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Title: Masakazu Iwata papers
Dates: 1907-1998
Collection number: 94.58, 2003.176
Collection Size:
15 linear feet (15 boxes, 1 flat folder)
Repository:
Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles, California 90012
Creator: Iwata, Masakazu, 1917-
Abstract: This collection contains documents related to Masakazu Iwata’s agricultural research, primarily for his book “Planted in Good
Soil,” with items dating from 1907 to 1998. Items include notes, drafts and typescripts, newspaper clippings, reports, correspondence,
and other materials related to his publications.
Physical location: Japanese American National Museum. 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
By appointment only. Please contact the Collections Management and Access Unit by email (collections@janm.org) or telephone
(213-830-5619). Advanced notice is required.
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Collections
Management and Access Unit at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).
[Identification of item], Iwata (Masakazu) Papers. 94.58 [or 2003.176 if appropriate], Japanese American National Museum.
Los Angeles, CA.
Gift of Masakazu Iwata, 1994.
The collection contents were verified and re-listed in 2016 by Jamie Henricks. Some initial processing was done by Keiko Nishimura.
Masakazu Iwata was born October 21, 1917, in Los Angeles County. He received his BA, MA, and PhD from the University of California,
Los Angeles, as well as studying later at the University of Southern California and in Tokyo. He married his wife, Doreen,
on July 5, 1952. Iwata eventually became a history professor at Biola University, where he was also chair of the history
department from 1968 to 1977. He wrote two books (“Okuba Toshimichi: The Bismarck of Japan” and “Planted in Good Soil”) and
many articles, and was awarded the 1993 National Book Award for Lifetime Scholarship by the Association for Asian American
Studies. He died on March 16, 1998.
This collection contains materials related to Masakazu Iwata’s research on Japanese American involvement in agriculture, with
items dating from 1907 to 1998. A large portion of the papers are drafts, research notes, typescripts, bibliographies, and
proofs of chapters from Iwata’s book “Planted in Good Soil.” Iwata collected information on Japanese Americans (and Japanese
in other parts of the world), agriculture in the United States, immigration, and other topics. In addition to reports by
others used as reference materials, the collection includes a few articles published by Iwata. Index cards and microfilm
reels used during research, expense ledgers from the 1930s, and a copy of Iwata’s PhD dissertation are also included.
Original arrangement and folder titles were preserved; folder titles were supplied when necessary.
Iwata, Masakazu, 1917-
Japanese American farmers – History
Agriculture – United States – History