Visual Materials

Photograph album depicting the first group of Nisei students to attend the Waseda Kokusai Gakuin in Tokyo, 1935-1937

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Description: This album contains 185 black and white silver gelatin photographs. All photographs have been glued to the pages, with captions. The photographs were compiled between 1935 and 1937 by a young Japanese American woman named Helen. The album documents Helen's experience as part of the first group of Nisei students to attend the Waseda Kokusai Gakuin in Tokyo. Photographs show going-away festivities in California and many identified groups and individuals on board the ship en route to Japan. Students are seen enjoying parties, including a shinnenkai (New Year's Party) at the student home; at the institute; and at a YWCA. There are some photographs of young men, presumably Japanese nationals, in military or school uniforms, as well as scenic views of the country and bonsai exhibits in Japan.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1935-1937
Call number: photCL 610
Provenance

Yoshiko Doida photograph album

Visual Materials

A photograph album documenting Japanese American Yoshiko Doida's experiences studying abroad in Hiroshima, Japan, 1933 to 1938. A Los Angeles nisei, Doida was likely part of a group of Japanese American students who were selected for scholarship programs to study in Japan in the 1930s. The album's inside cover is gilt stamped "Yoshiko Doida, L.A., Betsuin Y.W.B.A." (Young Women's Buddhist Association). The first photographs begin with her 1933 steamship journey from Los Angeles to Hawaii, and then to Japan, where she is seen posing with Japanese family members. The remainder of the album contains family photographs, studio portraits of Yoshiko in traditional Japanese clothing and hairstyle ("first time in Shimada" she writes), visits to shrines and tourist sites, and many images of Yoshiko at school in Hiroshima. Handwritten captions appear throughout, mostly in English, with some in Japanese. She is seen pictured with her class at Hiroshima Women's College in 1934, and with school friends in town and on outings to the beach, Mount Aso, the "Famous Iwakuni Bridge," and elsewhere. There are a few formal portraits of Yoshiko with her parents, and her parents are also in scenes in Japan. It is likely that some of the sites in Hiroshima that are pictured were later destroyed by the atomic bomb during World War II.

photCL 646

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Charles Kenneth Lawyer photograph album

Visual Materials

An album of photographs with detailed captions compiled by American educator Charles Kenneth Lawyer documenting his time teaching at the Himeji Middle School near Osaka, Japan from 1923 to 1925. The album is partly a travelogue of Lawyer's experience living and working in Japan, as it contains typed, detailed captions pasted into the pages next to mostly original photographs. The photographs show Lawyer with both Japanese and American friends and colleagues, his Japanese students, housekeeper, and other residents in everyday activities. Images include women laundering kimonos, rural farmers harvesting and planting crops, street scenes, and tourist sites throughout Japan. There are 15 photographs showing the damage and destruction caused by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, including ruined business and residential areas, burned streetcars, and Japanese residents whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake. The album also includes a loose 1924 letter from the American Refugee Relief Committee's Earthquake Relief Fund.

photCL 639

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Japanese student's Caltech photograph album

Visual Materials

An album of snapshots documenting an unidentified Japanese engineering student's experiences during a study visit at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from 1935 to 1936. The small photographs are accompanied by detailed, neatly written ink captions in Japanese, with occasional words in English. The album begins with his ship's departure from Kobe, Japan, on December 17, 1935, with stops in Yokohama and Honolulu, Hawaii, and arrival in San Francisco on January 2, 1936. The student observes that his fellow travelers (translated from Japanese) are those going with high hopes, those going with nervous anxiety, those seeking development, and lonesome people. The images and captions document buildings and professors at Caltech; details of streets, businesses and some houses in Pasadena; the garden of "Mr. Cole's" house; the Gilmore Circus Parade; Glendale; Ocean Park, and his departure from San Pedro at the end of his stay. There are two small drawings: businesses at the intersection of Lake Avenue and California Street, Pasadena; and Colorado Blvd. between Green and Cordova streets.

photCL 726

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Photograph album of a Japanese American soldier in the U.S. occupation forces in Japan

Visual Materials

A personal photo album compiled and annotated by a Japanese American serviceman who served in the U.S. occupation forces during the post-World War II occupation of Japan. The album begins with his departure from Hawaii to Japan in 1946, including one image of his old school, McKinley High School in Honolulu. In Tokyo, there are many photographs of fellow soldiers, as well as Japanese young men and women; buildings and landmarks; parks; and army buildings. Two images of a large building are described as General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters in Tokyo, and there is one image of him walking out of the building. Besides Tokyo, the soldier is seen in Kamakura and Otake, near Iwakuni, where he may have been stationed later. Of note are a few images of building destruction in Hiroshima, 1947, in the aftermath of the atomic bombing. At the back of the album are many single and group portraits of Japanese residents, possibly family members or acquaintances in Iwakuni and Otake. The album has handwritten captions in English, with occasional captions written in Japanese.

photCL 667

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Kawakami family photograph album

Visual Materials

A photograph album depicting a Japanese American family in California in the pre-internment period, along with portraits of Japanese family members. There isn't any writing in the album, but one photograph is inscribed "To Mr. S. Kawakami," who may be the compiler. The album begins with formal portraits of family groups in traditional Japanese dress that were most likely taken in Japan. A photograph of a young child laid into the album has Japanese printing on it, and there are a few pressed flowers in the album. Other images show Japanese Americans in California, including the University of California, Berkeley campus; a large group in front of the Berkeley Buddhist Temple on Channing Way, Berkeley; Ocean Park Pier in Santa Monica; downtown Los Angeles; Santa Barbara Mission; and San Francisco. Three images depict a sumo wrestling match that may have taken place in California.

photCL 648

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Photograph album of China, Korea, and Japan

Visual Materials

A photograph album containing 263 photographs of China, Korea, and Japan, dating from the time of the Boxer Uprising in China to the Russo-Japanese War, 1901 to 1905. The photographs are primarily unique images, along with some commercial photographs and foldout panoramas, and many have handwritten captions. The album's inside cover is inscribed: "John Rory Macey / H.M.S. Blenheim / China Station / Vol. II / Jan 1st 1901 - July 18th, 1905"; Macey was a naval engineer in the British Admiralty and most likely took some of the photographs, particularly naval-related scenes, and images of British servicemen. Photographic subjects in China include navy ships in the port of Weihaiwei, street scenes in Peking (Beijing) and other cities, Chinese residents, monuments (including the Forbidden Palace under foreign occupation), palaces, gardens, and temples. A number of photographs focus on the aftermath of the Boxer Uprising, including ruined buildings. The second portion of the album depicts scenes in Korea during the Russo-Japanese War; these include Korean people in daily activities, street scenes, commercial images of Chemulpo, and the palace grounds in Seoul. The third portion of the album contains amateur and commercial photographs of Japan, including the port cities of Maizuru and Yokohama, Japanese residents, tea ceremonies, the hot spring resort of Tonosawa, and panoramic images of the Osaka Exhibition of 1903. At the back of the album are 17 large, hand-colored photographs of Japan, including images of landscapes, street vendors, and Japanese women in genre scenes.

photCL 632

Photograph album depicting the first group of Nisei students to attend the Waseda Kokusai Gakuin in Tokyo, 1935-1937

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