Toshio Mori papers, 1919 - 2011, 1919 - 2011

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Summary

Title:
Toshio Mori papers, 1919 - 2011
Dates:
1919 - 2011
Creators:
Toshio Mori
Abstract:
Extent:
24 cartons
Language:
Preferred citation:

Toshio Mori papers, 1919 - 2011. UC Berkeley, Ethnic Studies Library

Background

Scope and content:

The Toshio Mori papers consist of materials related to Mori's life in Oakland and San Leandro, California, his incarceration at Topaz internment camp, and his later years including correspondence, published and unpublished manuscripts. Included in the collection are photographs of Mori and his family, and materials related to his brother, Kazuo Mori, who sustained injuries while part of the 442nd regiment. The collection also includes items related to Toshio Mori's son Steven Mori as well as Mori's wife Hisayo Yoshiwara and her family. The collection is arranged into four series: personal papers, writings, research files, and scrapbooks.

Biographical / historical:

Toshio Mori was a Nisei second-generation Japanese American writer born on March 3, 1910 in Oakland, California. His parents, Yoshi and Hidekichi Mori were Japanese immigrants or Issei from Ōtake, Hiroshima Prefecture. His family relocated to San Leandro, California in 1915 where they operated a bathhouse and flower nursery. Mori aspired to be a writer from a young age, with his first book of short stories Yokohama, California, set to be published in 1942 with Caxton Publishers. The publication was delayed when Mori and his family were incarcerated at the Tanforan detention facility in San Bruno, California and then at the Topaz Internment camp in Utah. At Topaz, Mori was the editor of Trek, a literary magazine in which he published several short stories. Yokohama, California was eventually published in 1949 by Caxton Printers Ltd. and republished in 1985 and in 2015. He is considered the first Japanese American to publish a book of short stories. In 1947, Mori married Hisayo Yoshiwara and they had one son, Steven. In the 1970s, a new generation of Sansei (third-generation) writers and activists reconnected with Toshio Mori's work with the emergence of Asian American Studies and the Asian American arts movement. An interview with Toshio Mori conducted by Peter Horikoshi was featured in Counterpoint: Perspectives on Asian America (Asian American Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles, 1976), one of the early publications within Asian American Studies. He spoke at several college campuses and was involved in various Asian American workshops, conferences, and events until his passing in San Leandro, California in 1980.

Acquisition information:
Gift; Sharon Mori; Estate of Steven Mori; 2023

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by UC Berkeley, Ethnic Studies Library staff.
Date Prepared:
1919 - 2011
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:55 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research. Inquiries regarding these materials should be directed to the Asian American Studies Librarian, Ethnic Studies Library.

Preferred citation:

Toshio Mori papers, 1919 - 2011. UC Berkeley, Ethnic Studies Library

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, Dept. of Ethnic Studies, 30 Stephens Hall #2630
Berkeley, CA 94720-2360, US
Contact:
(510) 643-1234
esl-library@berkeley.edu
Website