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Finding Aid for the Shinkichirō Shima papers, 1894-1965
2010
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Title: Shinkichirō Shima papers,
Date (inclusive): 1894-1965
Collection number: 2010
Creator:
Shima, Shinkichirō (島辰吉朗)
Extent:
3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Shinkichirō Shima was born in 1877 in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, and arrived at San Francisco in 1894. He was a devoted Christian
and poet, and worked as a cactus nurseryman in Southern California. During World War II, he was incarcerated in the Manzanar
Relocation Center. The collection consists of a diary, correspondence, religious poems and various religious writings.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English and Japanese.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Processed by Yoko Okunishi in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Megan Hahn Fraser,
2010. Preliminary processing by UCLA Library Special Collections staff.
[Identification of item], Shinkichirō Shima papers, Japanese American Research Project Collection (Collection 2010). UCLA
Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
4233210
Shinkichirō Shima was born in 1877 in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, and arrived at San Francisco in 1894 on board the
Empress of China. He was baptized at a Methodist church in 1898 and became a devoted Christian. During World War II, he was incarcerated in
the Santa Ana Assembly Center and transferred to the Manzanar Relocation Center on July 31, 1942. In the Manzanar Relocation
Center, he joined the Guayule project, propagating rubber plans. He was also a poet and worked as a cactus nurseryman in Southern
California, exporting cacti to Japan.
The collection consists of a diary, correspondence, and various writings related to the life of Shinkichirō Shima. The diary,
in Japanese, begins when he left Yokohama for the United States on board the
Empress of China (October 9, 1894) with subsequent entries made on memorable occasions. It includes descriptions of voyages when Shima traveled
between the U.S. and Japan from 1898 to 1918, and documents the matters of his cactus export business to Japan. It also covers
the time period when Shima was incarcerated in the Santa Fe Assembly Center and the Manzanar Relocation Center (1942-1946),
depicting life in the camps in a Japanese poetic form.
Three notebooks contain his drafts of letters, in English and Japanese, some of which were written in the Manzanar Relocation
Center while he was incarcerated. These include descriptions of camp life conditions as well as his participation in the Guayule
project to propagate rubber plants at the Manzanar Relocation Center, and his family situations in Japan. The drafts also
include English letters asking his friends to manage his bank accounts and Japanese letters discussing business plans for
trading between US and Japan.
Other writings include manuscripts for religious poems, 霊帳 Reichō, Daily blessing, hymns compiled in a Japanese poetic form
in the Manzanar Relocation Center, excerpts from the Bible and verses, and other religious writings.
Materials are arranged as follows:
- Personal papers (Box 136)
- Hymns in a Japanese poetic form (Box 136)
- 霊帳 Reichō (Box 136)
- Manuscripts for "Daily blessing" (Box 137)
- Religious poems and various religious writings (Boxes 137-138)
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Shima, Shinkichirō, 1877- --Archives.
Japanese American Research Project (University of California, Los Angeles).
Authors, Japanese--Archival resources.
Japanese Americans--California, Southern--Archival resources.
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945.
Japanese American Research Project Collection of Material about Japanese in the United States (Collection 2010)
. Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.