Japanese American/Peruvian Collections

Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga Papers: Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga is an activist for the Japanese American Redress Movement whose research conducted for the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians provided key evidence that led to redress. During World War II, she was incarcerated in Manznar, Rohwer, and Jerome camps. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, documents, newspaper clippings, memorabilia and ephemera related to her life and work. Browse digitized materials. 

Akamine and Fuchita Family Papers: contains letters, certificates, oral histories, yearbooks, scrapbooks, photographs, and other ephemera related to the Akamine, Fuchita, and Yasumura family. It mostly focuses on the Fuchita family, who moved from Japan to the United States around 1916, documenting their time in Japan, California, the Manzanar camp, and their lives after camp. The oral history interviews were recorded on DVDS, cassette tapes, and VHS tapes. The interviewees include Joseph Ismau Fuchita, Eric Akamine, and Shizuko Akamine. Browse digitized materials. 

Atsushi Art Ishida Collection: is comprised of about 900 photographs (prints, negatives, digital reproductions) and other materials chronicling his time immediately after/during his incarceration in the Santa Anita Assembly Center in California, the Jerome camp in Arkansas, the Tule Lake Segregation Center in California, and the Minidoka camp in Idaho, and also depicting his time in pre-war Japan and during the Korean War. Browse digitized materials. 

Donald Teruo Hata and Nadine Ishitani Hata Asian Pacific Studies Collection: contains materials accumulated by Dr. Donald T. Hata and Dr. Nadine Ishitani Hata for their research projects and publications focus on the forced evacuation and incarceration during World War II. The following collections were derived from this collection and digitized items are available: 

• Incarceration Camp Newsletters: contains newsletters published in several temporary assembly centers, incarceration camps, and an internment camp during World War II.
• Chris S. Uyemura Manzanar Photograph Collection: consists of a pictorial essay, “Manzanar, a photographic essay,” and additional loose photos, which were compiled and collected by Chris S. Uyemura. The essay contains photographs, texts, and newspaper clippings, and was submitted to Professor Donald T. Hata of the Department of History at CSU Dominguez Hills.
• Kato and Shiimori Family Photographs: contains photographs collected by Yvonne Achacoso, a student of a history class taught by Professor Donald Teruo Hata at CSU Dominguez Hills. She interviewed two Nisei Japanese Americans, Roy Yasuharu Kato and John Ishihei Iwatsuru who were incarcerated in the Heart Mountain camp in Wyoming and the Jerome camp in Arkansas and the Granada camp in Colorado. Their wives were both daughters of the Shiimori family, who was also incarcerated in the Jerome camp and the Gila River in Arizona. Included are photographs of the Gila River camp collected from the Shiimori family album as well as photographs depicting the life in the Heart Mountain camp gathered from the Kato family album.
• Shimazu Family Photographs: consists of mainly photographs taken in the Jerome camp in Arkansas, including barracks and facilities, which depict the living conditions of the camp. Included is also one newspaper clipping featuring General Joseph W. Stilwell's visit to a war bereaved family. All items were collected by a student of a history class taught by Professor Donald Teruo Hata at CSU Dominguez Hills. The student conducted interviews with Mrs. Shizuka Shimazu and Mr. Benjamin Shimazu, who were incarcerated in the Jerome camp during World War II.
• Usui Family Papers: consists of documents pertaining to the family's experiences of the forced removal and incarceration during World War II. The Usui Family was incarcerated in the Tule Lake camp in California, and transferred to the Minidoka camp in Idaho. Included are correspondence, gate passes, receipts, a census conducted among Issei incarcerees, student report cards, lists of transfers from Tule Lake to Minidoka, a directory of the incarcerees in the Minidoka camp, and publications.

