Inventory of the Masuo Kitaji papers
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2018, 2022
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Masuo Kitaji papers
Date (inclusive): 1910-1991
Collection Number: 2018C26
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3 manuscript boxes, 2 cubic foot boxes
(2.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Masuo Kitaji was a Japanese American Salvation Army captain. The collection contains English-language printed Bibles (digitized
versions available) annotated by Kitaji with Japanese translations and other commentary as well as Japanese WWII internment
newspapers and other materials.
Creator:
Kitaji, Masuo, 1897-1973
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
Original bibles may not be used without permission of the Archivist; there is digitized content from this collection available.
The remainder of the collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If
there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2018.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Masuo Kitaji papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Biographical Note
Japanese American Salvation Army captain. Masuo Kitaji was born in 1897 in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, the oldest of nine
children. His parents immigrated to California to work, leaving young Masuo in a Buddhist monastery where he was schooled
in letters, art, music, martial arts, shiatsu and acupuncture. At 17, he joined his parents in Watsonville, California where
they ran a general store. In the space of four years, he advanced from elementary to high school to college, studying art.
His life was transformed after a motorcycle crash in 1925. Salvation Army missionaries helped nurse him back to health, and
he embraced their Christian faith, eventually converting most of his family. As a captain, he ran missions in San Jose, Oakland,
San Francisco and Los Angeles. Just before World War II, he became engaged to a young Salvation Army officer in Japan, but
it would be 21 years before Yuko Tsuruta could secure a visa to join Kitaji in California. There, he focused on his devotional
project. Using the New Analytical Indexed Bible, he painstakingly entered a Japanese transcription of each chapter and verse
on facing blank pages. He labored from 5 a.m. daily on what became a 3,000-page, 5½- inch-thick tome, using a magnifier to
write in microscopic Japanese. He added comments on sermons and history. He created fanciful maps of the Holy Land, a timeline
of Old Testament prophets, a diagram of prayers and an illustration of the story of Jonah and the whale. He noted his anguish
and worry over his fiancé, trapped in wartime Japan. After the war, Kitaji worked as caretaker at Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs,
then a spa and resort. Finally joined by his bride in 1952, he began a second Bible a year later, although it was never completed.
He died childless in 1973--from "How Bay Area family reclaimed its family's priceless historical Bibles," by Sharon Noguchi,
The Mercury News, October 21, 2017.
Scope and Content of Collection
English-language printed Bibles annotated by Kitaji with Japanese translations and other commentary. Newspapers and other
materials related to Japanese WWII interment camps.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bible -- Dictionaries
Bible -- Illustrations
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans
Granada Relocation Center
Tule Lake Relocation Center
Bibles
Access
Original bibles may not be used without permission of the Archivist. Digitized versions are available.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: Front Matter
1935-1945
Scope and Contents
Front matter consists of annotations by Kitaji, introductory material on the Bible, and a Biblical dictionary.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: Law
1935-1945
Scope and Contents
This section contains the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: History
1935-1945
Scope and Contents
This section contains the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, First and Second
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: Wisdom and Poetry
1935-1945
Scope and Contents
This section contains the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: Major Prophets
1935-1945
Scope and Contents
This section contains books belonging to the major prophets of Israel: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: Minor Prophets
1935-1945
Scope and Contents
This section contains books belonging to the minor prophets of Israel: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: Gospels and Acts
1935-1945
Scope and Contents
This section contains the gospels according to the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It also contains the Acts of the
apostles.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: Epistles
Scope and Contents
This section contains the epistles, or letters, to the early Christian church: Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First and Second Thessalonians, First and Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James,
First and Second Peter, First, Second, Third John, and Jude.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: The Apocalypse
1935-1945
Scope and Contents
This section contains the book of Revelation.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible one: Back Matter
1935-1945
Scope and Contents
This section contains various appendices, timelines, and Kitaji's handwritten illustrations and annotations.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: Front Matter
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains handwritten annotations and illustrations by Kitaji and a short preface to the edition of the Bible.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: Law
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: History
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, First and Second
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: Wisdom and Poetry
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: Major Prophets
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains books belonging to the major prophets of Israel: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: Minor Prophets
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains books belonging to the minor prophets of Israel: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: Gospels and Acts
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains the gospels according to the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It also contains the Acts of the
apostles.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: Epistles
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains the epistles, or letters, to the early Christian church: Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First and Second Thessalonians, First and Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James,
First and Second Peter, First, Second, Third John, and Jude.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: The Apocalypse
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains the book of Revelation.
