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Description
A letter from Masao Okine to his parents, Seiichi and Tomeyo Okine. He writes from Japan where he is stationed as a Nisei soldier. In the letter, he writes about his duties as a jeep driver, working a night shift from 10PM to 6AM. He drives for Japanese coworkers who speak English and serve as interpreters and typewriters. He also writes about his wife's family member, Kimie Tanimoto: During the war, Kimie was deployed in the South Asian countries as a typewriter and nurse, serving for the Imperial Japanese Army. Masao learns that his brother-in-law, Nobuyuki Tanimoto, has decided to join the U.S. military so that he could help his sister, Kimie, in Japan. Masao expresses his willingness to support her as well. He reports that he met Kimie in Japan and confirmed her safety. The Okine Collection contains materials collected by Seiichi and Tomeyo Okine who were Issei flower growers in Whittier, California. It includes correspondence, photographs, financial documents, and a photo album. A large portion of the collection consists of family correspondence with Seiichi and Tomeyo Okine, including letters from their Nisei children, Masao and Makoto Okine, both soldiers overseas during World War II, to their Issei parents incarcerated in the Rohwer incarceration camp in McGehee, Arkansas. The correspondence also includes letters from their relatives and friends who are former incarcerees in the camps during the war and have “resettled” in Chicago, Illinois as well as letters from the Okines’ family members in Hiroshima, Japan during the Allied occupation of Japan. In addition, the collection includes a family photo album compiled by Dorothy Ai Aoki, a Nisei daughter to the Okines.
Japan--Post-World War II Military service--Postwar occupation of Japan World War II--Military service--Military Intelligence Service Identity and values--Nisei Identity and values--Kibei
Place
Japan
Source
CSU Dominguez Hills Department of Archives and Special Collections
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