{"id":"ddr-densho-493","model":"collection","collection_id":"ddr-densho-493","links":{"html":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-493/","json":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-densho-493/","img":"https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-densho-493/ddr-densho-493-108-mezzanine-be9d0d913a-a.jpg","thumb":"http://ddrmedia.local/media/ddr-densho-493/ddr-densho-493-108-mezzanine-be9d0d913a-a.jpg","parent":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-densho/","children":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-densho-493/children/"},"parent_id":"ddr-densho","organization_id":"ddr-densho","signature_id":"ddr-densho-493-108-mezzanine-be9d0d913a","title":"Tomio Itabashi and Frances (Itabashi) Nishimura Collection","description":"This collection consists of objects, documents, photographs, and pamphlets from the Itabashi family, siblings Tomio Itabashi and Frances Nishimura (Itabashi) and their aunt and uncle, Kuni and Buichiro Itabashi. The family lived in Auburn, Washington prior to the war, where they operated a dairy farming business and were involved in a Supreme Court of Washington State contesting their right to inherit the farmland bequeathed to them by their landlord. The collection also includes objects, documents and ephemera from the family’s time at Pinedale, Tule Lake, and Amache.","breadcrumbs":[{"id":"ddr-densho-493","model":"collection","idpart":"cid","label":"493","api_url":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-densho-493/","url":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-493/"}],"_fields":["id","record_created","record_lastmod","status","public","title","unitdateinclusive","unitdatebulk","creators","extent","language","contributor","description","physloc","rights","accessrestrict","userrestrict","prefercite","bioghist","scopecontent","relatedmaterial","separatedmaterial","signature_id"],"record_created":"2023-05-22T10:36:11","record_lastmod":"2024-08-13T16:51:57","status":"completed","public":"1","unitdateinclusive":"1902-1950","unitdatebulk":"1940-1944;1934-1936","creators":[{"namepart":"Itabashi, Tomio","nr_id":"88922/nr003dg1g","role":"author"},{"namepart":"Nishimura, Frances (Itabashi)","nr_id":"88922/nr015z81x","role":"author"}],"extent":"28 documents, 3 pamphlets, 3 books, 5 black and white photographs, and 3 physical objects, 3 photo albums","language":["eng","jpn"],"contributor":"Densho","physloc":"Returned to donor","acqinfo":"Elaine Nishimura\r\n910 SW Hume St. \r\nPortland, OR 97219\r\n503-799-8831\r\nElaine.neshimura@att.net","processinfo":"Scanned by Micah Merryman in fall of 2022. First half processed by Evan McGonagill in fall of 2023, second half processed by Dina Moreno in June of 2024. \r\n\r\nSigned release form added to administrative tab of ddr-densho-493-1. MM 07/24.","rights":"cc","userrestrict":"Donor wants Densho to act as intermediary for any commercial use requests","prefercite":"Courtesy of Tomio Itabashi and Frances (Itabashi) Nishimura Collection, Densho","bioghist":"Buichiro Itabashi (1874-1965) immigrated from Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, in 1902 and began a dairy farm in Auburn, Washington. His wife Kuni Itabashi (1882- 1978), immigrated in 1907. In 1909 they began leasing their farmland and a small house from a man named James E. Faucett. Buichiro’s younger brother, Koichiro, had two children—Tomio (1913-1950) and Frances (1917 - 2019)—both of whom were born on the farm in Auburn and raised mainly by Buichiro and Kuni while their parents resided in Japan. \r\n\r\nIn the late 1920s the Itabashis became involved in a legal case concerning the land they leased that went to the Supreme Court of Washington. In a will shortly before his death in 1927, their landlord James E. Faucett bequeathed 10 acres of land from his estate to Frances and Tomio and also granted the use of 85 acres to Buichiro and Kuni on which they could live and work for free while raising their niece and nephew until they reached majority, at which point they could remain there as long as they liked while paying rent at a fixed rate of $18/year. The will also snubbed several family members who were effectively disinherited in the document. Faucett’s sister and niece filed a petition contesting the will on the grounds that Faucett had been unduly influenced by Buichiro and that “no valid devise can be made to an alien,” citing Washington’s alien land law. In a 1929 decision for the Superior Court of Washington, Judge Adam Beeler upheld the will on the grounds that there was not sufficient proof showing that Faucett lacked capacity at the time of creation of the will, nor of undue influence upon Faucett, nor that an alien cannot acquire land by devise. Unsatisfied, the family subsequently filed an appeal. The evidence in