Japanese American collection
Finding aid prepared by Special Collections Processing Archivist Andrew Lippert
Special Collections & University Archives
The UCR Library
P.O. Box 5900
University of California
Riverside, California 92517-5900
Phone: 951-827-3233
Fax: 951-827-4673
Email: specialcollections@ucr.edu
URL: http://library.ucr.edu/libraries/special-collections-university-archives
© 2023
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Japanese American collection
Date (inclusive): 1905-2006, undated
Collection Number: MS 151
Extent:
1.67 linear feet
(2 boxes, 5 flat file folders)
Repository:
Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
Abstract: This collection primarily contains transcripts, audio cassettes, and other material pertaining to the Japanese American Cultural
and Community Center (JACCC) EO 9066 Project. Also includes material pertaining to Japanese American life in Riverside, California
and the Inland Empire.
Languages: The collection is primarily in English with a handful of items in Japanese.
Access
This collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction,
and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and
publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by
copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions
apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for
obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], [date if possible]. Japanese American collection (MS 151). Special Collections & University Archives,
University of California, Riverside.
Acquisition Information
Provenance unknown
Collection Scope and Contents
This collection primarily contains transcripts, audio cassettes, and other material pertaining to the Japanese American Cultural
and Community Center (JACCC) Executive Order 9066 Project. Also includes material pertaining to Japanese American art, entertainment,
and culture as well as Japanese American life in Riverside, California and the Inland Empire. The transcripts in Series 1
include notes identifying which "assembly centers" and/or concentration camps are discussed in the interviews.
Terminology Note
Terminology used in this finding aid referring to the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World
War II is drawn from the community created guidelines for description. See
https://densho.org/ for further reading on the topic.
Related Materials
See also the
Fujimoto family diaries for more material related to the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Japanese Americans
Riverside (Calif.)
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans -- Exclusion and incarceration, 1942-1945
Santa Anita assembly center
Gila River Concentration Camp
Granada (aka Amache) Concentration Camp
Heart Mountain concentration camp
Jerome Concentration Camp
Manzanar concentration camp
Poston Concentration Camp
Rohwer Concentration Camp
Topaz Concentration Camp
Art and music
Theater
Genres and Forms of Materials
Audiocassettes
Oral histories
Transcripts
Series 1. Oral Histories
1991-2001
1991-1992
Series Scope and Contents
The materials in this series are related to oral histories conducted by the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center
related to the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans following Executive Order 9066 during World War II.
Most of the folders include transcripts of the interviews along with notes by the interviewer. Most of the folders also include
agreements for participation in the project, some of these are signed and some of them are unsigned.
Series Arrangement
The oral histories are arranged alphabetically by last name as noted on the included documentation.
Box 1, Folder 1
Tets Bessho
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, signed agreement, and notes. Interview discusses Heart Mountain Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 2
Nami Ota Donals
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Amache Concentration
Camp.
Box 1, Folder 3
Kansuma Fujima
1991-2000
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, signed agreement, and clippings. Oral history includes mention of George Takei at Rohwer Concentration
Camp. The interview also discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center, Manzanar Concentraton Camp, and Poston Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 4
Reverend Julius Goldwater
1991-1992
Scope and Contents
Julius Goldwater was a Buddhist monk and visited a number of the Japanese American Concentration Camps and Assembly Centers.
File inlcudes interview transcript and copy of signed agreement.
Box 1, Folder 5
Mabel Hibi
1991-1992 & 1994
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview mentions the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Poston Concentration
Camp.
Box 1, Folder 6
Arthur and Lillian Kaihatsu
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Poston Concentration
Camp.
Box 1, Folder 7
Bruce Kaji
1991-1992
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, agreement, and notes. Interview discusses Manzanar Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 8
Yuri Mary Kochiyama
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript and notes. Interview discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center, Poston Concentration Camp, and Jerome
Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 9
Reverend Mas Kodani
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, agreement, and notes.
Box 1, Folder 10
John Jinyu Nako
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript and notes.
