Inventory of the Collection of Kiyoshi Uyekawa Tule Lake Camp Collection SPC .2019.030
Lindsay Anderson; Yoko Okunishi
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
September 4, 2019; June 2021
University Library South -5039 (Fifth Floor)
1000 E. Victoria St.
Carson, CA 90747
Business Number: 310-243-3895
archives@csudh.edu
Contributing Institution:
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
Title: Kiyoshi Uyekawa Tule Lake Camp Collection
source:
Uyekawa, Gary
Creator:
Uyekawa, Kiyoshi
Creator:
Uyekawa, Mitsuye Ogo
Identifier/Call Number: SPC .2019.030
Physical Description:
3 boxes
(3 document boxes)
Physical Description:
1.04 Linear Feet
(3 document boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1942-1980
Date (bulk): 1942-1946
Abstract: The collection comprises of Tule Lake newsletters and bulletins, materials issued by the Pro-Japan group, 報國奉仕團 Hokoku Hoshidan
(or Hoshi Dan), WRA publications, and incarceration documents that mostly belonged to Kiyoshi and Mitsuye Uyekawa. There are
also Kiyoshi's manuscripts of original fictional works, copies of fictional works by Japanese authors, and correspondence,
bulletins, and manuscripts by the haiku circle members. Most of the items in this collection have been digitized and are available
online.
Material Specific Details: English translation, synopses, and brief descriptions for Japanese language materials are provided by Yoko Okunishi and available
at CSU Japanese American Digitization Project site.
Language of Material:
Japanese
, English
.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Availability of Digital Reproductions
Arrangement
Arranged in four series:
- Series I: Wartime publications (1942-1946)
- Series II: Family incarceration documents and oral history (1942-1946; 1963; 1980)
- Series III: Fictional works manuscripts (1943-1946)
- Series IV: Haiku circles and 小池晩人 Koike Banjin (小池恭 Koike Kyo) correspondence (1943-1945)
Kiyoshi Uyekawa
Kiyoshi Uyekawa (1921 March 30-2008 March 5) was born on March 30, 1921 in Livingston, Montana. His parents, Kiyono (nee Yokota)
and Kiyoto Uyekawa, immigrated from Kabe, Hiroshima, Japan to the United States where his father worked as a railroad foreman.
Not liking the railroad gang environment, Kiyono moved back to Hiroshima with her two sons and two daughters. When Kiyoshi
completed high school in Japan, he was sent back to the United States by his mother in 1938 to work with his father in Seattle,
Washington because she felt she could not support his dream of attending university to become a novelist in Japan. He briefly
moved to Los Angeles to live with his aunt and uncle at their hotel and attended Belmont High School to learn English, but
he eventually moved back to Montana and then back to Seattle once again for railroad-related work.
After the war broke out, he was sent to the Pinedale Assembly Center and later incarcerated in Tule Lake where he would meet
his future wife, Mitsuye Ogo. At Tule Lake, he was engaged in writing and was an active member of the Tule Lake haiku circle,
Tsurireki Ginsha. He was one of the editors of their bulletins and created haiku poems under the pseudonym, 植川轉 Uyekawa Utata.
His haiku poems were often selected and published in the Minidoka haiku circle's monthly bulletins as well.
During incarceration, he and his wife determined to renounce their U.S. citizenship and go to Japan while his father, Kiyoto,
chose to be transferred to the Minidoka camp in Idaho and left for Oregon when he was released. Kiyoshi was apparently a member
of one of the Pro-Japan groups formed in the Tule Lake camp, 報國靑年團 Hokoku Seinendan (or Hokoku Seinen Dan), which consisted
of mostly Kibei Nisei men. However, because of Mitsuye's pregnancy, the family decided to stay in the camp until their baby
was delivered safely. In the meantime, the atomic bombing by the U.S. military destroyed their family and home in Hiroshima,
and they no longer had a place to go in Japan. Ultimately, they left Tule Lake for Clearfield in Utah in March 1946 where
Mitsuye's sister, Takeko, had settled. Later, they returned to Gardena, California from Utah, and Kiyoshi started a gardening
business and continued to read books during his spare time. He passed away on March 5, 2008. It appears that his father, Kiyoto,
returned from Oregon to Gardena to stay with Kiyoshi's family briefly and then returned to Japan. He passed away in 1970.
