1991-1992

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, agreement, and notes. Interview discusses Manzanar Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 8

Yuri Mary Kochiyama 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript and notes. Interview discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center, Poston Concentration Camp, and Jerome Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 9

Reverend Mas Kodani 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, agreement, and notes.
Box 1, Folder 10

John Jinyu Nako 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript and notes.
Box 1, Folder 11

Mary Hatae Nomura 1991-1992

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview discusses Manzanar Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 12

Mary Kageyama Nomura 1992

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript. Interview discusses Manzanar Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 13

Yoriko Ohara and Rei Kasama 1991 & 2001

Scope and Contents

File includes notes, unsigned agreement, and three small bound volumes.
Box 1, Folder 14

Yoneo & Kimiye Murata Ohbayashi 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes agreement and notes.
Box 1, Folder 15

Sue (Takimoto) Okabe 1992-1993

Scope and Contents

File includes notes.
Box 1, Folder 16

Hanayage Tokuyae & Henry Ota 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes agreement and notes.
Box 1, Folder 17

Sam & Toshiko Seno 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, agreement, and clippings. Interview discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Jerome Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 18

Reverend A. Arthur Takemoto 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview discusses the Poston Concentration Camp and Topaz Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 19

Tomita, Nakamura, and Yoneda families 1991-1992

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript and unsigned agreements. Interview discusses the Poston Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 20

Dorothy Takahashi Treakle 1991-1992 & 1996

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript and unsigned agreement. Interview discusses the Poston Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 21, Flat-File-Folder 01

Masao and Shizuye Yamashiro 1991

Scope and Contents

File includes transcript, agreement, notes, and clippings.
Box 1, Folder 22

Audio cassette tapes 1991

Physical Description: 7 Cassettes

Scope and Contents

File includes audio cassette tapes for interviews with Rev. Julius Goldwater, Fujima Kansuma, and Bruce Kaji.
 

Series 2. Other Materials 1905-2006, undated

Series Scope and Contents

The materials in this series are complementary to the materials in the Oral History series and primarily pertain to the Japanese American experience in Riverside and the Inland Empire from the early 20th century and during World War II.

Series Arrangement

Materials in this series are loosely grouped by topic or format.
Box 1, Folder 23

EO 9066 Script 1991-1992

Box 1, Folder 24

Research notes and correspondence 1992-1998

Box 1, Folder 25

Facsimiles of lawsuit records 2006

Box 1, Folders 26-27

Japanese Union Church of Riverside records undated

Scope and Contents

Facsimile
Box 1, Folder 28

Church membership documents 1955-1960

Box 1, Folder 29, Flat-File-Folder 02

Newspaper clippings 1976, 2002-2005

Box 1, Folder 30

Riverside's Japanese Americans: a Preliminary Study 1976

Scope and Contents

Facsimile of essay by Norman Lostbom for Sociology 406 class at Chapman College.
Box 1, Folder 31, Flat-File-Folder 03

Japanese of the Inland Empire 1930 & 1971

Scope and Contents

A short history compiled by Roy Ito.
Box 1, Folder 32

Photographs 1942-1945

Physical Description: 6 photographs

Scope and Contents

Photographs documenting the interrogation, arrest, removal, and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Several photographs related to Manzanar Concentration Camp and Gila River Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 33, Box 2, Folder 1

Photographs - Japanese in Riverside 1905, 1912-1928, 1936-1938, undated

Physical Description: 18 photographs

Scope and Contents

Many photos credited to S. Harada.
Box 2, Folder 2

Japanese Americans in Riverside newspaper articles 1962-1974

Condition: Materials appear to be early photocopies of newspaper articles and clippings glued to oversized sheets of paper. Includes a brief table of contents.
Flat-File-Folder 04, Flat-File-Folder 05

Los Angeles and Riverside newspapers 1945

Scope and Contents

Newspapers from the Los Angeles and Riverside areas of southern California. All newspapers are dated May and August of 1945 and document the victory of the Allies and ending of World War II.
Box 2

Bound Volumes

Physical Description: 7 Items

Scope and Contents

Seven books:
  1. Japanese Union Church Inter-Church Hymnal
  2. Hymnal (in Japanese)
  3. Southern California Japanese American Telephone Directory (1969-1970)
  4. "Rock, Paper, Scissors: an Asian American Collection of Poetry, Prose and Artwork," volume 1
  5. "Rock, Paper, Scissors: an Asian American Collection of Poetry, Prose and Artwork," volume 2 (3 copies)