Oregon Nikkei History
On this site we highlight photos from our historical collection housed at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center in Portland's Old Town neighborhood, as well as other information about history and Japanese Americans in Oregon. Please visit www.oregonnikkei.org to learn more about the Oregon Nikkei Endowment and its programs.
Dr. Kei Koyama in his dental office at NW 3rd Avenue and Couch Street in Portland’s Japantown, circa 1941. Dr. Koyama’s office was in the Merchant Hotel building.
Shohei Endow of Hood River, Oregon
Japanese American families looking for clams, circa 1925. The donor of photo thought that it might have been taken in Japan, but the Western clothes suggest this beach is somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
The Hood River Nikkei community gathered to celebrate the enthronement of Emperor Hirohito, 1928. This picture is unique in that it includes almost the entire Japanese American population in the Hood River Valley.
Members of Hood Sadaji Shiogi’s family picking berries. The Shiogi family owned farmland in Montavilla, Oregon, and leased land in Troutdale, Oregon, around the time this photo was taken (circa 1915).
Pfc. Hideo Takahashi of “I” Company, 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This photo was taken at Camp Roberts in California, sometime before Pearl Harbor. Hideo eventually went on to participate in the rescue of the Lost Battalion. Read more about Hideo Takahashi at Go for Broke.
Teruo Tsuboi at the Tsuboi Bros. jewelry store, possibly repairing a pocket watch, circa 1920. The Tsuboi Bros. store was located in Portland’s Japantown on what is now NW 6th Avenue and Burnside Street.
Sahomi Tachibana performs on stage at the Topaz, Utah, internment camp in 1944.
Woodblock print made in the Minidoka internment camp by an art student of Fumi Haraguchi Kato at Hunt High School. The print shows a few of the boys in camp playing basketball near the barracks.
1937 Undokai, Portland
The annual undokai (or community picnic) was the big event of the year, usually held in the early summer. Activities included races and dancing for both children and adults. The undokai always included an elaborate lunch with tasty dishes such as nishime, onigiri, fried chicken, teriyaki chicken, dried fish, pickles and sushi. This photo is dated May 13, 1937, and was taken in Portland, Oregon.
JACL Convention farewell banquet
The 6th biennial national JACL (Japanese American Citizens League) convention was held at the Multnomah Hotel in downtown Portland, Oregon, in 1940.
From the Pacific Citizen:
“At the last prewar biennial (Portland: Aug. 28-Sept. 2 at Multnomah Hotel), Saburo Kido was elected national president. Unbeknownst, he and the rest of the elected national officers were to hold rein for six years - the duration of World War II.”
Jack Yoshihara, Oregon State College, 1941
Jack Yoshihara was a member of the 1941 Oregon State College (later Oregon State University) Beaver football team. The Beavers qualified for the Rose Bowl that season, and after Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, the game was shifted to Durham, North Carolina, due to concern of a possible attack.
Jack missed playing in the Rose Bowl because of travel restrictions for people of Japanese descent. He did eventually receive his Rose Bowl ring when this Beaver team was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.
A Japanese family returning home (Seattle, Washington) from a relocation center camp in Hunt, Idaho on May 10, 1945
Wooden tea tray with ink drawing of barracks and Castle Rock at the Tule Lake internment camp. “Presented to Minoru Yasui” is written in Japanese.
The Girl Reserves Nisei basketball team of Portland, Oregon, circa 1940.