Fred Bradford Manzanar Collection: Fred Bradford is a member of the Manzanar Committee, an organization that began in 1970 after the first pilgrimage to Manzanar took place in December 1969 and worked to establish Manzanar as a California State Historical Landmark and to educate others about the history of Japanese American incarceration. The collection includes booklets, agendas, meeting minutes, maps, travel guides, flyers, programs, and digital material related to the Manzanar incarceration camp and the Manzanar Committee. 

George Nakano Family Papers: contains books, booklets, proposals, printed newspaper articles, ephemera, and digitized scrapbooks related to George Nakano, former Assembly member and Torrance City Council member. Included are the Nakano family's wartime materials during their incarceration in Jerome and Tule Lake camps and George Nakano's political career. Browse digitized materials. 

George and Mitzi Naohara Papers: consists of photo albums and scrapbooks compiled by George Naohara and Mitzi (Masukawa) Naohara, and documents pertaining to the Naohara and Masukawa family who was incarcerated in the Manzanar, Jerome, Tule Lake, and Poston camps during World War II. After the war, George Naohara served the U.S. Army, and there are photographs documenting his time in the U.S Army Language School and the Korean War. There are also materials regarding the Gardena Buddhist Church activities in which George Naohara engaged after the war. Browse digitized materials.

Gingo Tanaka Papers: features materials from 1944, such as three Gila News-Courier newspapers, a postcard, and a booklet, "Second Year at Gila," that once belonged to former Gila River camp incarceree, Gingo Tanaka. Browse digitized materials.

Glenn M. Anderson Papers: comprises papers related to the long political career of Glenn M. Anderson, who served in California as mayor of the City of Hawthorne, as State Assemblyman, and as Lieutenant Governor, then represented the state in the House of Representatives. The wide-ranging collection contains materials regarding issues facing California in the 1940s, including Japanese American incarceration in World War II and the Alien Land laws. Other materials may include redress issues in the 1970s and 1980s.

Heart Mountain Sentinel: consists of issues of a camp newspaper, Heart Mountain Sentinel, published in the Heart Mountain camp during the war. 

Henry Fukuhara Collection (In Process): contains photographs, paintings and other items.

Henry Fukuhara Family Collection (In Process): contains paintings by Henry Fukuhara and fliers. 

Henry Fukuhara Paint-Out Collection: Henry Fukuhara is a Japanese American abstract watercolor artist and best known for his watercolor paintings of Santa Monica and Manzanar. The collection contains photographs and notes from Henry Fukuhara’s Manzanar Workshops in which he painted for and instructed other painters on his watercolor techniques. Browse digitized materials. 

Hiroshi Fukuwa Manzanar Diary: consists of a diary written by Hiroshi Ted Fukuwa, a Kibei Nisei of Los Angeles, California, along with newsletters, clippings, and handwritten notes created/collected during his incarceration. His diary details his experiences during World War II, starting from the day when he left Los Angeles for the Manzanar camp in California and including his transfer to the Gila River camp in Arizona and segregation in the Tule Lake camp in California. The diary describes trips to the camps, construction of facilities, living conditions, work and salaries, events, incidents and accidents, reflecting a Kibei perspective. Browse digitized materials.

Ikemi Family Photographs (In Process): comprises photographs of Ikemi Family in 1940s-1950s.

Itsuhei Takano Camp Journal (In Process): consists of a Japanese journal written by Itsuhei Takano, an Issei who was incarcerated in the Poston camp during the war. 

Ishibashi Family Papers: contains materials relating to the life, family and work of Kumekichi and Masaichi Ishibashi, Japanese American farmers in Palos Verdes, California between 1910 and the 1980s. Included are Masaichi’s photocopied journal 1943-1945 and daily labor report at the Poston camp, war loss compensation and redress related documents 1947-1986. Browse digitized materials.

J. Ralph McFarling Collection: contains materials generated by J. Ralph McFarling documenting the Amache camp in Granada, Colorado during World War II. The collection includes a memoir titled The Day the Ban was Lifted by McFarling describing conditions in the camp, weekly reports to the War Relocation Administration, and letters from former prisoners who discuss their resettlement throughout the United States. Browse digitized materials.

