Archives West Finding Aid

The material in this series relates to Masaoka's personal life reflects his activities growing up in Salt Lake City (scrapbooks, school papers, and yearbooks); his travels to Japan during the 1950s (an itinerary and souvenirs); and awards and recognition given to him in the later part of his life. A copy of , his autobiography, is located in box 4, along with an addenda and associated papers. Also included in this series are materials stemming from familial relationships, several transcripts of interviews of Masaoka, business documents, biographical information about Masaoka, and paper memorabilia. Forensic and military service awards earned by Masaoka are stored in box 80 of this collection. Oversize memorabilia and award certificates are stored in box 81.

Correspondence to and from Mike Masaoka is arranged chronologically in this series. Included is correspondence written by or addressed to Masaoka as an official of the Japanese American Citizens League. The correspondence, besides covering any topics of a personal nature, are concerned with the various issues important to Japanese Americans. These include the topics of sections IV through IX: immigration and naturalization; evacuation and internment; military service; redress; the JACL; Japanese culture; Japan-U.S. relations; and Hawaiian statehood.

Beginning in 1946, Masaoka maintained a handwritten record of daily activities, including correspondence, phone calls, and engagements. The entries he made are concerned with both business and personal matters. Initially, commercially produced index cards were used in this activity, but he latter switched to pocket-sized notebooks. These logs have been arranged chronologically, and are not indexed.

The items in this series are concerned with the immigration activities and citizenship status of Japanese Americans. The materials discuss the early immigration of the Issei (first-generation Japanese Americans), as well as battles over deportation and renunciation of citizenship during the Second World War and later, including the case of "Tokyo Rose." Masaoka's lobbying activities in these areas made a significant impact on Congressional law-making during the 1950s, including repeal of the 1924 Japanese Exclusion Act and the abolishment of the National Origins Quota Immigration System. Documents produced by the U. S. Congress and a variety of court documents record battles over citizenship issues, while magazine articles discuss the issues surrounding inequalities in immigration.

Items concerned with the Second World War evacuation of Japanese Americans from the West Coast are gathered in this series of the collection. Masaoka, as an officer of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), participated in discussions with government agencies on the proposed relocation, and later, as the JACL's Washington Representative, worked to mitigate the effects of relocation on the camp internees. Included here are documents produced by the War Relocation Authority, the government agency created to handle the evacuation. Box 42 contains the correspondence and scrapbook of Janet Embree, an educator at the Poston, Arizona, Relocation Center. Court documents record the legal challenges to laws discriminating against Japanese Americans during wartime. Articles, pamphlets, newsletters, and other documents reflect the activities of internees in the relocation centers and of individuals and organizations working to eliminate the centers. Any material, regardless of date, memorializing or discussing the War Relocation Authority, relocation center activities, and the impact of internment on Japanese Americans during the Second World War and afterwards, is included here.

Section VI contains documents relating to the activities of Japanese Americans in the United States armed forces, especially during the Second World War. Masaoka and three of his brothers were part of this group. Included are commemorative materials and documents reflecting the activities of veteran's organizations, some of which Masaoka was a member; memorabilia from memorial services in which Masaoka played a role; and articles discussing the involvement of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, of which Masaoka was a member, as well as other Japanese American servicemen, in the Second World War.

Documents concerned with the pursuit of reparations for losses suffered by Japanese Americans as a result of relocation and internment during the Second World War are located in this series. Included are documents produced by the Japanese American Citizens League during lobbying efforts towards reparations. A significant portion of this series is devoted to documents stemming from the activities of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), which convened in the early 1980s to hear all sides of the redress issue and make recommendations to Congress. These include correspondence, information brochures, and hearing minutes. Legislative items in this series are concerned with efforts to address the claims of bank depositors who lost money as a result of U. S. government actions, the formation of the CWRIC, and redress efforts in the 1950s and 1980s. Masaoka, representative for both the JACL and veterans groups, made statements before Congressional committees and the CWRIC on the subject of redress.

Section VII contains records of, and documents produced by, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), with which Masaoka was involved as National Secretary or Washington Representative most of his life. These records are of a general, administrative nature, and include correspondence, convention programs, financial reports, governing documents, reports from the organization's Washington Representative, and documents stemming from activities of individual JACL chapters. Documents which discuss the activities of the Japanese American Citizens League in specific areas, such as redress or citizenship, are stored in other sections of this collection.

Materials in this series consist of documents discussing and recording the experience of Americans of Japanese descent in areas outside of those covered in other series of this collection. Topics include discrimination, demographics, culture, ethnicity, and general history. These areas are reflected in articles, court documents, state election guides, exhibition brochures, and historical reports. The activities of political and cultural organizations are also represented here. Section VIII contains documents reflecting the experiences of other religious, national, and racial minority groups in America.

Included in this section are documents concerned with Japanese trade, government, culture, and relations with the United States. Represented are Japanese industry, government and business leaders, and Japanese artists. Japan's diplomatic and economic relations with the United States are discussed in the form of articles and treaties. Many of the items in this section reflect Masaoka's lobbying firm, Mike Masaoka Associates, which actively pursued Japanese industry and trade associations as clients.

Box 78 contains legislative documents relating to the acceptance of statehood for Hawaii. As a large percentage of the population of Hawaii is of Japanese ancestry, this issue was of importance to all Japanese Americans, who continued to battle the discrimination brought into focus by the question of Hawaiian statehood.

Documents stored in box 79 are those found in the collection that are not closely related to activities of Mike Masaoka, nor to Japanese American concerns. Box 80 contains a variety of awards and honors earned by Masaoka for excellence in forensic competition, as well as honors earned during his years in the U. S. Army. Box 81 contains oversize awards certificates and memorabilia.