Mitsuye Uyekawa
Mitsuye Uyekawa (nee Ogo) (1921 December 6-2008 April 25) was born on December 6, 1921 in Los Angeles, California. When Mitsuye
was 6 months old, her mother, Kiyo, returned to Toyoku, Okayama, Japan, bringing all her siblings because of Kiyo's ill health.
After recuperation, her mother and siblings left for the United States but she remained in Japan and was raised by her aunt
and uncle. After she completed high school, she decided to return to the United States in 1939 to reunite with her widowed
father, Mohei (1881-1972), and brother, Hideo (1917-1990), in Compton, California. When the war broke out, the Ogos fled to
Clovis and Mitsuye's sister, Takeko, and her husband left for Utah respectively to avoid the military zones by Executive Order
9066. However, six months later, the Ogos received the notice in Clovis, California and was incarcerated at the Poston incarceration
camp in Parker, Arizona. During incarceration, Mohei chose to go to the Tule Lake Segregation Center in Newell, California
and the whole family was transferred in October 1943. It was there where Mitsuye met Kiyoshi Uyekawa through her father and
they were married on December 16, 1944. They had their first child, David Tadasu in the camp, and left for Utah with her brother,
Hideo, and father, Mohei, and reunited with her sister, Takeko. Later, Kiyoshi, Mitsuye, and David returned to Gardena and
other four children they named Gary Takashi, Naomi Margaret, Richard Sanao, and Eddie Wataru were born. They settled in Gardena,
California where she maintained a busy and active life until she passed away on April 25, 2008.
Pro-Japan groups in the Tule Lake Segregation Center
Segregation of "disloyal" incarcerees in the Tule Lake Segregation Center escalated Japanese nationalism and let to form pro-Japan
groups at Tule Lake. At the same time, the Renunciation Act of 1944 signed by the President Roosevelt encouraged the Nisei
to renounce their U.S. citizenship. The pro-Japan groups were commonly referred to the "報國奉仕團 Hokoku Hoshidan (or Hokoku Hoshi
Dan) which consisted of three groups: (1) 即時帰國奉仕團 Sokuji Kikoku Hoshidan (Hoshi Dan), translated as "Organization to Return
Immediately to the Homeland Japan to Serve" consisted of the Issei leaders; (2) 祖國研究靑年團 Sokoku Kenkyu Seinendan (or Seinen
Dan), or "Young Men's Association for the Study of the Motherland," and later renamed to 報國靑年團 Hokoku Seinendan (or Seinen
Dan), or "Young Men's Association to Serve the Nation" led by the Kibei Nisei men; and (3) 報國女子靑年團 Hokoku Joshi Seinendan
(Seinen Dan), or "Young Women's Association to Serve the Nation," a women's group. As a result, 5,700 Nisei renounced their
U.S. citizenship and about 8,000, including Issei repatriates, returned to Japan.
小池恭 Koike Kyo and Haiku poem circle, "吟社 Ginsha"
小池恭 Koike Kyo (1878 February 11-1947 March 31) was born in Japan in 1878, immigrated to the United States, and settled in
Seattle, Washington. He was a highly respected photographer nationally and internationally as well as a physician and poet
under the pseudonym, 小池晩人 Koike Banjin, in the Japanese American community. He founded the Seattle haiku circle, "Rainier
Ginsha," in 1934, which has still continued now, and served as an editor for their monthly bulletins. During the war, the
Rainier Ginsha disbanded because of the mass removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast but he established the Minidoka
haiku circle, "Minidoka Ginsha," during his incarceration in the Minidoka camp in Idaho. Haiku circles, "Ginsha," were formed
in several incarceration camps during the war, and the members in different camps interacted with each other. After being
released from the camp, Dr. Koike returned to Seattle and resumed the Rainier Ginsha and continued mentoring the Tule Lake
haiku circle members. He passed away in 1947.
