Utaka Hashimoto Papers

1942-1989, undated; 1945-1946
Manuscript Collection #1168
Creator(s)
Hashimoto, Utaka, 1918-1969; Hashimoto, Mitzie
Physical description
0.25 Cubic Feet, 1 vol., 400 items, 103 p., consisting of a scrapbook, correspondence, newsletters, photographs, post cards, printed forms, currency, and ephemera
Preferred Citation
Utaka Hashimoto Papers (#1168), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
Access to audiovisual and digital media is restricted. Please contact Special Collections for more information.

The Utaka Hashimoto Papers (1942-1946, undated), consists of a scrapbook, entitled Utaka's Over Sea Souvenir, compiled by Hashimoto's wife, Mitsuyo "Mitzie" Hashimoto, to document her husband's World War II military intelligence service as a Technician 5th class, in the 163rd and 171st Language Detachments, 32nd Infantry Division, I Corps, United States Army, which was assigned to the Southwest Pacific and Occupation of Japan. The scrapbook focuses on his overseas service, from October 1945 through May 1946, aboard the troopships SS JAMES H. KINKAID (WSAT AP USAT-480) and SS MARSHALL VICTORY (VC2-S-AP2); his brief deployment in Manila, the Philippines during October - November 1945; and in various locations in Japan from November 1945 to May 1946. Included are correspondence, newsletter clippings, photographic prints, black and white and color postcards, printed forms, U.S. Military and Occupation and Japanese currencies, and ephemera from Japan. Additional items document Utaka Hashimoto's military service and also include photocopies of records of his wife's voluntary evacuation (before their marriage) due to the resettlement of Japanese Americans during WWII and that of her second husband who was in a relocation camp.


Biographical/historical information

Utaka Hashimoto was born on 11 April 1918, in Idaho, to Japanese-American immigrant parents. He married Mitsuyo "Mitzie" Tanaka on 8 September 1943 in Ogden, Utah. Mitsuyo had voluntarily evacuated to Hooper, Weber County, Utah, as part of the resettlement of Japanese-Americans during WWII. Utaka, Mitsuyo and their son lived in Brigham City, Utah. Hashimoto entered the military at Ft. Douglas, near Salt Lake City, Utah, on 27 May 1944. He attended the Military Intelligence Language School in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, graduating in May of 1945. He went overseas in August 1945 aboard the troopship SS JAMES H. KINKAID (WSAT AP USAT-480). Hashimoto arrived in Manila, Philippines, on 29 October 1945. He departed Manila on 6 November 1945 aboard the KINKAID and arrived in Japan on 13 November 1945. He served in Japan as part of the 163rd and 171st Language Teams, 32nd Division, from late 1945 to May 1946. The language detachment units were assigned to interrogate captured Japanese military personnel. Hashimoto returned to the United States on 30 May 1946 aboard the SS MARSHALL VICTORY (VC2-S-AP2). Hashimoto received his honorable discharge from the Army on 7 May 1946, ending his military career. Mitzie Hashimoto compiled the scrapbook to document her husband's military service during World War II. Utaka died on 12 September 1969 and is buried in Ogden, Utah. She remarried to J. Akiba Isao on 15 January 1983.


Scope and arrangement

The Utaka Hashimoto Papers (1942-1946) consists of a loose-leaf scrapbook compiled by Mitsuyo "Mitzie" (Mrs. Utaka) Hashimoto as a souvenir of her husband's World War II military service. The volume contains photographic prints, postcards, newspaper clippings, currency, letters, printed forms, ephemera & other items relating to Utaka's overseas deployment to the Philippines and Japan with military intelligence units, the 163d and 171st Language Detachments, of the 32d Division, I Corps, U.S. Army, 1943-1946. Utaka Hashimoto acquired most of these items while he was overseas. Mrs. Hashimoto identified many, but not all, of the items with holograph notes. She pasted or glued most of the items into the scrapbook, but she left a few loose, and attached a few with corners, or tape. The papers do not provide any detailed information concerning Hashimoto's military intelligence assignments.

