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INVENTORY OF THE TED KIHARA PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION,1945-1964
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Title: Ted Kihara Photograph Collection
Dates: 1945-1964
Collection Number: Consult repository.
Creator:
Kihara, Ted
Extent:
1 box
[.25 linear ft]
Repository: California State University, Dominguez Hills
Archives and Special Collections
Archives & Special Collection
University Library, Room 5039
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, California 90747
Phone: (310) 243-3895
URL: http://www4.csudh.edu/libarchives/index
Abstract:
This collection contains one box of photographic images taken by Ted Kahara, a World War II Japanese-American Infantryman
and Intelligence Officer. Materials include: 35 mm slides and negatives, and photographs.
Language: Collection material is in English
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
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.
[Title of item], Ted Kihara Photograph Collection, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. University
Library. California State University, Dominguez Hills
Library acquisition
Ted T. Kihara (1915-2003), was the son of Gonjiro Kihara who immigrated to the United States in 1892 and originally worked
as a houseboy in San Francisco before opening a café in Sacramento, a boarding house in Seattle, and eventually a laundromat
in Winnemucca, Nevada. Ted enlisted in June 1941 and served in the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps. Soon after the attack
on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Ted Kihara transferred to the infantry and attended the Military Intelligence Service Language
School (MISLS) in Savage, Minnesota. Upon graduation, Kihara was assigned to the 43rd Infantry Division as a Japanese translator
and earned the Combat Infantryman Badge during the battle for Munda Airfield in the Solomon Islands. After returning stateside
to complete Office Candidate School at Fort Benning, Kihara worked with the Canadian Army to help establish its Japanese Language
School. Following the Japanese surrender, Kihara was reassigned to the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) in
the newly established Far East Command’s General Headquarters at the Dai Ichi Building in Tokyo, Japan. Among the duties the
ATIS performed during the occupation were translating documents and news accounts, interrogating prisoners of war, and assisting
in the effort to return Japanese soldiers and civilians who were stranded outside Japan after its surrender. While in Tokyo,
Kihara met and married a Japanese national named Kimiko Mikumi and started a family before leaving the Army and settling in
Berkeley, California.
The Ted Kihara Photograph Collection (1945-1964) contains approximately 289 color 35mm slides, approximately 121 35mm negatives,
and two photographs of events and activities from Ted Kihara’s life. The majority of the photographs were taken in Berkeley,
California and Tokyo, Japan. Color slides feature images of various activities and events taking place at Ted Kihara’s home
in Berkeley, California such as parties and a Christmas celebration, and also include images featuring family automobiles
such as a Cadillac Coupe de Ville and Ford station wagon. Other color slides include images taken at funerals, and family
vacations to Yosemite National Park, and Disneyland, as well as images of the 1958 Pacific Festival, featuring Kihara’s family
aboard Japanese warships and the Japanese freighter, Yamatsuki Maru. The negatives feature images taken during Kihara’s time
in Tokyo, Japan during World War II.
Arrangement
Arranged in 1 box.
Japanese Americans
Japanese American families
World War II
World War II--Japan
Translators--Japan
Berkeley (Calif.)
Tokyo (Japan)
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Disneyland (Calif.)
Savage (Minn.)