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Lindsay Anderson in 2019; rearranged and English translation, synopses, and brief descriptions
for Japanese language materials were provided by Yoko Okunishi in 2021.
Digital Reproductions
The Gerth Archives and Special Collections created digital reproductions from original items for long-term preservation and
electronic access, adhering to best practice and standards to ensure the authenticity, integrity, and security of material.
For more information on digitization process, please see
CSU Japanese American Digitization Project technical reference guide .
Most of the items in this collection have been digitized. The set of digital reproduction preservation files is stored on
the Gerth Archives and Special Collections' department drive for both preservation purposes and duplication requests.
CSU Japanese American Digitization Project
This collection is part of the California State University Japanese American Digitization Project. Other collections about
the history of Japanese Americans are found in the digital repository:
CSU Japanese American Digitization Project
Scope and Contents
The collection comprising the Kiyoshi Uyekawa family incarceration camp materials (1942-1980, bulk 1942-1946) mainly documents
the time he and his family were incarcerated at the Tule Lake camp during World War II. Included are the wartime publications
collected by Kiyoshi Uyekawa while incarcerated in the Tule Lake camp, such as Tule Lake newsletters and bulletins, materials
issued by the Pro-Japan group, 報國奉仕團 Hokoku Hoshidan (or Hoshi Dan), WRA publications, his family's incarceration documents,
which include documents regarding his and his wife, Mitsuye's repatriation, such as approval for renunciation of U.S. citizenship,
application for cancellation of renunciation, and response letters from Department of Justice issued in 1959, Mitsuye's oral
history conducted in November 1980, his fictional works' manuscripts, bulletins and manuscripts of haiku poems authored by
the members of the haiku circles incarcerated in the camps, and letters from 小池恭 Koike Kyo, who was a prominent figure in
the community as a photographer, physician, and poet under the pseudonym, 小池晩人 Koike Banjin.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Hayao "Sam" and Toshiko Chuman Papers
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration Camps -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Forced removal of civilians -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Conscientious objectors
Haiku
Japanese Americans -- California
Manuscripts, Japanese
Uyekawa, Gary
Ogo, Mohei
Ogo, Hideo
Tule Lake Segregation Center
Tule Lake Incarceration Camp
Minidoka Incarceration Camp
Poston Incarceration Camp
Series I: Wartime publications Series I
1942-1946
Physical Description: 2 boxes(2 document boxes)
Physical Description: 0.83 Linear Feet(2 document boxes)
Language of Material: Japanese, English.
Scope and Contents
Wartime publications series consists of bulletins, newsletters, pamphlets, announcements, and others that were published during
World War II and collected by Kiyoshi Uyekawa while incarcerated in the Tule Lake camp. Most of the items were published for
or by the incarcerees in the Tule Lake camp.
Sub-Series A: Tule Lake bulletins and newspapers
1944 February 22-1945 January 10
Scope and Contents
Included are bulletins and newspapers issued in the Tule Lake Segregation Center, "The Tule Lake WRA Center information bulletin;
The Newell star = Tsurireki shinpo 鶴嶺湖新報" and "Information bulletin = Kokuji 告示."
box 1, folder 1
Tule Lake WRA Center information bulletin = Tsurireki shinpo 鶴嶺湖新報, 第1-2号
1944 February 22-March 2
Language of Material: Japanese, English.
box 1, folder 2-25
The Newell star = Tsurireki shinpo 鶴嶺湖新報
1944 March 2-1946 February 21
Language of Material: Japanese, English.
box 1, folder 26
Information bulletin (Newell, Calif.: 1945), no. 2 = Kokuji 告示
1945 January 10
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
Sub-Series B: Sokoku Hoshi Dan bulletins and newsletters
1944 November 15-1946 January 8
Scope and Contents
Included are materials issued by the pro-Japanese group, Sokoku Hoshi Dan (or Sokoku Hoshidan), which was formed in the Tule
Lake Segregation Center.
