Akira Togawa papers, 1921-1980

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Summary

Creators:
Togawa, Akira, 1903-
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.
Extent:
27.5 Linear Feet (55 boxes and 3 oversize boxes)
Language:
Japanese .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Akira Togawa Papers (Collection 1711). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:

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.

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

Acquisition information:
Gift of Glenn Noboru Togawa, 1993.
Processing information:

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.

Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  1. Diaries and notebooks (Boxes 1-7).
  2. Incoming correspondence file, 1962-80 (Boxes 8-9).
  3. Prewar literary publications (Boxes 10-11).
  4. Wartime journals, essays, and anthologies (Boxes 12-13).
  5. Postwar publications (Boxes 14-32).
  6. Works of Japanese poets and writers (Boxes 33-55).
  7. Newspaper clippings albums, 1952-78 (Boxes 56-58).

Physical location:
Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Akira Togawa Papers (Collection 1711). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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