The scrapbook is arranged in original order, in a single series, with four subseries, which are generally but not strictly in chronological order. The papers document the ruins of Manila, Philippines (Oct - Nov. 1945); Hashimoto's movements aboard the troopships SS JAMES H. KINKAID (WSAT AP USAT-480) and SS MARSHALL VICTORY (VC2-S-AP2); and also many early postwar locations in Japan, some of Utaka's Army comrades, various Japanese civilians, including a number of Hashimoto's relatives, including his grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Notable objects within the scrapbook include handkerchiefs from Japan and the Philippines, Utaka's dog tag chain, a Japanese Army identification tag, and Japanese Army shoulder insignias. Correspondence mostly includes letters between Utaka and his wife Mitzie Hashimoto; some correspondence, letters and postcards are entirely in Japanese. The collection also includes selections from the newsletters of the troopships SS JAMES H. KINKAID (WSAT AP USAT-480) and SS MARSHALL VICTORY (VC2-S-AP2) which carried Utaka to and from Japan, respectively. One of the clippings, a debarkation order upon arrival in Japan, lists members of various debarkation details. The KINKAID is sometimes spelled "KINCAID" or "KINKEAD" or or "KINCADE" or "KINKATIS".

The repository has assigned a page number to each page of the scrapbook. The page numbers are at the bottom of each page inside brackets. The container list description includes the page number of each item.

A later addition to this collection includes documents related to his military service, and copies of records documenting the voluntary evacuation of Mitsuyo (before their marriage) to Hooper, Weber County, Utah, and the internment of her second husband J. Akiba Isao in a camp in Poston, Arizona, as part of the resettlement of Japanese Americans during WWII.


Administrative information
Custodial History

March 26, 2010, 1 item, 0.25 cubic feet; Scrapbook (1942-1946, undated) entitled Utaka's Over Sea Souvenir documenting the life of a Japanese-American soldier who was serving as a Technician 5th Class, in the 163d Language Detachment, 32d Division, I Corps, U.S. Army, documenting his military service & family life during World War II, compiled by his wife, Mitzie Hashimoto, & including correspondence, newsletters, photographs, post cards, printed forms, Japanese & U. S. Military & Occupation currencies, & ephemera reflecting his service in Salt Lake City, Utah; Manila, Philippines; Fukuoka, Japan & aboard the troopship SS JAMES H. KINKAID; he returned to the U.S. aboard the troopship SS MARSHALL VICTORY. English & Japanese language materials. See preliminary inventory attached. 1 box. 1 vol. 93 p. (ca. 0.25 cubic feet) Recd 2/15/2010. Donor: George Fenich and Kathryn Hashimoto Fenich.

August 16, 2018, (addition 1), 0.03 cubic feet; Papers (1944-1989), including original documents and photocopies, pertaining to the military service of Utaka Hashimoto, and to his wife's voluntary evacuation (before their marriage) due to the resettlement of Japanese Americans during WWII and that of her second husband who was in a relocation camp. Donor: George Fenich and Kathryn Hashimoto Fenich.

Source of acquisition

Gift of George Fenich and Kathryn Hashimoto Fenich

Processing information

Processing by Shelby Sapp May 26, 2010; Hannah Piner and Jonathan Dembo, 2013; Martha Elmore August 16, 2018

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.


Language of material

Japanese

Key terms
Personal Names
Hashimoto, Mitsuyo
Hashimoto, Utaka, 1918-1969
Isao, J. Akiba
Topical
Japanese American soldiers--Utah
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
Scrapbooks
World War, 1939-1945--Japanese Americans
World War, 1939-1945--Philippines--Manila