box 1, folder 27
Sokoku Kenkyu Seinendan Dai Shichishibu junpo 祖國研究靑年團第七支部旬報
1944 November 15
Language of Material: Japanese.
box 1, folder 28
Hokoku Dai Shichishibu junpo 報國第七支部旬報
1944 December 15
box 1, folder 29
Hokoku 報國
1944 December 6-1945 January 15
box 1, folder 30
Honbu dayori 本部だより
1946 January 3-8
Language of Material: Japanese.
box 1, folder 31
Hokoku 報告
December 1944-1945
Language of Material: Japanese.
box 1, folder 32
Open letter to Masao Sakamoto and Tsutomu Higashi (chairman Sokuji Kikoku Hoshi Dan, Hokoku Seinen Dan) from the Department
of Justice
1945 January 18
Language of Material: English.
box 1, folder 33
Proclamation
1945 January 26
Language of Material: Japanese.
Sub-Series C: Pamphlets, announcements, book, and photograph
1943-1945
Scope and Contents
Included are pamphlets and announcements issued by War Relocation Authority and other U.S. government agencies during the
war as well as a Tule Lake panorama. There is also a Poston Red Cross anniversary book which was presumably collected by his
wife, Mitsuye Ogo Uyekawa or her family members while incarcerated in the Poston camp prior to being transferred to the Tule
Lake Segregation Center.
box 2, folder 1
Japanese translations of The relocation program; Segregation of persons of Japanese ancestry in relocation centers
1943 May-August
box 2, folder 2
An appeal to all Americans of Japanese ancestry and their parents = 語學特科兵募集に就き全日系人に請う
1943 June 23
box 2, folder 3
Application for leave clearance (WRA 126 rev.) and questions and answers regarding WRA 126 rev., Japanese = W.R.A. 出所免狀下附申請書,
WRA 修正第126号; W.R.A. 126 (改正)号に関する質問
1943
box 2, folder 4
Announcements at Tule Lake
1945; 1945-03
box 2, folder 5
Tule Lake camp panorama
1945
box 2, folder 6
Poston Red Cross: the first year = 創立一周年記念
1943-11-01
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
Sub-Series D: Scrapbook and clippings
1943-1945
Scope and Contents
Included are items and pages from a scrapbook compiled by Kiyoshi Uyekawa while incarcerated at the Tule Lake camp. He collected
clippings from "Information bulletin," "Tulean dispatch," "Daily Tulean dispatch," and "Tulean dispatch daily" and other materials
issued in the camp. There are also other clippings, such as pages from "The Rocky shinpo New Year's edition, vol. 2, no. 1"
and an article "Home affairs: how to tell your friends from the Japs" from "Time magazine," page 33 published on Monday, December
22, 1941.
box 2, folder 7-17
Scrapbook
1943-1945
Language of Material: Japanese, English.
box 2, folder 18
Daily Tulean dispatch clipping
1943
Language of Material: Japanese.
box 2, folder 19-20
Clippings from: The Rocky shinpo; Time magazine
1941 December 22; 1945 January 1
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
Series II: Family incarceration documents and oral history Series II
1942-1946; 1963; 1980
1942-1946
Physical Description: 4 folders
Language of Material: Japanese, English.
Scope and Contents
Family incarceration documents and oral history series comprises of materials issued to and collected by Kiyoshi and Mitsuye
Uyekawa, a document issued to Hideo Ogo, Mitsuye's brother while incarcerated in the Pinedale Assembly Center and the Tule
Lake camp. Included are Kiyoshi Uyekawa's immunization record and arrival, temporary travel permit and identification from
the WRA, war ration book, notices of assignments, Kiyoshi and Mitsuye's moving permits, Mitsuye's notice of approval of renunciation
of United States nationality, Rescission of Exclusion notice, Mitsuye and Kiyoshi's repatriation to Japan request cancellation
applications, and a release document issued to Mitsue's brother, Hideo Ogo. There are also letters from Department of Justice
informing Kiyoshi and Mitsue that their U.S. citizenship was reinstated, which were issued in 1959 and Mitsuye Uyekawa's oral
history as told to and written by Ikuko Kiriyama in November 1980. There are also a letter and a notice to Mohei Ogo, Mitsuye's
father, for his shipment from Japan in 1963.