James H. Osborne Nisei Collection: contains mostly correspondence between Emiko and Usami Terada, incarcerees in the Rohwer camp in McGehee Arkansas, the Thomas family in Lawndale, California, and some photographs of the Teradas and the Thomases. The letters describe the trip from the Santa Anita Assembly Center to the Rohwer camp, their lives and conditions in the camp, and their concerns about their properties in Lawndale, California. Also included are photographs taken in the camp, fliers published during wartime, holiday and sympathy cards from the Terada and Nakawaki families to the Thomas family, clippings regarding Japanese American incarceration, and other documents. Browse digitized materials. 

Japanese American History Collection: various materials on the history of Japanese Americans collected by the Gerth Archives and Special Collections, such as, books, pamphlets, flyers, photographs, booklets, correspondence, periodicals, and oversized material.

Jim and Eric Saito Family Collections: a wide array of materials pertaining to the Saito family, including Tanjiro Saito's business ventures and memoirs, photographs and photo albums, letters, Amache/Granada, Heart Mountain and Tule Lake camp materials, Amache/Granada and Heart Mountain reunion materials, World War II 442nd Infantry Regiment materials, track and field sports career materials, school yearbooks, redress materials, newspaper clippings, and more. Browse digitized materials.

Jimmy Fukuhara Manzanar Camp Collection: contains photographs, letters, flyers, postcards, booklets, newspaper clippings, newspapers, and notes pertaining to Jimmy Fukuhara family and the Manzanar camp. Included in the collection are photographs of Jimmy and his wife, Eileen, and a schoolteacher, Eve Beekman, who taught at the Manzanar camp. Other materials, such as the articles, postcards, and flyers, are about Henry Fukuhara, Jimmy's brother, and his "Paint Out" Watercolor Workshops to Manzanar and the surrounding areas that began in the late 1980s. 

Kiyoko Maeda Yoshioka Photographs: documents the life of Hatsuko Mary Yoshioka Higuchi's Nisei and Kibei mother, Kiyoko Maeda Yoshioka, from childhood to adulthood by way of photographs: Kiyoko was born in Santa Monica, California but later moved to Japan to live with her aunt after both of her parents passed away. She returned to the U. S. in the late 1930s, resided on Terminal Island, California before the war, and was incarcerated in the Poston camp in Arizona during the war. After the war ended, the Yoshioka family returned to California and reestablished their lives in Lawndale and Torrance. The collection also includes a short essay written by Hatsuko while she was a student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), redress papers, and a handout from a sewing class at the Poston incarceration camp in Arizona. Browse digitized materials.

Kiyoshi Uyekawa Family Papers: comprises mainly documents the time Kiyoshi Uyekawa, his wife, his father-in-law and his brother-in-law were incarcerated at the Tule Lake camp, while it also briefly documents their lives before and after World War II.

Kuromi Photo Albums: contains two photograph albums and material related to Hitoshi "Yoke" Kuromi and Corrine Nobuko Nishimura Kuromi. Photographs of the Gila River camp are included. Browse digitized materials.

Kuwahara Family Papers: documents the Kuwahara family's time at the Poston camp in Arizona during World War II. Materials include newsletters from the schools and community in the Poston camp, photographs of the people incarcerated at the camp and the desert landscape, watercolor paintings of the camp facilities, and programs and booklets from the reunions of the Poston camp families. Browse digitized materials.

Manzanar Photo Album: contains photographs and newspaper clippings about the Manzanar camp. Photographs include images of children, barracks, funerals, along with two additional photos from a welcome party for Dr. Furukochi at the Koyasan Betsuin in Los Angeles and a photograph of the Santa Fe Japanese Baseball Team. The newspaper clippings in the collection are primarily about the riots at the Manzanar camp. Browse digitized materials.