Container list
Box 1 Folder a Item 1 Shinto Shrine in the Japanese Sea; inside front cover [p.1] (undated) Photographic print. Black and White. 1 item. 1 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 2 Utaka Hashimoto in military uniform, Fukuoka, Japan [p. 2] (undated) Photographic print. Black and White. 1 item. 1p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 3 Merry Christmas! Post card with Mount Fuji Landscape [p. 3] (ca. 1945) Photographic print. Black and White. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 4 Hashimoto, with wife Mitsuyo and son, taken on the way to Bear Lake, during and after Utaka's last furlough before going overseas [p. 4] (July - Aug. 1945) Photographic prints. Color and Black and White (1 color, 2 black and white) 3 items. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 5 Utaka's Change of Address from 1945 until his return; List of addresses [p. 5 - 6] (ca 1946) Holograph. 1 item. 2 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 6 Utaka Hashimoto in the Mountains of Fukuoka, Japan; In Fukuoka, with Doctor in Charge of Civilian Workers; State Capitol Building and "Mormon" Battalion Monument, Salt Lake City, Utah [p. 7] (1942-1946) Photographic prints (Black & White) & Postcard (Color) 3 items. 3 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 7 Corridor and Main Stairways, Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah; Mormon Temple Illuminated, Salt Lake City, Utah "where we once took a walk inside [p. 8] (1942-1946). Photographic prints & Postcard. Color & Black & White. 5 items. 2 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 8 Domain of the Golden Dragon Certificate, souvenir of Hashimoto's crossing international date line aboard the troopship S.S. JAMES H. KINKAID (WSAT AP USAT- 480) [p. 9] (11 Sept. 1945) Printed form. Color. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 9 Ruins of Manila, Philippines sent by Hashimoto [p. 10 - 11] (11 Oct. 1945). Mimeographed Photograph Clippings. 10 items. 2 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; Hashimoto was in Manila 1 Oct. - 6 Nov. 1945. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 10 Noon Position of S.S. JAMES H. KINKAID, The Kinkaid News, Vol. 1, No. 1 - Vol. 8 [p. 12] (6 - 13 Nov. 1945) includes maps off the coast of Japan showing the ships location and information about the ship. Mimeographed Typescript Clippings. 2 items. 2 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 11 Close Call; Obituary; Farewell by Paul S. Tinsley, Captain of S.S. JAMES H. KINKAID, The Kinkaid News, Vol. 8, No. 1 [p. 13] (13 Nov. 1945). Clippings. 2 items. 2 p., The Kinkaid News, Vol. 1, No. 1 - Vol. 8 [p. 13] (6 - 13 Nov. 1945) Mimeographed Typescript Clippings. 4 items. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 12 Debarkation Order Number 3; List of Passengers in Debarkation Order, by Paul S. Tinsley, Captain of S.S. JAMES H. KINKAID [p. 14] (12 Nov. 1945) Mimeographed typescript. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 13 Your Newspaper; ATIS Sails!; The S.S. KINDAID; Ship's Officers list; Is This Trip Necessary? [Cartoon] Tokyo; Special Service; Dear Tarzan, The Kinkaid News, Vol. 1, No. 1 [p. 15] (6 Nov. 1945). Clippings. Mimeographed Typescript Clippings. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 14 Staff; Mabel; Special Service; Noon Position; Staff; Mabel; Special Service; Noon Position, The Kinkaid News, Vol. 1, No. 1 [p. 15-16] [6 Nov. 1945] Mimeographed Typescript Clippings. 2 items. 2 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 15 Staff; Mabel; Special Service; Noon Position; Staff; Mabel; Special Service; Noon Position, The Kinkaid News, Vol. 1, No. 1 [p. 15-16] [6 Nov. 1945] Mimeographed Typescript Clippings. 2 items. 2 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto.A Price of Victory, by Thomas J. F. Quan, a cartoon showing seasick soldiers aboard the S. S. JAMES H. KINKAID, The Kinkaid News, Vol. 1, No. 1 [p. 15-16] [6 Nov. 1945]; Merry Christmas! postcard with Mount Fuji in the background [p. 17] (ca. Nov. - Dec. 1945) Mimeographed Cartoon & Postcard. 2 items. 1 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 16 Dog Tag Chain [Military Identification Tag Chain] worn by Utaka Hashimoto during his service in the U.S. Army [p. 18] (1945). Ephemera. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 17 Japanese Government Post-World War II 1 - 5 - 10 - 100 - 1000 Peso & 1 - 5 - 10 Centavo banknotes [p. 19 - 21] (undated). Currency. 