Finding Aid for the Richard Mosk and Shinzo Yoshida correspondence, 1952-2011

Processed by Lauren Zuchowski with assistance from Kelley Bachli and Lilace Hatayama, March 2012; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.

UCLA Library Special Collections

Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library

Box 951575

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575

Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu

URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/

Descriptive Summary

Title: Richard Mosk and Shinzo Yoshida correspondence

Date (inclusive): 1952-2011

Collection number: 1926

Creator: Mosk, Richard

Extent: 3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)

Abstract: This collection contains the correspondence between Richard Mosk and Shinzo Yoshida from middle school to adulthood, writing about their cultures, languages, religions, school, careers, travels, wives, and children. Spanning over fifty years and written in both English as well as Japanese, these letters represent the lives of both men as they found careers, got married, and had children. Correspondence continues following Shinzo's death between Richard and Shinzo's daughters, Aki and Yuki. Both men spoke different languages and came from very different backgrounds. Richard attended Standford for his undergraduate degree and Harvard for his law degree while Shinzo graduated highschool and found a job as an administrator in a paper company. Over the course of 50 years they remained friends, sending each other photographs, small gifts, holiday cards, and stamps until Shinzo's death.

Language: Finding aid is written in English.

Language of the Material: Materials are in English and Japanese.

Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.

Los Angeles, California 90095-1575

Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Access

Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of Richard Mosk, 2012.

Processing Note

Processed by Lauren Zuchowski with assistance from Kelley Bachli and Lilace Hatayama, March 2012.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Richard Mosk and Shinzo Yoshida correspondence (Collection 1926). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 7047229

Biography/History

Shinzo Yoshida Shinzo Yoshida was born in 1938 in North Kyushu city. He attended Koguri National Elementary school from 1945-1951, Koujou junior high school in Yamaguchi from 1951-1954, attended Yamaguchi high school for one year until his family moved to Tokyo and he finished his degree at Shakuji high school. After graduation he worked as an administrative clerk at Honshu Paper Company, which merged with Ooki Paper Company. He worked for the company for 42 years. Yoshida met his wife at the office and they married in 1965. In 1977 his first daughter, Aki, was born. In 1980 Yoshida moved his family to Sakura City in Chiba and in 1981 his second daughter, Yuki, was born. Yoshido passed away in July 2003. Yoshido's brother, Hishoshi, died in 2005. His surviving brothers are Taiji, Keigo, and his only sister Mokoto.

Richard Mosk Richard Mosk was born in 1939 in Los Angeles. He grew up on Warner Avenue and played on the UCLA campus. He attended Emerson Junior High, where he became involved in the pen pal program. Mosk eventually went to Harvard Law School. After law school he moved to Washington and worked as a member of the staff for the Warren Commission. He married and moved to San Francisco, where he clerked for a California Supreme Court justice. Then he moved to Los Angeles to work for a large law firm. Mosk took a leave of absense from the law firm to work for the Los Angeles Federal Public Defender, trying criminal cases. In 1981 he was named by the president as a judge on the U.S. Claims Tribunal in the Hague (established as part of the Hostage Crisis settlement to resolve claims by Americans against Iran, Iranians against the U.S., and the governments against each other). Mosk and his wife moved to Holland for this job. Upon returning he resumed his private practice and engaged extensively in international arbitration. He served on the Chrisopher Commission that investigated the Los Angeles Police Department after the Rodney King beating. Mosk also served as chairman of the Motion Picture Association of American Rating Administration, which provides guidance for parents in connection with their children's movie watching. He was reappointed as a judge in the Iran-U.S. claims tribunal but he commuted to Holland instead of moving there. He has lectured in the United States and abroad on international arbitration and teaches undergraduate level classes at the University of Southern California. Mosk is a justice for the California Court of Appeal. He was two children and four grandchildren.

In 1957 Mosk got a job on a cruise ship that landed on Yokohama, where he met Shinzo for the first time. In 1971 Mosk and his went went to Japan and met the entire Yoshida family. Mosk is still in contact with both of Yoshida's daughters.

Scope and Content

Documents include letters, photographs, various stamps, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, envelope remnants, prints, and Japanese toys that chronicle the pen pal relationship between Richard Mosk and Shinzo Yoshida beginning in middle school and continuing through adulthood until Yoshida's death in 2003. Correspondence continues until 2011 between Mosk and Yoshida's family. There is some correspondence between Mosk's wife, Sandy, and Shinzo as well as letters to Mosk from various Japanese students between 1952-1958.

Organization and Arrangement

The correspondence is arranged chronologically between all creators.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Mosk, Richard --Archives.

Yoshida, Shinzo --Archives.

Box 1, Folder 1

Letters to Shinzo Yoshida from Richard Mosk, 1951-1954 (1951-1954)

Physical Description: 19 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Shinzo Yoshida while he attended Koguri National Elementary School in North Kyushu, Japan, Koujou Junior High School in Yamaguchi, Japan and Yamaguchi High School in Yamaguchi, Japan (for one year in 1954).

Box 1, Folder 2

Letters to Shinzo Yoshida from Richard Mosk, 1955-1959 (1955-1959)

Physical Description: 28 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Shinzo Yoshida while he lived in Tokyo, Japan finishing his high school education at Shakuji High School and securing his job at Honshu Paper Company.

Box 1, Folder 3

Letters to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida, 1952-1958 (1952-1958)

Physical Description: 25 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Richard Mosk's childhood home on Warner Avenue in Los Angeles throughout high school and continued to his post office box at Stanford University

Box 1, Folder 4

Letters to Richard Mosk from various Japanese students, 1952-1953 (1952-1953)

Physical Description: 14 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Richard Mosk's childhood home on Warner Avenue.