the case is thoroughly summarized in a brief for the Supreme Court of Washington prepared by the attorneys for the respondents, who were arguing in the interests of the Itabashis. However, a January 9, 1931 ruling signed by six of the eight Supreme Court of Washington justices reversed the decision, citing testimony from several individuals who doubted Faucett’s capacity at the time of creation of the will. The minority dissent signed by the two remaining justices states that they believe the decision was motivated at least in part by racial prejudice, in light of the persuasive evidence supporting the respondents’ case. The decision meant that Buichiro, Kuni, Frances and Tomio would not inherit Faucett’s land or the right to continue living and working there.\r\n\r\nAll four of the Itabashis were relocated to Pinedale Assembly Center in May of 1942 and then, two months later, to Tule Lake. Frances was married to Shizuo Nishimura (1911-2000), whom she had met and begun courting in Auburn, in June of 1943 at Tule Lake. After the results of the loyalty questionnaire in 1943, Kuni, Tomio, and Frances were moved to Amache. Buichiro remained at Tule Lake until 1945. After camp the family resettled in Southeast Oregon. Tomio had contracted tuberculosis while at camp and died of the disease in 1950.","scopecontent":"This collection contains a wealth of materials that would be of interest to researches of several topics, including: Japanese American agricultural workers in Washington State prior to the war; alien land laws and racial discrimination in enforcement of the law; experiences of everyday life at Pinedale, Tule Lake, and Amache (including young adults’ social life and activities); transfer of “loyal” residents away from Tule Lake in preparation for segregation of “disloyal” residents; camp marriages and Tule Lake weddings specifically; and preparation for resettlement. \r\n\r\nThe collection contains objects and documents from two generations of the Itabashi family: Buichiro “Johnny” Itabashi and his wife Kuni “Mary” Itabashi, both of whom immigrated in the early 1900s; and their Nisei niece and nephew, Frances and Tomio Itabashi, who were the children of Buichiro’s younger brother, Koichiro, who lived in Japan. \r\n\r\nThe collection has three major groupings of documents: the first, spanning 1902 - 1920, concerns the activities of the Issei Itabashis and includes immigration and travel documents such as a passport and medical inspection cards, undated photographs of Buichiro and Kuni, and a directory of businesses produced by the Hiroshima Kenjinkai in Seattle, Washington, in which Buichiro’s dairy farming business is featured.\r\n\r\nThe second group of materials spans 1927-1931 and comprises four documents from the land dispute case: the Faucett will, an initial 1929 decision by judge Beeler upholding the will, a brief for the Supreme Court of Washington prepared by the attorneys for the respondents (defending the will and the Itabashi’s claim to the inheritance), and the ruling of the Supreme Court in which the will was declared invalid.\r\n\r\nThe third group of documents, spanning 1935 - 1950, revolves around the family’s experience at camp. Two documents leading up to the years at camp—Buichiro’s 1940 alien registration receipt card after passage of the Smith Act in 1940, and an April, 1942 JACL oath of allegiance to the United States signed by Tomio—signal rising tensions. The majority of the other materials are from the years spent at camp and include a mix of personal documents (such as a detailed a timeline of the family’s relocation to and between different camps, personal correspondence with friends and family both inside and outside of camp, a wedding announcement card), camp ephemera (documents related to meals and employment, Shizuo’s camp registration card and authorization to leave camp), and publications, some of which were created by camp residents and offices (a high school yearbook from Tule Lake, a book of Buddhist gathas published by the Amache Young Buddhists Association, a handbook on resettlement procedures) and some of which were published by other bodies including a pamphlet issued by the WRA regarding the decision to segregate “disloyal” residents at Tule Lake in the wake of the questionnaire, and a pamphlet published by the public Affairs Committee, Inc., arguing against the incarceration.\r\n\r\nOther materials include photographs, mostly undated portraits of the family members, and correspondence from friends after camp including a letter from a doctor who laments that he was unable to save Tomio from tuberculosis.","relatedmaterial":"ddr-densho-455","search_hidden":"Itabashi, Tomio author 88922nr003dg1g\nNishimura, Frances (Itabashi) author 88922nr015z81x","download_large":"ddr-densho-493-108-mezzanine-be9d0d913a-a.jpg"}