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Takamura (Kango) paintings
LSC.0433
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Kango Takamura paintings
Creator:
Takamura, Kango, 1895-1990
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0433
Physical Description:
0.5 linear feet
(1 box and 2 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1942-1945
Abstract: Kango Takamura (1895-1990) was an photo retoucher for RKO Studios in Los Angeles when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese
Imperial Navy. He was detained by the FBI in 1942 after offering to sell a motion-picture camera to a visiting Japanese general.
He was interned at Santa Fe, New Mexico for several months and then moved to a camp at Manzanar, California, where he joined
his wife, daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. He remained at Manzanar with his family until 1945. While at Manzanar, Takamura
depicted his surroundings in drawings and watercolors. He also worked as a camp sign-maker at Santa Fe and as curator for
a small museum at Manzanar. After the war, he returned to Hollywood and worked at RKO Studios for another twenty-five years
before retiring. The collection consists of 77 watercolor paintings produced during World War II while Kango Takamura was
detained at the Santa Fe Internment Camp, New Mexico, and the Manzanar Internment Camp, California. Also included are paper
mounts and one photographic reproduction of a painting.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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.
[Identification of item], Kango Takamura paintings (Collection 433). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Kango Takamura, 1974.
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interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by Laura Ward, October 2003, revised by Octavio Olvera, 2016.
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existing description of our materials that contains language
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UCLA Catalog Record ID:
9949622253606533
Kango Takamura was an Issei artist born in Kumamoto-ken, Japan in January of 1895. He immigrated to the United States when
he was seventeen years old. Takamura spent ten years in Hawaii and then went to New York after becoming interested in the
motion picture industry. After a short stay at the Paramount Studios offices in Long Island he moved to Hollywood. He was
working as a photo retoucher for RKO Studios in Los Angeles when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese Imperial Navy.
Takamura was detained by the FBI in 1942 after offering to sell a motion-picture camera to a visiting Japanese general. He
was interned at Santa Fe, New Mexico for several months and then moved to a camp at Manzanar, California, where he joined
his wife, daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. He remained at Manzanar with his family until 1945. Takamura was not allowed
to take photographs during his stays at Santa Fe and Manzanar but he depicted his surroundings in drawings and watercolors.
He also worked as a camp sign-maker at Santa Fe and as curator for a small museum at Manzanar. When Takamura left Manzanar
he returned to Hollywood and worked at RKO Studios for another twenty-five years before retiring. Takamura lived in Los Angeles
until he passed away in January, 1990 at 94 years old.
Collection consists of 77 watercolor paintings produced during World War II while Kango Takamura was detained at the Santa
Fe Internment Camp, New Mexico, and the Manzanar Internment Camp, California. Also included are paper mounts and one photographic
reproduction of a painting.
Arranged in the following series:
- Santa Fe.
- Manzanar.
The series names identify the place where the paintings in each series were produced.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online:
Kango Takamura Paintings (76 items) .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Watercolors.
Japanese American painters -- Archives.
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
Santa Fe Internment Camp (N.M.) -- Pictorial works
Takamura, Kango, 1895-1990 -- Archives
Manzanar War Relocation Center -- Pictorial works