Richard Mosk and Shinzo Yoshida correspondence, 1952-2011

Summary

Creators:

Mosk, Richard

Abstract:

This collection contains the correspondence between Richard Mosk and Shinzo Yoshida from middle school to adulthood, writing about their cultures, languages, religions, school, careers, travels, wives, and children. Spanning over fifty years and written in both English as well as Japanese, these letters represent the lives of both men as they found careers, got married, and had children. Correspondence continues following Shinzo's death between Richard and Shinzo's daughters, Aki and Yuki. Both men spoke different languages and came from very different backgrounds. Richard attended Standford for his undergraduate degree and Harvard for his law degree while Shinzo graduated highschool and found a job as an administrator in a paper company. Over the course of 50 years they remained friends, sending each other photographs, small gifts, holiday cards, and stamps until Shinzo's death.

Extent:

3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)

Language:

Finding aid is written in English. and Materials are in English and Japanese.

Background

Scope and content:

Documents include letters, photographs, various stamps, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, envelope remnants, prints, and Japanese toys that chronicle the pen pal relationship between Richard Mosk and Shinzo Yoshida beginning in middle school and continuing through adulthood until Yoshida's death in 2003. Correspondence continues until 2011 between Mosk and Yoshida's family. There is some correspondence between Mosk's wife, Sandy, and Shinzo as well as letters to Mosk from various Japanese students between 1952-1958.

Biographical / historical:

Shinzo Yoshida Shinzo Yoshida was born in 1938 in North Kyushu city. He attended Koguri National Elementary school from 1945-1951, Koujou junior high school in Yamaguchi from 1951-1954, attended Yamaguchi high school for one year until his family moved to Tokyo and he finished his degree at Shakuji high school. After graduation he worked as an administrative clerk at Honshu Paper Company, which merged with Ooki Paper Company. He worked for the company for 42 years. Yoshida met his wife at the office and they married in 1965. In 1977 his first daughter, Aki, was born. In 1980 Yoshida moved his family to Sakura City in Chiba and in 1981 his second daughter, Yuki, was born. Yoshido passed away in July 2003. Yoshido's brother, Hishoshi, died in 2005. His surviving brothers are Taiji, Keigo, and his only sister Mokoto.

Richard Mosk Richard Mosk was born in 1939 in Los Angeles. He grew up on Warner Avenue and played on the UCLA campus. He attended Emerson Junior High, where he became involved in the pen pal program. Mosk eventually went to Harvard Law School. After law school he moved to Washington and worked as a member of the staff for the Warren Commission. He married and moved to San Francisco, where he clerked for a California Supreme Court justice. Then he moved to Los Angeles to work for a large law firm. Mosk took a leave of absense from the law firm to work for the Los Angeles Federal Public Defender, trying criminal cases. In 1981 he was named by the president as a judge on the U.S. Claims Tribunal in the Hague (established as part of the Hostage Crisis settlement to resolve claims by Americans against Iran, Iranians against the U.S., and the governments against each other). Mosk and his wife moved to Holland for this job. Upon returning he resumed his private practice and engaged extensively in international arbitration. He served on the Chrisopher Commission that investigated the Los Angeles Police Department after the Rodney King beating. Mosk also served as chairman of the Motion Picture Association of American Rating Administration, which provides guidance for parents in connection with their children's movie watching. He was reappointed as a judge in the Iran-U.S. claims tribunal but he commuted to Holland instead of moving there. He has lectured in the United States and abroad on international arbitration and teaches undergraduate level classes at the University of Southern California. Mosk is a justice for the California Court of Appeal. He was two children and four grandchildren.

In 1957 Mosk got a job on a cruise ship that landed on Yokohama, where he met Shinzo for the first time. In 1971 Mosk and his went went to Japan and met the entire Yoshida family. Mosk is still in contact with both of Yoshida's daughters.

Acquisition information:

Gift of Richard Mosk, 2012.

Arrangement:

The correspondence is arranged chronologically between all creators.

Physical location:

Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Location of this collection:

UCLA, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library

A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library

Box 951575

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US

Contact:

(310) 825-4988

AskLSC@library.ucla.edu

Website