Content Description
Preferred Citation
Biographical / Historical
Processing Information
Conditions Governing Access
Additional collection guides
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Go For Broke National Education Center
Title: Henry Kuwabara Personal Papers
creator:
Kuwabara, Henry, 1919-2005
creator:
Kuwabara
Identifier/Call Number: 2016.004
Physical Description:
2.7 Linear Feet
8 boxes, 2 oversize items
Date (bulk): 1930-2002
Abstract: This collection comprises seven boxes and two oversize items. The collection contains mainly paper items like handwritten
research notes and periodicals. The creator was in the military for 20 years, in both World War II and the Korean War and
has many research materials pertaining to both wars as well as Japanese American incarceration.
Language of Material: Materials are mostly in English with some items in Japanese.
Container: 2016.004
Content Description
This collection comprises seven boxes and two oversize items. The collection contains mainly paper items like handwritten
research notes and periodicals. The creator was in the military for 20 years, in both World War II and the Korean War and
has many research materials pertaining to both wars as well as Japanese American incarceration. There are also some more personal
items like photographs of the creator, his military awards, and his typewritten manuscript. The collection comprises research
materials relating to mainly World War II, specifically the Pacific War and China Burma India (CBI) theaters. There are also
personal records relating to the creator's military career in both World War II and the Korean War. The first oversize item
is a felt mounted frame with eleven military pins and badges attached. The second oversize item is a binder of his typewritten
manuscript. The third oversize item is a framed military portrait.
Preferred Citation
[Item], [Collection], Go For Broke National Education Center, Los Angeles, California.
Biographical / Historical
Henry Hideo Kuwabara was born on April 21, 1919 in Malad, Idaho and began his 20 year military career on November 1, 1942
in Rivers, Arizona. Kuwabara volunteered for the Army and served in the
Southeast Asian Translation and Interrogation Center (SEATIC) in New Delhi, India from November 1943 to April 1944. The Center
conducted translation and interrogation for the Allied headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It was comprised of British, Indian,
Australian and New Zealander and United States forces. From May to November 1944, he was stationed at Norward Headquarters,
U.S. Army Northern
Combat Area Command in north Burma. From December 1944 to November 1945 he was stationed in Burma as SEATIC on temporary duty
with several detachments where he interrogated Japanese Prisoners
of War, translated captured Japanese documents and prepared covert and non-covert propaganda leaflets for two audiences—the
Japanese troops in Burma and the Burmese people.
Kuwabara's post-war assignments included Allied Translator and Interpreter Service (ATIS), General Headquarters, Tokyo and
many others, ending his career as Lieutenant Colonel in July of 1962. He retired in December of the same year, but then moved
to Japan where he had a 20 year career as a translator and then moved to Los Angeles where he worked at LAX for ten years.
Kuwabara retired after that and passed away on May 7, 2005.
Processing Information
Boxes 1-5 processed by Gavin Do January 2016. Boxes 6 and 7 processed by Nicole Mckeon March
2018.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is available for research upon request. Some materials have personal information and
will have to be redacted before viewing.
Additional collection guides
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cold War
Intelligence service
Japan
Japanese American Korean War Veterans
Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans -- History -- 20th century
Korea
Korean War, 1950-1953
Military intelligence
Pacific Area.
United States.
United States. Army. Infantry
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans
World War, 1939-1945 -- Military intelligence -- Pacific Area
World War, 1939-1945 -- Military intelligence -- United States.
World War, 1939-1945 Military intelligence
Idaho
China
Burma
India
Southeast Asian Translation and Interrogation Center