11 items. 3 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 18 Merry Christmas! postcards Mount Fuji in Winter & After Snow has melted, Japan [p. 22] (Nov. - Dec. 1945) Postcards. Black & White. 2 items. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 19 Imperial Japanese Government [Pre-World War II] banknotes [p. 23-24] (undated). Currency. 6 items. 2 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 20 Pre-World War II Japanese Currency; Draft Plan Is Bared On New ¥ Currency; Bank Funds to Be Blocked For Fixed Period - Exchange at Par; & Allied Military Banknotes issued in Japan & Italy [p. 25] (1945) Currency. 6 items. 1 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 21 Utaka Hashimoto, Tokyo, Japan. Telegram to Mitzie Hashimoto, Salt Lake City, Utah [p. 26] (19 Dec. 1945). Telegram. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Western Union; Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 22 Utaka Hashimoto, Japan, Painted Christmas Card of Mt. Fuji to his wife Mitzie Hashimoto, Salt Lake City, Utah; also Mitzie Hashimoto telegram to Utaka Hashimoto, Yokohama, Japan [p. 27] (Dec. 1945) Postcard (Color) & Telegram. 2 items. 1 p. Note: Western Union; Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 23 U. S. Military Currency (Post Exchange) ¥10 Yen Banknote; Domain of the Golden Dragon miniature certificate; Japanese Army Dog Tag [p. 28] (ca. 1945) Currency, Printed form & Ephemera. 3 items. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 24 Utaka Hashimoto with Army comrades, Japanese relatives and Japanese civilians, in Atsugi, Fukuoka & Omori, Japan [p. 29] (Dec. 1945 - Jan. 1946) Photographic prints. Black & white. 9 items. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 25 Ruins of Manila, Philippines Collection, including image of Utaka with fellow Japanese-American soldiers and photographs of architecture [p. 30-31] (5 - 14 Nov. 1945) Photographic prints. Black & white. 13 items. 2 p. Note: 1 photographic print has fallen out of its holder and has been tucked behind another; Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 26 Aerial & Other Views of various locations in Japan, including Omori, Nagasaki, Atsugi [Atsuji] Air Field, Yokohama, Hibya Park, Honshu Island, Tokyo; Japanese civilians & relatives including cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents; Cora Shrine; 127th Infantry base; Yame Gun, Fukuoka; Hashimoto Cemetery [p. 32-42] (Dec. 1945 - Jan. 1946) Photographic prints. Black & white. 114 items. 11 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; English & Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 27 Japanese Army Uniform Rank Insignia [p. 43] (ca. 1945) Ephemera. 4 items. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 28 Scenes of Various Unidentified Locations in Japan [p. 44] (ca. 1945] Photographic prints. Black & white. 10 items. 1 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 29 Letter written in Japanese by unidentified author [p. 45] (ca. 1945) ALS. 1 item 2 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 30 Scenes of Various Unidentified Locations in Japan [p. 46 - 47] (ca. 1945) Photographic prints. Black & white. 16 items. 2 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 31 Scenes of Various Unidentified Locations in Japan; also Embroidered Fabric Square [p. 48] (ca. 1945) Ephemera & Photographic prints. Black & white. 4 items. 1 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 32 Japanese Parachute Fragment that Hashimoto Sent to His Wife as a Christmas Gift [p. 49] (ca. 1945) Ephemera. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 33 Utaka Hashimoto, Japan, 171st Language Detachment, Letter & Envelope to his wife Mitzie Hashimoto, Salt Lake City, Utah; including portraits of Japanese relatives [p. 50-51] (27 Feb. 1946) ALS & Photographic prints. Black & white. 1 item. 7 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; received on first anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death (11 April 1945)