Box 1, Folder 11
Mary Hatae Nomura
1991-1992
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview discusses Manzanar Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 12
Mary Kageyama Nomura
1992
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript. Interview discusses Manzanar Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 13
Yoriko Ohara and Rei Kasama
1991 & 2001
Scope and Contents
File includes notes, unsigned agreement, and three small bound volumes.
Box 1, Folder 14
Yoneo & Kimiye Murata Ohbayashi
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes agreement and notes.
Box 1, Folder 15
Sue (Takimoto) Okabe
1992-1993
Scope and Contents
File includes notes.
Box 1, Folder 16
Hanayage Tokuyae & Henry Ota
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes agreement and notes.
Box 1, Folder 17
Sam & Toshiko Seno
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, agreement, and clippings. Interview discusses the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Jerome Concentration
Camp.
Box 1, Folder 18
Reverend A. Arthur Takemoto
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, unsigned agreement, and notes. Interview discusses the Poston Concentration Camp and Topaz Concentration
Camp.
Box 1, Folder 19
Tomita, Nakamura, and Yoneda families
1991-1992
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript and unsigned agreements. Interview discusses the Poston Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 20
Dorothy Takahashi Treakle
1991-1992 & 1996
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript and unsigned agreement. Interview discusses the Poston Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 21, Flat-File-Folder 01
Masao and Shizuye Yamashiro
1991
Scope and Contents
File includes transcript, agreement, notes, and clippings.
Box 1, Folder 22
Audio cassette tapes
1991
Physical Description:
7 Cassettes
Scope and Contents
File includes audio cassette tapes for interviews with Rev. Julius Goldwater, Fujima Kansuma, and Bruce Kaji.
Series 2. Other Materials
1905-2006, undated
Series Scope and Contents
The materials in this series are complementary to the materials in the Oral History series and primarily pertain to the Japanese
American experience in Riverside and the Inland Empire from the early 20th century and during World War II.
Series Arrangement
Materials in this series are loosely grouped by topic or format.
Box 1, Folder 24
Research notes and correspondence
1992-1998
Box 1, Folder 25
Facsimiles of lawsuit records
2006
Box 1, Folders 26-27
Japanese Union Church of Riverside records
undated
Scope and Contents
Facsimile
Box 1, Folder 28
Church membership documents
1955-1960
Box 1, Folder 29, Flat-File-Folder 02
Newspaper clippings
1976, 2002-2005
Box 1, Folder 30
Riverside's Japanese Americans: a Preliminary Study
1976
Scope and Contents
Facsimile of essay by Norman Lostbom for Sociology 406 class at Chapman College.
Box 1, Folder 31, Flat-File-Folder 03
Japanese of the Inland Empire
1930 & 1971
Scope and Contents
A short history compiled by Roy Ito.
Box 1, Folder 32
Photographs
1942-1945
Physical Description:
6 photographs
Scope and Contents
Photographs documenting the interrogation, arrest, removal, and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Several
photographs related to Manzanar Concentration Camp and Gila River Concentration Camp.
Box 1, Folder 33, Box 2, Folder 1
Photographs - Japanese in Riverside
1905, 1912-1928, 1936-1938, undated
Physical Description:
18 photographs
Scope and Contents
Many photos credited to S. Harada.
Box 2, Folder 2
Japanese Americans in Riverside newspaper articles
1962-1974
Condition: Materials appear to be early photocopies of newspaper articles and clippings glued to oversized sheets of paper. Includes
a brief table of contents.
Flat-File-Folder 04, Flat-File-Folder 05
Los Angeles and Riverside newspapers
1945
Scope and Contents
Newspapers from the Los Angeles and Riverside areas of southern California. All newspapers are dated May and August of 1945
and document the victory of the Allies and ending of World War II.
Box 2
Bound Volumes
Physical Description:
7 Items
Scope and Contents
Seven books:
- Japanese Union Church Inter-Church Hymnal
- Hymnal (in Japanese)
- Southern California Japanese American Telephone Directory (1969-1970)
- "Rock, Paper, Scissors: an Asian American Collection of Poetry, Prose and Artwork," volume 1
- "Rock, Paper, Scissors: an Asian American Collection of Poetry, Prose and Artwork," volume 2 (3 copies)