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Arai Family papers
LSC.1254
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Arai Family papers
Creator:
Arai family
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1254
Physical Description:
34.5 linear feet
(69 boxes and 6 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1877-1972
Abstract: Ryichir Arai was born in 1855 and came to New York in 1876 to start the direct export of silk. Ryichir Arai, Toyo Morimura,
and Morimoto Sato were founders of Japanese American Trade, and they promoted closer relations between Japan and the United
States. Yoneo Arai, son of Ryichir Arai, has served as Resident Representative of The Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Company,
Ltd. United States Fire Branch, a director of Japan Society, Vice president of the Japan Society, and Chairman of the Board,
Yamaichi Securities Company of New York., Inc. The collection consists of personal and business papers of Ryichir Arai and
his son, Yoneo Arai. They also include Arai family photographs. Portions of this collection are in Japanese.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English and Japanese.
Portions of collection unprocessed. Material in Series 27 is unavailable for access. Please contact Special Collections reference
(spec-coll@library.ucla.edu) for more information.
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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 Yoneo Arai, 1979.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
994622083606533
[Identification of item], Arai Family papers (Collection 1254). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processed by Michiko Yoneda, June 1980. Additions processed by Nancy Araki and Grace Murakami - Japanese American National
Museum, July 1991 and Dan Luckenbill and Amy Shung-Gee Wong, April 1998.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit
feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form
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Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.
Ryichir Arai was born in 1855 in Japan; he came to the United States in 1876 and settled in New York City as a founder of
the silk export trade between the United States and Japan; his son, Yoneo Arai, graduated from Harvard in 1912 and was a banker;
Yoneo Arai served as resident representative of the Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Company, Ltd. United States Fire Branch,
vice president of the Japan Society, and Chairman of the Board, Yamaichi Securities Company of New York, Inc.
Additional Biographical Narrative
Ryichir Arai was born in 1855 and came to New York in 1876 to start the direct export of silk. Ryichir Arai, Toyo Morimura,
and Morimoto Sato were founders of Japanese American Trade, and they promoted closer relations between Japan and the United
States. Yoneo Arai, son of Ryichir Arai, has served as Resident Representative of The Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Company,
Ltd. United States Fire Branch, a director of Japan Society, Vice president of the Japan Society, and Chairman of the Board,
Yamaichi Securities Company of New York., Inc. The papers include Yoneo Arai's business letters, stock inventory, financial
records, and personal letters to his family and friends. Also included are Arai family photographs.
by Michiko Yoneda, June 1980
Collection consists of personal and business papers of Ryichir Arai and his son, Yoneo Arai. Ryichir Arai's correspondence
between 1876 and 1881 relates to his work as a founder of the silk export trade between the United States and Japan. His personal
letters to his brother and adoptive father span the years 1881-95. The collection also includes Yoneo Arai's business correspondence,
stock inventory, financial records, and personal correspondence to family and friends. 7 boxes contain photographs, and additional
photos are dispersed throughout the collection. Photographs include family portraits, panoramic photos of Japan (1870s-1880s),
and photos of various civic events and organizations.
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: Files
- Series 2: Photographs
- Series 3: Diaries, 1876-1910
- Series 4: Biographic Data I - Includes Yoneo Arai
- Series 5: Biographic Data II
- Series 6: Ryichir's Letters in Tokyo to Brother
- Series 7: Copybooks - Ryichir on His Japan Trips
- Series 8: Letters to Ryichir Arai from Friends,, ca. 1900-10
- Series 9: Ryichir Arai to Relatives & Friends after Arrival in New York, 1876
- Series 10: Letters to Ryichir Arai from His Family
- Series 11: Letters of Ryichir Arai, 1876-81, re Satogumi Business Matters
- Series 12: Notes, Memoranda, Miscellaneous Mostly Undated
- Series 13: Doshin Company Records
- Series 14: Yokohama Kiito Co. Financial Records & Papers
- Series 15: Yokohama Kiito Legal Papers
- Series 16: Ryichir Arai's Letters re Job as Office Manager of Doshin Silk Trading Co.
- Series 17: Investment Company Reports
- Series 18: Original Letters
- Series 19: T. Scott Miyakawa re Arai Papers
- Series 20: Unidentified
- Series 21: Envelopes
- Series 22: Bound Journals
- Series 23: Ledger
- Series 24: Morimura Brothers
- Series 25: Ryichir Arai
- Series 26: Mr. and Mrs. Murai [Neighbors of Ryichir Arai]
- Series 27: Unprocessed Materials
Japanese American Research Project Collection of Material about Japanese in the United States (Collection 2010) . Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Japanese American Research Project -
Fading Footsteps of the Issei (Collection 2010)
. Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online:
Arai Family Papers (24 items).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Business records.
Family papers.
Silk industry -- United States.
Japanese American families -- New York (State) -- New York -- Archives.
Bankers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Archives.
Businessmen -- New York (State) -- New York -- Archives.
Photographs.
Arai family--Archives.
Arai, Ryoichiro
Arai, Yoneo