Mcfarling, J. Ralph Collection: documents the Amache camp in Granada, Colorado, including a ten page typescript memoir entitled "The Day the Ban Was Lifted" by McFarling describing conditions in the camp, his weekly reports to the War Relocation Administration in Washington DC (1944-1945), memos and other data relating to camp management, letters from former prisoners who had left the camp and moved throughout the United States, a "resettlement" handbook and guides to the Amache camp published at the camp. Also included is a Smithsonian pamphlet entitled "The Japanese" published in 1943, a pamphlet entitled "The Displaced Japanese-Americans" published by the America Council on Public Affairs and a pamphlet entitled "Japan" by the editors of Fortune Magazine, 1944 and four camp photographs, watercolor paintings of barracks and desert surroundings by H. Takata. Browse digitized materials.

Misao Okada Scrapbook: contains photographs, ephemera, notes, and correspondence documenting her time at the Amache camp and a visit and reunion over 50 years later. Also includes materials relating to reparations and events observing Japanese American incarceration. Browse digitized materials.

Mike Hiranuma Family Photographs: This collection contains photographs of the Hiranuma family and others at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. Images in the collection depict barracks, incarcerees, and life at the camp. Browse digitized materials.

Minidoka Incarceration Camp Photograph Album: contains one photograph album mostly depicting life at the Minidoka camp located in South Central Idaho during World War II. It features photographs of Ben Kuroki, a Japanese American who served in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. Browse digitized materials.

Natsumeda Family Granada Camp Collection: includes a Buddhist Sunday service program and a Granada camp directory. Browse digitized materials.

Okine Family Papers: materials collected by Seiichi and Tomeyo Okine who were Issei flower growers in Whittier, California. It includes correspondence, photographs, financial documents, and a photo album. A large portion of the collection consists of family correspondence with Seiichi and Tomeyo Okine, including letters from their Nisei children, Masao and Makoto Okine, both soldiers overseas during World War II, to their Issei parents incarcerated in the Rohwer camp in McGehee, Arkansas. The correspondence also includes letters from their relatives and friends who are former incarcerees in the camps during the war and have “resettled” in Chicago, Illinois as well as letters from the Okines’ family members in Hiroshima, Japan during the Allied occupation of Japan. In addition, the collection includes a family photo album (digital reproductions) compiled by Dorothy Ai Aoki, a Nisei daughter to the Okines. Browse digitized materials.

Owen M. Sylvester Tule Lake Photograph Collection​: contains one box of photographic images taken by Captain Owen M. Sylvester while at Tule Lake Segregation Center during a military occupation as a member of the 772 Military Police Battalion in 1943. Browse digitized materials.

Rancho San Pedro Collection: Although the Rancho San Pedro was initially devoted solely to ranching, the various companies of the Dominguez heirs later diversified to include nurseries, real estate, and water management. In addition to these other business ventures, tenant farming remained a vital part of Rancho San Pedro life throughout the first half of the century. A large number of these tenant farmers on Rancho lands were of Japanese or Chinese descent. Beginning with the California Alien Land Act of 1913 through the mass removal of people of Japanese descent during World War II, these tenants faced laws restricting where they lived and their right to lease land. Tenants and the Rancho landlords took a number of actions in response to these legal issues including gathering birth certificates or other documents to prove tenants' American citizenship and writing letters of recommendation on tenants' behalf to War Relocation Boards. Browse digitized materials.

Satoru Maeda Family Heart Mountain Photo Album: contains photographs mostly taken in the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in Cody, Wyoming, documenting life in the camp during World War II. Photographed are the facilities, jobs, sports events, and social activities at the camp. There are also group photographs of male internees, presumably Issei and Kibei Nisei, at the Santa Fe Internment Camp in New Mexico where Satoru Maeda was transferred from the Tule Lake camp. Browse digitized materials.

