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Higaki Family Papers
MSS.2019.01.31
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: Higaki Family Papers
source:
Higaki, Steve
creator:
Higaki family
creator:
Miwa, Mae, 1925-2018
source:
San José State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2019.01.31
Physical Description:
2 boxes
(1.46 linear feet)
Date (inclusive): 1932-2012
Abstract: This collection contains two photo albums with photographs taken between 1932-1945 of Japanese Americans, the Poston Arizona
Japanese Internment Camp, and other locations in California and Arizona. Includes an eight page article written in 1943 by
John W. Powell on Poston and the internment of Japanese Americans, a 1943 Poston High School Yearbook, a 1945 photo book on
life in Poston, and various photo books/pamphlets pertaining to the Japanese American Citizens League, Mountain View Buddhist
Temple, California Chrysanthemum Growers Association and the California Flower Market. Collection has a gap in dates between
1945 and 1966.
Mae Miwa Higaki (born Mae Miwa) (1925-2018) was born in San Juan Bautista, California to Japanese immigrant parents Nobukichi
(1881-1970) and Tama Miwa (1896-1993). Mae had two brothers, Harry Masaru Miwa (b. 1920) and Frank Hidenobu Miwa (1922-2008).
She attended the San Juan Bautista Japanese School along with her Brother Frank in San Benito County California, graduating
in 1940, and was a high school sophomore in Hollister in 1941. Mae graduated high school in 1943 while in the Poston War Relocation
Camp. Harry Masaru Miwa received a BA in Agriculture from UC Berkeley in 1950.
In April 1942, Japanese, and Japanese American residents of San Benito County, including the Miwa family were relocated to
a makeshift camp at the Salinas Assembly Center in California. In June 1942, they were loaded onto a train and unknowingly
taken to the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona. The Poston War Relocation Center (originally named Colorado River Relocation
Center), founded by the War Relocation Authority was built in early 1942 by Del Webb on the Colorado River Indian Reservation
(to the objections of the Tribal Council) in Yuma County (now part of La Paz County) in Southwest Arizona. Poston's peak population
was over 17,000, with most internees coming from Southern California. Poston War Relocation Center closed in 1945, with the
land being returned to the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
Following the end of WWII, in September 1945, the Miwa family left the Poston War Relocation Center, Mae left to Los Angeles,
eventually ending up in the Bay Area. Nobukichi and Tama returned to San Juan Bautista, afterwards resettling in Watsonville
California.
Nobuo Higaki (1886-1980) was born in the Kōchi Prefecture, Japan in 1886. In 1906 he emigrated from Japan, arriving in Seattle,
and by 1910 was living in San Francisco. That same year he purchased land in Redwood City shortly before the California Alien
Land Law of 1913 was passed, which was largely directed at preventing Japanese immigrants from owning land. Nobuo started
a flower nursery (later incorporated as Bay City Flower Co. in the 1950s) on the land he owned in Redwood City. Still presently
operating, Bay City Flower Co. has been run by the Higaki family for four generations and over 100 years. In 1918 Nobuo married
Motoko Kuboichi (1900-1981), and had 6 children in addition to adopting one. Nobuo Higaki was one of the founding members
of the California Chrysanthemum Growers Association which was formed in 1931, and was also on the board of directors of The
California Flower Market 1937-1938.
In 1942 Nobuo was sent to the Fort Lincoln Internment Camp outside of Bismarck, North Dakota, while the rest of the Higaki
family evacuated to Kimberly, Idaho where Nobuo rejoined them after being released in 1945, with the Higaki family returning
to the flower nursery in Redwood City in 1946.