box 2, folder 21-22
Family incarceration documents
1942 May 15-1959 April 24
1942 May 15-1945 November 15
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 23
Oral History of Mitsuye Ogo Uyekawa
1980 November
Language of Material: English.
box 2, folder 24
Shipment by Mohei Ogo
1963 November 15-25
Language of Material: Japanese.
Series III: Fictional works manuscripts Series III
1943-1946
Physical Description: 2 folders
Language of Material: Japanese.
Scope and Contents
Fictional works manuscripts series comprises of a manuscript and afterword for "時代小説蟬丸傳奇 Jidai shosetsu Semimaru denki, translated
as "Historical novels: stories of Semimaru," that are original and fictional stories authored by Kiyoshi Uyekawa, and two
fictitious works by Japanese authors, Fuzo Hayashi and Eiji Yoshikawa, which Kiyoshi Uyekawa copied out by hand. All were
written and copied during his incarceration in the Tutle Lake camp.
box 2, folder 25
Jidai shosetsu Semimaru denki 時代小説蟬丸傳奇 [= Historical novels: stories of Semimaru by Kiyoshi Uyekawa]
1943 March 2-August 9
Language of Material: Japanese.
box 2, folder 26
Fictional works by Fubo Hayashi and Eiji Yoshikawa Series III
circa 1943-1946
Language of Material: Japanese.
Series IV: Haiku circles and 小池晩人 Koike Banjin (小池恭 Koike Kyo) correspondence Series IV
1943 February-1945 December
Physical Description: 1 box(1 document box)
Physical Description: 0.2 Linear Feet(1 document box)
Language of Material: Japanese.
Scope and Contents
Haiku circles and 小池晩人 Koike Banjin (小池恭 Koike Kyo) correspondence series comprises of collections of haiku poems by haiku
circles, "Minidoka Ginsha" "Tule Lake Ginsha" and "Rainier Ginsha," and a collection of letters from one of the haiku editors,
小池恭 Koike Kyo. Included are manuscripts of haiku poems and monthly bulletins of haiku poems authored by the haiku circle members
incarcerated in the Minidoka and Tule Lake camps during the war. Kiyoshi Uekawa wrote haiku poems under the pseudonym, "植川轉
Uyekawa Utata," and his poems were selected and listed in the bulletins published by the Minidoka Ginsha. He was also one
of the editors for the Tule Lake Ginsha. There is a volume of manuscripts of haiku poems by the Tule Lake Ginsha members.
Although it is numbered as "vol. 5," there are no other volumes included.
小池恭 Koike Kyo was a prominent figure in the Japanese American community as a physician and photographer as well as a poet
under the pseudonym, "小池晩人 Koike Banjin." During his incarceration in the Minidoka camp, he was an editor for the monthly
bulletins by the Minidoka Ginsha and mentored the members. There are also the monthly bulletins by the Rainier Ginsha, which
was presumably mailed from 小池恭 Koike Kyo after he returned to Seattle, Washington. He wrote letters from the Minidoka camp
where he had been incarcerated to the haiku circle members in the Tule Lake camp. The letters were collected and compiled
by Kiyoshi Uyekawa.
box 3, folder 1
Manuscripts of haiku poems by the Tule Lake Ginsha members
1944 November 24-1945 August 20
Language of Material: Japanese.
box 3, folder 2-3
Monthly bulletins by the Minidoka Ginsha
1943 February-June 1945
Language of Material: Japanese.
box 3, folder 4
Monthly bulletins by the Rainier Ginsha
1945 November-December
Language of Material: Japanese.
box 3, folder 5
Correspondence from 小池晩人 Koike Banjin (小池恭 Koike Kyo)
1944-1945
Language of Material: Japanese.
