This collection includes materials collected by and created primarily by Edo Mita, dating from 1930-1955. The bulk of the collection are personal diaries related to his time in 1930s France, correspondence with Huguette Clark and others on the topic of Japanese cultural dress, materials related to his deportation case, and personal photographs.

Edo Heihachi Mita was born on May 8, 1908, in Tokyo, Japan, son of famed actor Sojin Kamiyama (also known as Mitsugu Mita). In 1922, he immigrated with his parents at age 13 to San Francisco, California, before settling in Los Angeles. An artist and poet, he spent some time in France during the early 1930s, as recorded in his journals. Sometime prior to 1940, he married his first wife, Chiyeko (Chiye) Mori. During World War II, Chiye was sent to the concentration camp at Manzanar, while Edo – who had been diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1928 – was sent to Hillcrest Sanitarium in La Crescenta, California, where it appears he remained from 1942 until 1947/1948. In 1950, he married Janet Callendar but the marriage was short-lived and he married Hester Cushing two years later. Throughout the 1950s, Edo – who was also known as Edward Kamiyama (and possibly Ed Sojin Jr) – appeared in a handful of Hollywood films and television shows, among them the role of “Mr. Sasikawa” in the television episode “Decoy,” from Alfred Hitchcock Presents. During this time, Edo also successfully fought against a 1952 McCarran-Walter Act deportation order while battling stomach cancer. He died on May 12, 1963, at the age of 54 and is buried at the Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena, California.

1 linear foot (1 box and 1 oversized folder)

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Collections Management and Access Unit at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).

By appointment only. Please contact the Collections Management and Access Unit (collections@janm.org). Advanced notice is required.