Sumi Family Manzanar Photographs: includes two digitized photographs from the Sumi family, who was incarcerated at the Manzanar camp during World War II. Browse digitized materials.

Takahashi Family Collection (In Process): comprises of photographs from a family photo album, correspondence between the immediate Takahashi family, correspondence between Florence Griffen and her mother-in-law, Lois Griffen, transcripts of the aforementioned correspondence, Yae Takahashi's original artwork featuring Poston Incarceration Camp and other Japanese themes, Dorothy Treable's school report cards from elementary school until college, Florence's short autobiography, newspaper clippings, church and Peace Corps papers, Poston-themed Christmas cards, and more. All materials in this collection are digital reproductions.

Takano Family Papers: contains materials from members of the Takano family in Los Angeles, California, including Issei immigrants, Itsuhei and Tomoye Takano and Kumaji and Tsuruno Meguro, and their Nisei children, Fumio Fred and Yoneko (Meguro) Takano. The papers covers from prewar through post-war, including the period of the mass removal and incarceration at Pomona Assembly Center, Santa Anita Assembly Center, Gila River camp, and Heart Mountain camp during WWII and the Redress Movement in the 1980s. Browse digitized materials.

Tazu Kawamoto Photo Album Collection: contains one album of mostly photographs compiled by Tazuko "Tazu" Kawamoto that document various people, events, and activities throughout 1939-1943. Included are photographs, flyers, invitations, and business cards relating to Tazu Kawamoto’s personal life, with a focus on events during the World’s Fair on San Francisco’s Treasure Island in 1939. This collection also has photographs most likely taken inside the Gila River camp in Arizona, including a photograph of dentists at the Rivers Community Hospital. Browse digitized materials. 

Terminal Island/Port of Los Angeles: contains of over 400 black-and-white negatives and photographic prints of Terminal Island, Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, Port Hueneme, and Catalina Island, taken between 1938 and 1947. Photographs include businesses, residences, airports, warehouses, coastlines, railroads, and neighborhoods. Many of the homes and businesses on Terminal Island were empty at the time of the photographs. This is the short period of time between the forced removal of the residents and the tearing down of the settlement. Browse digitized materials.

Tomoji Wada Family Papers: Tomoji Wada was an interpreter, bookkeeper, operator of a grocery store, and manufacturer of tofu and mochi on Terminal Island, California prior to World War II. He established a tofu manufacturing plant in the Poston camp, Arizona during the war, and became a gardener after returning from the incarceration camp to Los Angeles, California. The collection consists of receipts, ledgers, taxes, correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, journals, guidebooks, immigration materials, and incarceration camp records pertaining to Tomoji Wada and his family. Browse digitized materials.

Toshio Oku Photo Album: comprises a collection of photographs that primarily documents the life of Toshio Oku while he, his father, Naojiro Henry, mother, Misao, and sister, Hideko Louise, were incarcerated at the Tule Lake camp in Northern California during World War II. Browse digitized materials.

Tsugitada Kanamori Collection​: contains one box of documents belonging to Tsugitada Kanamori. Materials in this collection mostly pertain to Kanamori’s efforts regarding cancelling his renunciation and reinstating his American citizenship. Browse digitized materials.

Tsuyoshi Roy Nakai Collection: mostly contains material from the Treasure Chest Program in Orange County, a multicultural educational program by the Multicultural Arts Council of Orange County, and the reports and books relate to the Nakai family and the Manzanar camp. Browse digitized materials.

Virginia B. Lowers Collection: contains one box of three letters addressed to Virginia B. Lowers, a former high school teacher at University High School in Los Angeles, California. The letter from Masaru Teshiba contains information regarding his experiences as an incarceree mostly while at Tule Lake Segregation Center, the letter from Thomas A. Reeves details his combat experiences, and the letter from W.W. Escherich describes events during his trips to Maui, Tientsin China, and Okinawa. Browse digitized materials.