Sakai and Kozawa families papers, approximately 1890-2017, bulk 1940s-1980s
Collection context
Summary
- Abstract:
- The collection primarily documents multiple generations of the Sakai, Kozawa, Kawakami, and related families in the Los Angeles area from approximately 1890 to 2017 and the family business, Tokio Florist.
- Extent:
- 69.06 Linear Feet (55 boxes, 4 oversize folders)
- Language:
- Materials are in English and Japanese.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Sakai and Kozawa families papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection documents multiple generations of the Sakai, Kozawa, Kawakami, and related families primarily in the Los Angeles area from approximately 1890 to 2017 and the family business, Tokio Florist. Family papers contain correspondence, notebooks, property and other records, publications, ephemera, and artifacts. Also present are business records, architectural drawings, and other material related to Tokio Florist, especially at its Hyperion Avenue location, and other family floral business locations in Los Angeles. The collection contains extensive photographic material, including photo albums, snapshots, formal studio portraits, and panoramic photographs. Some correspondence, publications, and photographs document various family members' experiences while incarcerated at the Manzanar War Relocation Center during World War II. Family papers and photographs also pertain to extended family in and visits to Japan.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Sakai, Kozawa, and Kawakami families represented in the collection span four generations and lived primarily in Southern California, though some extended family members lived in Japan. Asakichi Kawakami (1865-1945) and his wife Ura Shibuya Kawakami (1866 or 1867-1942) arrived in the United States in 1900 and 1913 respectively. Their daughter Yukiko (Yuki) (1894-1994) also arrived in the U.S. in 1913 and married Masao Sakai (approximately 1884-1926) in July 1914 in Los Angeles; the couple had five children: Sumiko (Sumi) Lillian (1916-2016), Hisako Pansy (1917-1999), Etsuko Rose (1918-2002), Akira Dan (1920-1941), and Miyoko Violet (born 1925). Sumi Sakai married Frank Ukio (or Yukio) Kozawa (1920 or 1922-2007) in 1948 in Santa Ana; they had one daughter, Susan (Susie) Kozawa (born 1949).
Other extended family members include Asakichi and Ura Kawakami's son Saichi Walter (1895-1981), his wife Chizu (1910-2008) and their children: Harumi Grace (born 1933), Hiroshi Richard (born 1934), Seiko Zinnia (born 1939), Yasuto Walter (born 1940), Yasuyo Dale (born 1941), Juichiro Elmer (born 1942), Kinuko Margaret (born 1944), and Jane (born 1946 or 1947). Kozawa family members include Frank's brother Shigeru and sister Mitsuo, both of whom lived primarily in Japan.
Kawakami family horticultural nurseries in the 1910s are listed in city directories in the West Adams and Jefferson Park areas near Downtown Los Angeles. By 1920, the family had relocated to the Los Feliz neighborhood, along with the Sakai family. In the early 1920s, Masao and Yuki Sakai moved their family to San Diego for several years. Yuki Sakai established Tokio Florist in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1929 following the death of her husband. The five-acre property included a house, pond, flower stand, and gardens, where they grew poinsettias, gladioli, carnations, and ranunculus. By 1930, the Kawakami family had established a floral farm on Helen Avenue in the Roscoe area of Los Angeles, now between Sun Valley and Sunland.
Sakai, Kozawa, and Kawakami family members were forcibly removed during World War II and incarcerated at the Manzanar War Relocation Center; both Asakichi and Ura Kawakami died at Manzanar. Following the war, the families returned to Los Angeles to reopen their floral enterprises. Frank Kozawa also served in the military after being drafted; he crewed on the U.S. Army Hospital Ship Mercy and U.S. Army transport ships from 1946 to 1949, then several U.S. Navy ships from 1951 to 1953, primarily as a butcher.
In the post-war years, Sumi Sakai Kozawa and Frank Kozawa joined Yuki Sakai in running Tokio Florist. In 1960, the business relocated to 2718 Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, which also served as the family residence; the property included a house, greenhouse, shop, gardens, and a Japanese garden. Tokio Florist closed in 2006 and the property was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) in 2019.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of the Kozawa Family Trust, February 2020.
- Appraisal information:
-
In March 2024, 1 linear feet (1 box) of financial material and duplicate blank stationary was deaccessioned.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Melissa Haley, 2023-2024.
- Arrangement:
-
Organized in three series: 1. Family papers, 1925-2017; 2. Business papers, 1941-2008; 3. Photographs, approximately 1890-2000s.
- Physical / technical requirements:
-
RESTRICTED. Box 48: Photographic negatives housed in cold storage; extended retrieval and delivery time required.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Cut flower industry -- California -- Los Angeles
Japanese American business enterprises
Japanese American families
Japanese American gardeners
Japanese American women
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945 -- Sources
Japanese Americans -- California -- Los Angeles
Women-owned business enterprises -- United States
Women travelers -- Japan -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans
Manzanar War Relocation Center
Floriculturists -- California -- Los Angeles
artifacts (object genre)
Business records
Ephemera
Letters (correspondence)
marriage portraits
Panoramic photographs
Photograph albums
Photographs
Snapshots
Studio portraits - Names:
- Kawakami (Family)
Kozawa (Family)
Sakai (Family) - Places:
- Japan -- Description and travel
Japan -- Photographs
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
- Terms of access:
-
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Sakai and Kozawa families papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191