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.
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.
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.
Gift of George Fenich and Kathryn Hashimoto Fenich
Processing by Shelby Sapp May 26, 2010; Hannah Piner and Jonathan Dembo, 2013; Martha Elmore August 16, 2018
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Japanese