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Finding Aid for the Akira Togawa Papers, 1921-1980
1711
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Title: Akira Togawa Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1921-1980
Collection number: 1711
Creator:
Togawa, Akira, 1903-
Extent: 55 boxes (27.5 linear ft.)
3 oversize boxes
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Akira Togawa was born July 5, 1903. He came to the United States in 1923 and married his wife, Kimi, who was a kibei, in 1929,
and they had five children. Before World War II, Togawa was employed by the M.S. Miura Company. During the war he was interned
at Poston, Arizona, and after the war, he operated the Brooklyn & Ford Market in East Los Angeles. Active in various literary
groups, including the Posuton Bungei, the Nanka Bungei, and the Sounsha he also wrote two poetry anthologies:
Shishu (1932) and
Mitsubachi no Uta (1962). He frequently contributed to local Japanese newspapers and poetry anthologies. The collection consists of diaries,
correspondence, publications, which include a complete set of the
Nanka Bungei, and newspaper clippings. Also includes copies of the works of other Japanese poets and writers. The entire collection is
in Japanese.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary 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.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Additional Physical Form Available
A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house
consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
- Public Services Division
- UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
- Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
- Box 951575
- Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
- Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
- Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Glenn Noboru Togawa, 1993.
This online finding aid has been funded in part by a grant from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).
[Identification of item], Akira Togawa Papers (Collection 1711). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Akira Togawa was born July 5, 1903; he came to the United States in 1923; married his wife, Kimi, who was a kibei, in 1929,
and they had five children; before World War II, Togawa was employed by the M.S. Miura Company; during the war, interned at
Poston, Arizona; after the war, he operated the Brooklyn & Ford Market in East Los Angeles; he was active in various literary
groups, including the Posuton Bungei, the Nanka Bungei, and the Sounsha; wrote two poetry anthologies:
Shishu (1932) and
Mitsubachi no Uta (1962); he frequently contributed to local Japanese newspapers and poetry anthologies; died in 1980.
Additional Biographical Narrative
Note
[characters]
indicates Japanese characters included in the print version of this online finding aid, available for consultation at the
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections.
Togawa Akira [characters]. 1903-1980. Issei poet and longtime resident of Los Angeles. Born July 5, 1903. Native, Yamanashi-ken,
Minami Tsuru-gun, Funatsu-son, Aza Asakawa [characters]. Arrived in the United States in 1923. Father, Teiichi [characters];
mother, Shin [characters]. Father arrived alone in San Francisco, 1907. He returned to Japan in 1922, and came back to America
with his son, Akira, the following year. In 1929 Akira married his wife, Kimi [characters], a Kibei woman. The couple had
five children: daughter, Akiko [characters], 1930; son, Paul Susumu [characters], 1932; daughter, May Hiroko [characters],
1937; daughter, June Tomiko [characters], 1941; and son, Glenn Noboru [characters], 1946. Before the Second World War, Akira
was employed by the M.S. Miura Company [characters], a Los Angeles wholesale produce company. Interned at Poston, Arizona
during the war. Operated the Brooklyn & Ford Market in East Los Angeles in the postwar period.
Active in various Issei literary groups of Southern California before World War II, the Posuton Bungei [characters] during
the war, and the Nanka Bungei [characters] after the war. Also member of the Sounsha [characters], a poetry society in Japan
led by Ogiwara Seisensui [characters] who published the works of Issei poets. Also acquainted with many established Japanese
poets and writers such as Oyama Sumita [characters], Uchijima Hokuro [characters], Yoshikawa Eiji [characters], and others.
Author of two poetry anthologies:
Shishu [characters], 1932, and
Mitsubachi no Uta [characters], 1962 (for the latter, see the Japanese American Research Project Collection (Collection 2010), Box 364). Frequent
contributor to local Japanese newspapers and poetry anthologies.
The Togawa Akira Papers include diaries, 1921-1978, 57 volumes; incoming correspondence file, 1962-1980; copies of prewar,
wartime, and postwar Issei literary journals, including a complete set of the
Nanka Bungei, poetry anthologies, novels and essays, autobiographies and biographies, and other books; copies of the works of Ogiwara Seisensui,
Oyama Sumita, Uchijima Hokuro, Yoshikawa Eiji, and many other Japanese poets and writers; and 6 oversize scrapbooks of newspaper
clippings on art and literature, 1952-1978. The collection of Issei poetry anthologies is outstanding.
by Yuji Ichioka and Makoto Arakaki
Collection consists of diaries, correspondence, publications, and newspaper clippings related to the life of Akira Togawa.
Diaries span 1921-78 in 57 volumes. Publications include pre-World War II, wartime, and postwar Issei literary journals, including
a complete set of the
Nanka Bungei. Also includes copies of the works of Ogiwara Seisensui, Oyama Sumita, Uchijima Hokuro, Yoshikawa Eiji, and other Japanese
poets and writers. Oversize scrapbooks contain clippings related to art and literature, 1952-78.
The entire collection is in Japanese.
Arranged in the following series:
- Diaries and notebooks (Boxes 1-7).
- Incoming correspondence file, 1962-80 (Boxes 8-9).
- Prewar literary publications (Boxes 10-11).
- Wartime journals, essays, and anthologies (Boxes 12-13).
- Postwar publications (Boxes 14-32).
- Works of Japanese poets and writers (Boxes 33-55).
- Newspaper clippings albums, 1952-78 (Boxes 56-58).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Togawa, Akira, 1903- --Archives.
Nanka bungei.
American literature--Japanese American authors--Archival resources.
Japanese American poetry--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources.
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-45--Archival resources.
Diaries.
Title: Japanese American Research Project Collection of Material about Japanese in the United States
Identifier/Call Number: (Collection 2010).
Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
Title: Japanese American Research Project -
Fading Footsteps of the Issei
Identifier/Call Number: (Collection 2010).
Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.