Box 1, Folder 5

Letters to Richard Mosk from various Japanese students, 1957-1958. (1957-1958)

Physical Description: 6 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Richard Mosk's childhood home on Warner Avenue.

Box 1, Folder 6

Letters to Richard Mosk from various Japanese students, ca. 1952-1958 (circa 1952-1958)

Physical Description: 8 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Richard Mosk's childhood home on Warner Avenue.

Box 1, Folder 7

Letters to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida, ca. 1952-1958 (circa 1952-1958)

Physical Description: 14 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

All undated letters from Shinzo Yoshida are addressed to Richard Mosk at his childhood home on Warner Avenue in Los Angeles.

Box 1, Folder 8

Letters to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida, ca. 1952-1958 (circa 1952-1958)

Physical Description: 21 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

All undated letters from Shinzo Yoshida are addressed to Richard Mosk at his childhood home on Warner Avenue in Los Angeles.

Box 2, Folder 1

Letters to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida, 1959-1960 (1959-1960)

Physical Description: 13 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Richard Mosk's Stanford University mailing address, Beverly Hills (Roxbury Drive), Menlo Park (Santa Cruz Avenue), and his Harvard University mailing address.

Box 2, Folder 2

Letters to Shinzo Yoshida from Richard Mosk, 1960-1963 (1960-1963)

Physical Description: 19 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Shinzo Yoshida while living in Tokyo, Japan.

Box 2, Folder 3

Letters to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida, 1961-1964 (1961-1964)

Physical Description: 16 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to multiple addresses in Cambridge, Ma during Richard Mosk's time at Harvard University as well as his address in Beverly Hills (Roxbury Drive)

Box 2, Folder 4

Letters to Shinzo Yoshida from Richard Mosk, 1965-1971 (1965-1971)

Physical Description: 17 letters in 1 folder

Visit to Japan

Letters contain information regarding Richard and Sandy Mosk's visit to Japan in summer of 1971, including a travel itinerary created by Shinzo Yoshida.

Geographic area(s)

Letters sent to Shinzo Yoshida while living in Tokyo, Japan

Box 2, Folder 5

Letters to Shinzo Yoshida from Sandy Mosk, 1971-1978 (1971-1978)

Physical Description: 4 letters in 1 folder

Contents

Letters from Sandy Mosk include a note with letters and drawings for Shinzo Yoshida from both Mosk children, Matthew and Julie. Also includes two holiday cards from Matthew and Julie Mosk from 1978. Letters are signed by both Sandy and Richard but written by Sandy.

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Shinzo Yoshida while living in Tokyo, Japan.

Box 2, Folder 6

Letters to Shinzo Yoshida from Richard Mosk, 1972-1988 (1972-1988)

Physical Description: 19 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Shinzo Yoshida's address in Tokyo, Japan and Sakura City of Chiba, Japan.

Letter from Julie Mosk

Includes a letter written by Richard Mosk's daughter, Julie, wishing him a great 1978.

Box 2, Folder 7

Letters to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida, 1965-1979 (1965-1979)

Physical Description: 21 letters in 1 folder

Visit to Japan

This folder contains information on Richard and Sandy Mosk's visit to Japan in the summer of 1971, including a photo album, loose photographs,thank you cards, and travel itineraries.

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Richard Mosk's San Francisco address during his time as a clerk for the California Supreme Court Justice and his Beverly Hills address (San Ysidoro Drive).

Box 2, Folder 8

Letters to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida, 1981-2004 (1981-2004)

Physical Description: 9 letters in 1 folder

Notable items

Includes a letter written in 2004, after Shinzo Yoshida's death, from his daughters Yuki and Aki.

Geographic area(s)

Letters were mailed to Richard Mosk's address in Beverly Hills, California (San Ysidoro Drive)

Box 2, Folder 9

Letters to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida, ca. 1962-1978 (circa 1962-1978)

Physical Description: 9 letters in 1 folder

Geographic area(s)

Letters mailed to Richard Mosk while living in Cambridge (Mass.), Beverly Hills (Calif.), and San Francisco (Calif.)

Box 3, Folder 1

Letters to Shinzo Yoshida from Richard Mosk, undated

Physical Description: 15 letters in 1 folder

Notable items

Includes a card with drawings from both Mosk children,Matthew and Julie, as well as original copies of Richard and Sandy Mosk's travel itinerary made by Shinzo Yoshida.

Box 3, Folder 2

Loose items to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida, undated.

Physical Description: 30 items in 1 folder

Loose items

Includes remnants of envelopes, blank postcards, loose stamps and a notebook with biographical information on Shinzo, including photocopies images throughout his life. The notebook may have been created by either Yuki or Aki.

Box 3, Folder 3

Loose items to Richard Mosk from Shinzo Yoshida

Physical Description: 37 items in 1 folder

Loose items

Includes 2 photo album pages and one Japanese booklet.

Box 3, Folder 4

Japanese prints, undated

Physical Description: 2 prints in 1 folder

Prints

Includes two Japanese prints of female characters.

Box 3, Folder 5

Emails to Richard Mosk from Yoshida family, ca 2004-2012 (circa 2004-2012)

Scope and Contents note

Includes a reflective essay on penpal relationship by Richard Mosk follwing the news of Shinzo's death, 2 translations to letters from 1952 and 1953, emails from the Yoshida family providing biographical information on Shinzo in preparation for the donation, printouts of email attachments sent by family (primarily photographs already included throughout collection), and photocopies of miscellaneous photographs.

Box 3, Folder 6

Whistles given to Richard Mosk by Shinzo Yoshida, undated

Physical Description: 4 whistles in 1 folder, 1 whistle is broken.

Material Specific Details: Whistles are made of bamboo and plywood