Collection Guide
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Sakai and Kozawa Families Papers
mssSK
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Sakai and Kozawa families papers
Identifier/Call Number: mssSK
Physical Description:
69.06 Linear Feet
(55 boxes, 4 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1890-2017
Date (bulk): 1940s-1980s
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in English and Japanese.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
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.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
RESTRICTED. Box 48: Photographic negatives housed in cold storage; extended retrieval and delivery time required.
[Identification of item]. Sakai and Kozawa families papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Kozawa Family Trust, February 2020.
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.
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.
Processed by Melissa Haley, 2023-2024.
In March 2024, 1 linear feet (1 box) of financial material and duplicate blank stationary was deaccessioned.
Arthur Ito papers, mssIto.
Organized in three series: 1. Family papers, 1925-2017; 2. Business papers, 1941-2008; 3. Photographs, approximately 1890-2000s.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cut flower industry -- California -- Los Angeles
Floriculturists -- 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
Japan -- Description and travel
Japan -- Photographs
Manzanar War Relocation Center
artifacts (object genre)
Business records
Ephemera
Letters (correspondence)
marriage portraits
Panoramic photographs
Photograph albums
Photographs
Snapshots
Studio portraits
Kawakami (Family)
Kozawa (Family)
Sakai (Family)