Research Guides
Japanese Americans in the Pacific Northwest: Prewar Era
A guide to select primary materials relating to the Japanese-American community in the Pacific Northwest available in Special Collections.
Image Collections
Image: Nikkei boys and their bicycles, ca. 1909
Some of the images in these collections have been digitized and are linked from the collection guide. Other digitized images relating to the Nikkei community can be found in the UW Digital Collections.
- Tatsuya Arai family Photograph Album, approximately 1860-1930Acc PH1038. Photograph album of Japanese-American family with images related to the Japanese-American community in Seattle, circa 1860-1930. See digitized images.
- Frank Fukuda Photograph and Ephemera CollectionPH Collection 128. Images of prewar Nikkei life especially dealing with local baseball and theatre. See digitized images.
- Kyo Koike photograph collectionPH Colllection 262. Photographs taken by the founder of the Seattle Camera Club. Selected photographs in the book, Shadows of a Fleeting World : Pictorial Photography and the Seattle Camera Club. See digitized images.
- Koito Family Photograph Album circa 1920-1930PH Collection 185. 1 album of family photographs. See digitized images.
- Tanejiro Kushi Family Films, 1925-1939PH1149. Home movies made by a Japanese family, the Tanejiro Kushi family, at their home in Seattle, as well as travel to California, Colorado, New York, and Japan. See digitized films.
- Matsushita Family Photograph Collection 1919-1978PH Collection 162. Images depict scenery and prewar and postwar family life with a few photographs of Minidoka Relocation Center and Ft. Missoula Interment camp. See digitized images.
- Elmer Ogawa Home Movies, approximately 1936-1937PH1205. The films in this collection document the life of the Ogawa family in the later half of the 1930s, and the subject matter includes holidays, vacations, outdoor expeditions, family pets, and picnics.
- Nippon Kan Theatre photograph, moving image, and ephemera collection, approximately 1900-1989PH Collection 508. Images of the theatre as well as its restoration in the 1980s
- Seko Family Photograph Collection circa 1920s-1930sPH Collection 226. Family photographs of the family that operated Bainbridge Gardens, a nursery on the island.
- Takuji Yamashita Photograph Collection circa 1880-1957Acc. 5151. 4 microfilm reels of family photographs
Other Material Available in the UW Libraries
Selected Archival Collections: Personal Papers
These collections of personal papers contain substantial material on the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Additional collections can be found by searching Archives West.
- Akira Aramaki Papers before 1969Acc. 1028. 2 microfilm reels documenting farming life in Bellevue before WWII
- Henry K. Hashitani Papers 1893-1949Acc. 1591. Papers include correspondence, diary and financial records; primarily in Japanese.
- Kihachi Hirakawa Papers 1897-1940Acc. 2418. Small collection of papers, sermons and correspondence of the Baptist minister.
- James M. Matsuoka Papers Circa 1939-1955Acc. 2064-001. Records dealing with the Kent Vegetable Growers association prior to WWII.
- Yoshiaki Mukai Papers, 1935-1941Acc. 6048. Student records, homework assignments, papers, and textbooks completed and used by Yoshiaki Mukai at the University of Washington. Some materials are from Broadway High School.
- Kyuhachi Nishii Papers 1892-1932Acc. 5148. 8 microfilm reels of the papers of an early Nikkei businessman in the Puget Sound region; primarily in Japanese.
- Kiichi Setsuda Papers, Approximately 1906-1912Acc. 1380, 1532. apers of a Japanese American businessman of Seattle, Washington and president of the Japanese-American Fertilizing and Fisheries Company.
Selected Archival Collections: Organizational Records
These collections of organizational records contain substantial material on the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Additional collections can be found by searching Archives West.
- Fuyo Kai records, 1921-1989Acc. 4363. Records of the UW club for Nikkei women students.
- Japanese Association of North America Records 1916-1941Acc. 1235. Records include minute books, correspondence and other material from the early association later affiliated with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce.
- Japanese Association of Tacoma Records 1904-1942Acc. 4048. Collection includes correspondence, records, reports and other materials.
- Japanese Christian Church Federation Records 1911-1942Acc. 4438. Records include correspondence, minutes and other materials including records of St. Peter's Japanese (Episcopal) Mission in Seattle.
- Japanese Congregational Church Records 1907-1959Acc. 2107. 6 microfilm reels of board minutes, 1931-1937; financial records, 1907-1941; membership records, baptismal records, and other documents.
- Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church Records 1904-1950Acc. 1530. 6 microfilm reels of correspondence, clippings, minutes and other material.
- Saint Peter's Episcopal Church Records 1912-1942Acc. 1536. 2 microfilm reels of correspondence, minutes and other material from the Japanese American parish.
- Seattle Buddhist Church Records 1938-1942Acc. 1630-001. 1 microfilm reel of minutes and other church records.
- Seattle Hotel Operators Domeikai Records 1910-1961Acc. 1896-001. Minutes of the association now know as the Seattle Japanese Hotel and Apartment Owners Association; in Japanese.
- University Students Club (University of Washington) records, 1914-1942, 1997Acc. 1853, 3316. Records of the UW Nikkei students club.
- Yakima Buddhist Church Records 1929-1941Acc. 1521-001. 2 microfilm records of the church.