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Finding Aid for the Riichi Ashizawa papers, 1899-1965 (bulk 1906-1945)
2010
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Title: Riichi Ashizawa papers
Date (inclusive): 1899-1965 (bulk 1906-1945)
Collection number: 2010
Creator:
Ashizawa, Riichi
Extent:
1 half document box (.25 linear feet)
and 1 oversize box
Abstract: Riichi Ashizawa (also known as George Asher) was a photographer and entrepreneur in San Francisco, California. Ashizawa was
a Yamanashi native who came to the United States in 1899. He ran businesses such as Yamato Laundry, Asher's Picture House,
Asher's Art Shoppe, and
Ho-Bi-Do. The collection includes biographical essays written by Ashizawa and photographs (with selected negatives) that he took for
the Japanese American communities in the San Francisco area. Photocopies of documents and photographs of his businesses are
also included.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Language of the Material:
Japanese and English
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
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.
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. 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.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
- Gift of Ashizawa family
- Gift of Clifford I. Uyeda, April 3, 1965.
Processed by Ryoko Onishi in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli,
2010.
[Identification of item], Riichi Ashizawa papers (Collection Number 2010). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, UCLA.
Issei immigrant, photographer and entrepreneur Riichi Ashizawa (芦芦沢履一) was born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1882, the second
son in his family. He arrived in San Francisco in 1899. In 1901, he became the owner of Yamato Laundry and later Golden Gate
Laundry. In 1906, after experiencing the San Francisco earthquake, Ashizawa moved to Chicago, Denver and then Philadelphia.
He studied art, chemistry and dyeing textiles during this period. In 1915, Ashizawa returned to San Francisco and worked as
a photographer for a Japanese daily newspapers, the
Shinsekai Shimbun (formerly
Hokubei Mainichi News) and
Nichibei-jiji (formerly
Nichibei Times). In 1916, Ashizawa started a roving photography business by installing a darkroom in his car, a 1912 Studebaker, and he
photographed people and scenery in the Golden Gate Park area. Ashizawa opened an antique and artistic picture framing shop,
Asher's Art Shoppe on Sutter Street in 1920. In the same year, he married Susie Suzuki (鈴木壽々) from Yokohama, Japan and later
had a son Roy and a daughter Sumiko. During World War II, Ashizawa and his family were incarcerated in the Topaz Relocation
Center, also known as the Central Utah Relocation Center, near Delta, Utah. Ashizawa worked as a police officer in the Relocation
Center. After the war, Ashizawa resumed his business at
Ho-Bi-Do (芳美堂) on Polk Street.
The collection consists of autobiographical essays, documents and photographs by Riichi Ashizawa (George Asher), related to
Yamato Laundry, Golden Gate Laundry, Asher's Picture House, and Asher's Art Shoppe in San Francisco, California. Ashizawa
photographed for the Japanese daily newspapers,
Shinsekai Shimbun and
Nishibei-jiji and documented the local Japanese group activities such as undo-kai or athletic activities, picnics, arrival of picture brides
and so forth. The collection also includes acetate negatives, glass plate negatives, photocopies of business records and
correspondence. The photographs, which were taken in San Francisco, Placerville and Los Angeles, California date from approximately
1899 to 1920.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Ashizawa, Riichi, 1882- --Archives.
Japanese American Research Project (University of California, Los Angeles.)
Photographers--California--San Francisco--Archival resources.
Japanese Americans--California--San Francisco--Archival resources.
Photographs.
Japanese American Research Project Collection of Material about Japanese in the United States (Collection 2010)
. Available at Library Special Collections, UCLA.