First Edition. A directory of members of the Hiroshima Prefecture Society (Kenjinkai) of Southern California along with an introduction about the group. Kenjinkai—prefecture societies—were influential parts of the Japanese American community, and the Hiroshima group was one of the largest. More than 100 businesses advertised in this directory. 20, 173 pages.....

Third Edition. The third edition, after much shorter versions published in 1928 and 1929. This is a promotional publication to encourage pan-Pacific trade through the port of Seattle. Chapters are devoted to manufacturing, commercial business, the current state of Seattle trade, trade with Japan, and Seattle's municipal administration, education, and.....

Four albums documenting the US travels of an official of the Japan Cotton Trading Co., including visits to their offices in New York and Texas, with 401 vernacular photographs, most measuring 3 by 5-1/4 inches or the reverse, with some smaller. The Japan Cotton Trading Company (JCT) was a major importer.....

The March 1938 edition of this phone book listing of about 2000 Chinese residents and businesses on the Chinatown telephone exchange in San Francisco. Beginning in 1909, Cantonese-speaking operators served Chinatown and their office became a regular tourist attraction (accounting for the relatively large number of these Chinese-language phone directories.....

A small cabinet card photograph of the United Brethren church's Chinese Christian mission, a large two-story wooden building that was once located at 353 Second Ave NW, in Portland, Oregon, just outside the traditional borders of the city's Chinatown. Some thirty-seven people are posed in front of the building, 31.....

A studio portrait of a seated Chinese man holding a fan. The photograph is captioned (rather than signed) in ink in Chinese characters with the name Ma Hanchen. While this is an unusual name, I have not been able to trace him. The photographer died in 1893, putting an upper.....

A studio portrait of a Chinese man Western clothes: plaid pants, a white shirt, a polka-dotted vest, and a striped jacket. He wears a bowler hat and holds an umbrella like a walking stick. The studio setting mimics an outdoor scene with a large papier-mache tree, dried grass on the.....

First Edition. An introduction to the National Recovery Administration (NRA) written for a Japanese American audience. The NRA was one of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signature programs of the New Deal, encouraging industries to set minimum wages and maximum hours for workers. It was overturned by the Supreme Court in.....

An original panoramic photograph of the celebration marking the completion of the Salinas Buddhist Church assembly hall and the installation of the Buddha on November 27–28, 1926. The Salinas Buddhist Church was founded in 1924 by Issei and Nisei worshippers, and the construction was completed in November 1926, when this.....

A rare Depression-era directory of Japanese-owned businesses in Southern California. The directory (which opens to the left in the style of Western books) begins with an alphabetical listing of Japanese businesses in the city of Los Angeles (essentially a "white pages" section), followed by a Buyer's Guide (a la the.....

First Edition. A very scarce book about the Japanese-American community in Tacoma, Washington, including a directory of residents. This book was published to coincide with the visit of the Japanese Training Squadron, a group of naval vessels making an around-the-world voyage with stops in ports on the West Coast of.....

A scarce promotional booklet about Los Angeles and the surrounding region published by an LA restaurateur for Japanese tourists coming for the 1932 Olympics. The contents include profiles of five Japanese restaurants in Los Angeles, several owned by the author; an overview of the Japanese in Southern California; an occupational.....