Naomi Higaki (b. 1924) was Nobuo and Motoko’s fourth child - he attended high school at Sequoia High School in Redwood City
California, and worked at Bay City Flower Co. as a nurseryman. He married Mae Miwa in 1953 in San Jose. Mae and Noami Higaki
were active members of the Mountain View Buddhist Temple for many years.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jose State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for
permission to publish or quote manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of San Jose State University Special
Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives as the owner of
the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained
by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files
from or derived from these collections is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Higaki Family Papers, MSS-2019-01-31, San Jose State University Library, Special Collections & Archives
Processed by Jacob Rabinowitz, February 2019
John M. Flaherty Collection of Japanese Internment Records, MSS-2006-05-02, San José State University Library Special Collections
and Archives.
San José State University Japanese-American Internment Research Collection, MSS-2010-08-23, San José State University Library
Special Collections and Archives.
Willard E. Schmidt Papers, MSS-2007-09-01, San José State University Library Special Collections and Archives.
This collection contains materials belonging to the Higaki family portraying Japanese American life and communities in California,
spanning 1932-2012 with a gap between 1945-1966. It includes two photo albums with photos taken between 1932-1945, depicting
the Miwa family and larger Japanese community before, during, and after being interned at the Poston War Relocation Center
during WWII, several JACL publications, and various photobooks relating to the Mountain View Buddhist Temple, the California
Flower Market, and an anniversary photobook of the California Chrysanthemum Growers association.
Larger photo album includes pre-WWII photos in San Benito County depicting various family portraits of the Miwa family including
childhood photos of Mae and her siblings, the Fremont School and San Justo school, and other Japanese individuals/families
in and around San Benito County. Bulk of the second half of the larger photo album has assorted group and individual portraits
of Japanese Americans in Poston, and several group photos of the Poston Core Class of '42 and '43 one of which includes a
full list of student names from the core class, including Mae Miwa.
The smaller photo album's bulk of photos were taken at Poston and depict various buildings, people, and events at the War
Relocation Center, including an elevated panoramic shot of the Poston War Relocation Camp in Arizona, and documentation of
several community events at Poston, such as dances, classrooms in session, and other activities. Numerous photos taken at
Poston are portraits of individual internees, many of which are labeled by name. Also includes a photo of a barber shop in
Parker, Arizona with "Japs Keep Out You Rats" sign on door. The last portion of this album depicts life after Poston, and
contains numerous autographed Photos of Frank Miwa, Harry Miwa, and other Japanese Americans with many handwritten dedications
to Mae.
This collection also includes an eight page article written by John W. Powell describing life at Poston, and criticism of
Japanese internment camps as well as condemning the treatment of Japanese and Japanese Americans during WWII. Powell served
as chief of the community management division at Poston, and spoke at the 1943 Poston High School graduation ceremony in which
Mae attended.
Contains Mojave Memos, a 1943 Poston High School yearbook with Mae Miwa autographed on cover and various expositions on life
in Poston by students including descriptions of the different high school’s departments/classes. Also includes Mohaveland,
a 1945 photobook depicting the different blocks and people of Poston including captions and descriptions of photographic subjects.
Included in this collection are a 1966 Japanese Americans Citizens League booklet detailing its history and the history of
Japanese Americans in the United States, and a 1985 San Benito County Japanese American Reunion booklet sponsored by the San
Benito County JACL with numerous congratulatory letters from various officials and offers a history of the Japanese community
in San Benito County from the 1880s to 1985.
Later materials relate to the Higaki family’s involvement with the Mountain View Buddhist Temple including several anniversary
photobooks documenting the members and history of the Temple, an anniversary photobook of the California Flower Market with
membership rosters and written/photographic history of the organization, as well as an anniversary photobook of the California
Chrysanthemum Growers Association detailing its history and membership over the years.
Collection is arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
Japanese Americans -- Pictorial works
Japanese Americans -- Social life and customs
Poston War Relocation Center
Buddhist temples -- Mountain View (Calif.)
California Chrysanthemum Growers Association
Japanese American Citizens’ League -- California
California Flower Market (San Francisco, Calif.)
World War, 1939-1945 -- Evacuation of civilians
Higaki, Steve
Higaki family
Miwa, Mae, 1925-2018
San José State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives