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Finding Aid for the Jiro Kozai Papers, 1919-1940
92.9.1  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Project Information
  • Biography / Administrative History
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Jiro Kozai papers
    Dates: 1919-1940
    Languages: English Japanese
    Collection number: 92.9.1
    Creator: Kozai, Jiro, 1893-?
    Collection Size: 10 folders
    Repository: Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
    Los Angeles, California 90012
    Abstract: Jiro Kozai, an Issei from Tottori Prefecture who immigrated to the United States in 1911, was one of the early Japanese pioneers of New York City. He was the president of the Japanese Association of New York and was the publisher and owner of Japanese-American, a Japanese American newspaper in New York. The collection contains account books, correspondence, financial records, leaflets, photographs, and scrapbooks spanning from 1919 to 1940.
    Physical location: Japanese American National Museum 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012

    Access

    By appointment only. Please Contact the Collections Management and Access Unit by email (collections@janm.org) or telephone (213-830-5615).

    Publication Rights

    All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Jiro Kozai papers. 92.9, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.

    Project Information

    This finding aid was created as part of a project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project started in 2007. Project Director was Cris Paschild. Project Archivists were Yoko Shimojo and Marlon Romero.

    Biography / Administrative History

    Jiro Kozai, an Issei from Tottori Prefecture who immigrated to the United States in 1911, was one of the early Japanese pioneers of New York City. He was the president of the Japanese Association of New York. He was also the publisher and owner of the third oldest Japanese journal in the United States, Japanese-American, formally Japanese American Commercial Weekly from 1924. His wife Fumiyo Kozai was an Issei from Matsue who immigrated to the United States in 1915.
    The collection also contains financial records of Tatsuo Kozai, whose relationship to Jiro Kozai is unclear. According to the 1930 census, Tatsuo Kozai was born in 1878 and immigrated to the United States in 1904. Photographs of Tatsuo Kozai and his wife Ko Kozai were donated by the same donor, Misato Kozai Heard, of the Jiro Kozai Papers, and can be found under the Japanese American National Museum ID number 97.37.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The Jiro Kozai Papers contain account books, correspondence, financial records, leaflets, photographs, and scrapbooks spanning from 1919 to 1940. The collections' strengths include Japanese written correspondences between Jiro Kozai and officers from the Consulate General of Japan and Japanese army colonels and majors.
    The collection is organized into six series divided by type of materials and arranged alphabetically and chronologically within the folders.
    Series 1: Account books, 1925-1928

    This series contains 2 account books, one with a title "125th St Store Journal 1927" and the other with a torn cover.
    Series 2: Correspondence, 1925-1939 (5 folders)

    This series contains correspondence such as letters and telegrams. It is divided by type of materials: letters and telegrams. The letters are grouped into English and Japanese. Letters written in English are mostly addressed to Jiro Kozai in conjunction with The Japanese Association Inc. Some touch upon the topic on the 1939 World's Fair in New York. The Japanese letters include correspondence between Jiro Kozai and officers from Consulate General of Japan, Japanese army colonels and majors.
    Series 3: Financial records, 1924-1926

    This series contains financial documents of Tatsuo Kozai such as tax return forms, financial statements and checks.
    Series 4: Leaflets, 1928-1938

    This series contains flyers such as Ikebana lectures, xylophone and dance recitals.
    Series 5: Scrapbooks, ca. 1919-1920

    This series contains newspaper clippings both in Japanese and English. It includes items from Japanese American Commercial Weekly and Shin Sekai.
    Series 6: Miscellaneous, ca. 1921-1923

    This series contains a family photograph of Jiro, Fumiyo and Misato Kozai, and a name card for Kichi Harada.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
    Kozai, Jiro
    Japanese
    Japanese Americans
    Japanese American newspapers
    New York
    20th century
    Japanese Association of New York
    Japanese American Commercial Weekly
    Japanese-American (New York, N.Y.)
    Issei