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Title: Miriam (Stirberg) Kaufman papers
Date: 1944-1945
Date: 1989
Collection number: 2018.17
Collection Size:
.21 linear feet (1 box)
Repository:
Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles, California 90012
Creator: Sato, Asaji
Creator: Miyazaki, Robert
Creator: Kaufman, Miriam (Stirberg)
Abstract: This collection contains primarily letters sent to Miriam (Stirberg) Kaufman, dating from 1944 to 1945. The contents are primarily
letters and photos Kaufman received while corresponding with two World War II soldiers in the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat
Team, as well as a few letters from Senator Daniel Inouye from 1989.
Physical location: Japanese American National Museum. 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
By appointment only. Please contact the Collections Management and Access Unit (collections@janm.org). Advanced notice is
required.
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).
[Identification of item], Miriam (Stirberg) Kaufman Letters. 2018.17, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.
Acquired in 2018 as a gift of Miriam Stirberg Kaufman.
The collection was processed in 2019 and 2020 by Keiko Hamagiwa and Jamie Henricks. The finding aid was written by Elizabeth
Morikawa.
Miriam Stirberg began exchanging letters with Private Robert Miyazaki and Private Asaji Sato after meeting them on a trip
to Coney Island, New York as a teenager in 1944. Private Robert Miyazaki was born on July 1, 1922 in Honolulu, Hawaii and
passed away on December 21, 2017. Private Asaji Sato was born on March 12, 1925 in Pahela, Hawaii and passed away in 1969.
Sometime after the war ended, Kaufman lost contact with both men. She reached out to Senator Inouye in 1989 to find the whereabouts
of Sato and Miyazaki. Senator Inouye replied back informing her that the 442nd Veterans Club in Hawaii were unable to re-establish
contact with them for her.
This collection includes material collected and created by Miriam (Stirberg) Kaufman and two World War II soldiers from the
100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team, Private Asaji Sato and Private Robert Miyazaki, dating from 1944 to 1945. The collection
is mainly letters and photos Miriam received from the two soldiers, who she met on Coney Island, New York. In these letters,
the men mostly write about their time serving in the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team while in Italy. This collection also
contains letters from Senator Daniel Inouye from Kaufman’s effort to re-establish contact with the two soldiers.
The Japanese American National Museum has other collections containing soldiers' letters and memorabilia such as the Kondo
Family papers (99.334), the Ito (Susumu) Collection (94.306), and others.
Correspondence is divided into folders by sender, then arranged chronologically.
Kaufman, Miriam (Stirberg)
Sato, Asaji
Miyazaki, Robert
United States. Army. Regimental Combat Team, 442nd
World War, 1939-1945