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Joseph Kumao Sano papers, 1923-1961 (majority within 1941-1951)

1.5 linear feet — 1 oversize box — 2.83 GB (online)

Online
Joseph Kumao Sano was a Japanese American veteran and lawyer whose family was forcibly removed to illegal detention centers during World War II. While incarcerated, Sano was recruited by the Army to serve as a Japanese language instructor for the Army Intensive Japanese Language School. Sano's military work extended beyond language instruction; he participated in the Strategic Bombing Survey in 1945 and served as a bilingual arbiter for the International War Tribunal for the Far East from 1946 until 1948. His papers consist of materials related to Japanese American incarceration; pedagogical notes for the Army Intensive Japanese Language School; and Sano's arbitration work. It also includes Sano's personal files, scrapbooks, and concentration camp ID cards.

The Joseph Kumao Sano papers are divided into three series: Personal Papers; War-time Imprisonment and Military Service; and Scrapbooks and Artifacts. His personal papers primarily consist of biographical material; identification and permits; and documentation from Sano's work with the California Bank. It also includes correspondence between Sano and his family.

Materials in the War-time Imprisonment and Military Service series document the forced removal of the Sano family from California to the Santa Anita detention center and the Jerome concentration camp; and Sano's work for the Army Intensive Japanese Language School, the Strategic Bomb Survey, and his service during the International War Tribunal for the Far East. It also includes his work post-war with the Bank of Japan.

The Scrapbooks and Artifacts series contains scrapbooks and albums documenting Sano's life until the forced removal of Japanese Americans in 1941, his work for the International War Tribunal for the Far East, certificates, Bank of Japan photographs, and personal photos of the Sano family. Also included are a number of objects collected by Sano during the war in the United States, and from Post-war Japan.

Researchers should note that this collection documents the forced imprisonment of Japanese Americans at the Santa Anita detention center and the Jerome concentration camp. For more information regarding language and the arrangement of this collection, please see the processing note.

Folder

Scrapbooks and Artifacts

Online

The Scrapbooks and Artifacts series contains two scrapbooks, and a series of artifacts collected by Sano during and after World War II. The first scrapbook ranges from 1923 to 1929 and 1941 to 1943. Included are newspaper clippings of ads and announcements from the Japanese branch of the California Bank. Most of the text is in Japanese. Also included are papers relating to the relocation of Sano and his family. The second scrapbook contains newspaper clippings and photographs from the war crime trials, one of which was used in the January 26, 1948, issue of Life magazine. Also included are newspaper clippings discussing the forced removal of Japanese Americans, certificates awarded to Sano by the University of Michigan, photos of gold bars from the time he worked as a property control officer, and personal photos of Sano and his family in Japan and at his sister's funeral.

Artifacts include a sign from Santa Anita detention center; two "doggies" created out of burlap and other natural fibers by prisoners at the Santa Anita detention center; two metal bowls, likely for rice and sauces, picked up from Hiroshima in 1946; a small wooden box containing coins from war-time Japan. It also includes an entry permit and envelope of paper currency signed by military officials on trial during the International War Tribunal for the Far East.

Joseph Kumao Sano papers, 1923-1961 (majority within 1941-1951)
Container

Two burlap dogs, circa 1941-1942

2 items

Box 3
Online

Two dog figurines woven out of burlap and other natural fibers by prisoners at the Santa Anita detention center.

Donor provided description: "These two 'doggies' were made by the internees of the 'Santa Anita Assembly Center,' the [detention center] on the grounds of the Santa Anita race track in California, 1942, for all of Japanese ancestry in certain areas of California.

"They were woven by internees (and paid $16/month) onto huge nets hung from the rafters of the racetrack grandstand."

In: Joseph Kumao Sano papers, 1923-1961 (majority within 1941-1951)Scrapbooks and Artifacts
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