Box 1 Folder a Item 34 1945 Philippines. Embroidered handkerchief from Manila, Philippines [p. 51] (1945). Ephemera. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 35 Silk Handkerchief from Japan (ca. 1945) Ephemera. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 36 40 Point Men To 4th Repl. [Replacement] Depot For Processing; Flow of Airmail From States To Japan Increases; British Wait U. S. Lead on Bread Rationing [p. 53] (28 March - 10 April 1946). Clippings. 3 items. 1 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 37 Utaka Hashimoto Portrait, Kakura Fukuoka, Japan [p. 54] (18 April 1946). Photographic print. Black & white. 1 item. 1 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 38 Poem: To A Soldier Husband, by Martha Wright; Portrait of a Soldier, by Mary Carolyn Davies [p. 55] (ca. 1946) Clippings. 2 items. 1 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 39 Letter written in Japanese, by unidentified author [p. 56 - 59] (13 April, 1946) Correspondence. 1 item. 6 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 40 Letter written in Japanese, by [Utaka Hashimoto]; Envelope addressed to Mitzie Hashimoto [p. 60 - 61] (17 April, 1946) ALS. 1 item. 3 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 41 Images of Unidentified Locations in Japan, including cemetery; Mrs. Watsoka, Michige, Taniwa [p. 62] (25 April 1946) Photographic prints. Black & white. 5 items. 1p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 42 Kenji Immoka, Wuchide Ashija City, Japan. Envelope addressed to Utaka Hashimoto, Kyoto City, Japan [p. 63] (17 April 1946). ALS. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; English & Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 43 Utaka Hashimoto, Kyoto, Japan. Letter and Envelope to his wife Mitzie Hashimoto, Kaysville, Utah, including photographic prints of Unidentified Japanese Woman [p. 64] (19 April 1946) ALS, Photographic prints. Black & White. 1 item. 3 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzi Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 44 Postcards from Japan with Japanese writing, images of Utaka Hashimoto in Japan and Masao Marrimura, Hiroshima, Japan [p. 65 - 66] (ca. 1946) ALS and Photographic prints. Black & White. 5 items. 2 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzi Hashimoto; Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 45 Utaka Hashimoto, 163rd Language Detachment, Kyoto Address Slip; Civilian Temporary Pass issued by the office of Headquarters Commandant to Utaka Hashimoto [p. 67] (19 April 1946) Holograph & Printed form. 2 items. 1 p. Note: Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 46 Letter written by an unknown author (ca. 1946) ALS. 1 item. 7 p. Note: Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 47 Utaka Hashimoto, Szama, Japan. Telegram to his wife in Salt Lake City, Utah expecting early return to the United States; Certificates authorizing Utaka to bring a Japanese saber and other items into the United States [p. 70 - 71] (19 Dec. 1945 - 7 May 1946) Telegram, Holograph notes & Printed forms. 5 items. 2 p. Note: Captioned by Mitzie Hashimoto; English & Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 48 Utaka Hashimoto and unidentified Japanese civilians [relatives ?] including Grandma and Views of Japan; also unidentified U. S. Army personnel [p. 72 - 78] (ca. 1946) Photographic prints. Black and White. 101 items. 7 p. Note: Captioned by [Mitsuyo] Mitzie Hashimoto
Box 1 Folder a Item 49 Utaka Hashimoto, Seattle Washington, Telegram to his wife in Kaysville, Utah announcing his safe arrival in the U.S.; images of Japanese-American soldier William Shinaki & Japanese civilian Michinya Kishimoto, in Japan [p. 79] (31 May 1946) Telegram & Photographic prints. Black & white. 5 items. 1 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 50 Flash! Flash! Seattle Tomorrow. Good Luck and a Quick Trip Home from the Staff of Home Run (Souvenir Issue) Newsletter of the S.S. MARSHALL VICTORY, vol. 14, no. 10 (29 May 1946) Mimeographed typescript. 1 item. 2 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 51 Military Certificates allowing Utaka Hashimoto to keep a Japanese pistol and saber as souvenirs and stating he is disease and vermin free [p. 81 - 82] (2 Feb. 1946) Mimeographed printed forms. 3 items. 2 p
Box 1 Folder a Item 52 Envelope with Japanese writing [p. 83] (ca. 1946). ALS. 1 item. 1 p. Note: Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 53 Collection (undated) of envelopes, cards, and documents with Japanese writing [p. 84 - 88] (ca. 1946) ALS and Ephemera. 12 items. 5 p. Note: Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 54 Japanese ¥1 - ¥5 - ¥10 Yen banknotes [p. 89] (ca. 1946). Currency. 3 items. 1 p. Note: Japanese language
Box 1 Folder a Item 55 [Murrimara] Masao. Letter and Envelopes to Mitsuyo [Mitzie] San Envelopes [p. 90 - 93] (ca. 1946) ALS. 2 items. 9 p