Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Yasuo Sata Papers
- Dates:
- 1930s-1990s, bulk 1943-1946
- Creators:
- Sata, Yasuo
- Abstract:
- This collection contains primarily letters and photographs from Yasuo Sata to his sister Michiko Sata, while Yasuo served in the military during World War II.
- Extent:
- .2 linear feet
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Yasuo Sata Papers. 2002.42, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection includes fifty-one letters written by Yasuo Sata to his sister, Michiko 'Michi' Sata, from July 16, 1943 to January 29, 1946. The letters chronicle two and a half years of the siblings’ respective experiences as well as their relationship. In addition to the letters, there is a family photo from the 1930s, a few photos of Yasuo's military service, and a photo of the Sata siblings in the 1990s.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Yasuo Sata was the middle child born to Issei parents, Naosada Sata and Tsuru (Horinouchi) Sata, at City View Hospital in Los Angeles on September 19, 1922. His older sister, Michiko Sally Ito, was born on April 9, 1920. Yasuo and Michiko also had a younger brother, Frank, who was significantly younger. The family lived in apartments in and around Little Tokyo where Naosada was a shopkeeper. Later, he operated a sweets shop in the nearby Los Angeles Plaza (which also became known as Olvera Street in the 1930s). At one point the family lived in an apartment above the shop.
In his youth, Yasuo excelled in academics at Belmont High School and earned a full scholarship to UCLA. His goal was to be an engineer, but during his freshman year, the impact of Executive Order 9066 and the family's forced removal from California ended his college aspirations. The Sata family was relocated to Gila River concentration camp in Arizona. In 1943, Yasuo and Michi left Gila to pursue college, while their parents and 9-year-old Frank remained in camp.
This is around the time when the siblings began corresponding as a result of pursuing opportunities in different states. Michi relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to attend nursing school and Yasuo went to Detroit, Michigan. Yasuo's letters detail his life during the war years, beginning when he left his family at the Gila River concentration camp, his journey by train to Detroit, and his attempt to continue his education at Wayne State University. During this period, he wrote to his sister about the incredible hardship and poverty that he endured.
He was eventually drafted into the US Army, and the letters he wrote from the training camp are written on Fort Knox stationary. The war ended while he was on his first deployment to Europe, so he never saw combat. The letters extended a year after the war ended, presumably in the time before the siblings would relocate to Glendale, California, where they were reunited with the rest of their family.
Michi was the first Japanese American Registered Nurse to be hired by Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital. She worked there her entire nursing career of 40 years. She married John Ito and they raised their three sons and daughter in the San Fernando Valley. Yasuo became a gardener after the war. He married Mary Ota and they raised their daughter and three sons in the Sawtelle neighborhood of West Los Angeles. UCLA posthumously awarded Yasuo an honorary degree, in recognition of how the incarceration interrupted his education.
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired in 2022 as a gift of the Sata and Ito Family in memory of Yasuo Sata and Michiko Ito.
- Processing information:
-
Items were initially processed by museum staff, with digitization and cataloging assistance from Sata family members.
- Arrangement:
-
Letters are arranged chronologically.
- Physical location:
- Japanese American National Museum. 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Names:
- Sata, Yasuo
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 2024
- Date Encoded:
- Machine-readable finding aid created by Jamie Henricks. Date of source: June 6, 2024 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
By appointment only. Please contact the Collections Management and Access Unit (collections@janm.org). Advanced notice is required.
- Terms of access:
-
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).
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Yasuo Sata Papers. 2002.42, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.
- Location of this collection:
-
Collections Management & Access Unit100 North Central AvenueLos Angeles, CA 90012, US
- Contact:
- 213-625-0414