Fujita was born February 17, 1920 in Brawley, California. In 1922 he was taken to Miho in the city of Shimizu, Japan, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents. He attended Waseda University from 1937-40. He returned to California and farmed with his father in the Imperial Valley before the outbreak of World War II. Fujita was sent to internment camps at Poston, Arizona; Tule Lake, California; and Crystal City, Texas. While at Tule Lake, he edited a literary journal, Doto, and contributed to another, Tessaku. In 1945 he renounced his American citizenship under duress, and did not regain his citizenship until 1957. A Kibei-Nisei writer, he became a central figure in the literary society Nanka Bungei and of the literary journal of the same name. He also wrote the first two novels of a projected trilogy: Nochi no kokei ( An Agricultural Landscape, 1982) and Tachinoki no kisetsu ( An Evacuation Season, 1984). The collection consists of diaries, manuscripts, drafts, galleys, incoming correspondence files, personal memorabilia, copies of Akira Fujita's published writings, and books by Nanka Bungei writers and others. Most of the collection is in Japanese.

Fujita was born February 17, 1920 in Brawley, California; in 1922 he was taken to Miho in the city of Shimizu, Japan, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents; attended Waseda University, 1937-40; returned to California and farmed with his father in the Imperial Valley before the outbreak of World War II; Fujita was sent to internment camps at Poston, Arizona, Tule Lake, California, and Crystal City, Texas; while at Tule Lake, he edited a literary journal, Doto, and contributed to another, Tessaku; in 1945 he renounced his American citizenship under duress, and did not regain his citizenship until 1957; a Kibei-Nisei writer, he became a central figure in literary society Nanka Bungei and of the literary journal of the same name; in 1981 Fujita edited an anthology drawn from the journal, titled Nanka Bungei Senshu, 1965-1980; wrote the first two novels of a projected trilogy: Nochi no kokei (An Agricultural Landscape, 1982) and Tachinoki no kisetsu (An Evacuation Season, 1984).[characters] indicates Japanese characters included in the print version of this online finding aid, available for consultation at the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections.Fujita Akira [characters], a Kibei-Nisei writer. A native of Brawley, California, Fujita was born February 17, 1920 as the second son of Fujita Keijiro and Kan [characters]. His Japanese immigrant parents originated from Miho [characters] in the city of Shimizu [characters] in Shizuoka Prefecture [characters]. His father was a longtime tenant farmer in the Imperial Valley. In 1922 Fujita was taken to Japan where he was raised in Miho by his maternal grandparents. He attended grammar school in Miho and middle school in Shimizu. In 1937 he matriculated into Waseda University and studied economics, but withdrew from this school in 1940 to return to the United States. Upon his return, he attended high school in Los Angeles, while working as a so-called school boy. Before the outbreak of the Pacific War, he was farming with his father in the Imperial Valley.

32 boxes (16 linear ft.)

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