online digital
Masuo Kitaji Bible two: Back Matter
1953-1973
Scope and Contents
This section contains various appendices, timelines, diagrams, Kitaji's handwritten illustrations and annotations.
Internment camp materials
box 1, folder 1
在鶴嶺湖広島県人名簿 Tule Lake [Segregation Center] Hiroshima Prefecture Association Directory
1945
box 1, folder 2
アマチ同胞人名録 Amache [Japanese American Incarceration Camp] Japanese Directory
1945
box 1, folder 3
トパズ消費組合二周年記念誌 Topaz [Japanese American Incarceration Camp] Cooperative Second Anniversary Commemorative Publication
1944
box 1, folder 4
ゼローム共同組合記念誌 Jerome [Japanese American Incarceration Camp] Cooperative Commemorative Publication
1944
box 1, folder 6
Newsletters including パイオニア Pioneer, and Newell Star
1943-1946
box 2, folder 1
大和植民地の図 Image of Japanese colonies, Personal Property Assessment List
1910
1917
box 2, folder 2
Minutes of Block Delegates meeting, council meetings
1942
box 2, folder 3
Prohibited Area Civilian Exclusion Order No. 92
1942 May 23
box 2, folder 4
Segregation of persons of Japanese ancestry in relocation centers
1943 August
box 2, folder 5
The War Relocation Work Corps
box 2, folder 6
Documents including Regulations governing certificates of identification for aliens of enemy nationalities
box 2, folder 7
Jerome Relocation Center Denson Magnet
1943 April
box 2, folder 8
"What we're fighting for" Japanese soldiers in combat zones
box 2, folder 9
Correspondence with Japanese Council of Tule Lake Project Legal Aid Department Walter T. Tsukamoto
1942 August 8
box 2, folder 10
WRA Memorandum, Administrative Instruction
1942
box 2, folder 11
チューリーレーキ協同組合 Tule Lake Cooperative
box 2, folder 12
Mother's day poems
1943 May 9
box 2, folder 13
Captioned image of the Joe Yamadas
box 2, folder 14
Facts and figures of assembly centers and relocation centers
1945
box 2, folder 15
Copies of bulletins, notices, lists of people, lists of contraband
1942
box 2, folder 16
帰化権獲得期成同盟 Association for the Acquisition of Naturalization Rights
1948
box 2, folder 17
Civil Rights Defense Union of Northern California
1948
box 2, folder 18
アメリカと欧州の旅の報告 Report of travels in America and Europe
1957
box 2, folder 19
Newspaper clippings
1951-1974
box 2, folder 21
Issei Survey Objectives and call for history project
box 2, folder 22
Correspondence from S. Kitamura to Rev. Takarabe
1970
box 2, folder 23
Special Donation JACL Senior Center
1973
box 2, folder 24
NHK TV Documentary on Nisei Soldiers
1980
box 2, folder 26
須市同胞発展小史 Short History of Japanese Development in Stockton
box 2, folder 27
The Japanese American Incarceration: A Case for Redress
1978 June
box 2, folder 29
Wakamatsu colony centennial
1969
box 3, folder 1
奥江清之助伝 Biography of Okue Seinosuke
box 3, folder 2
一世史年表 Issei history timeline
1959
box 3, folder 3
戦時下教会・キリスト者の歩み Churches and footsteps of Christian people during wartime
1991