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.
Odori Dancers
Photo (taken by Frank C. Hirahara) of members of the Oregon Buddhist Church and Epworth United Methodist Church of Portland, circa 1948-54. They are all holding American and Japanese flags, but the occasion is unknown. Left to right: Ed Tamiyasu, Alice Kida, Jean (Tsujimura) Takashima, Jean (Kida) Tomita, Shizuko (Ochiai) Okazaki, Alice (Matsumoto) Ando.
Portrait of Seki Hiromura, the mother of the donor of this photo, and one of her sons. Seki and her husband Kikuo raised their five boys in Portland, Oregon. Circa 1925.
Nisei field trip
The date and occasion of this outing are unknown, but it is probably in Portland. The image donor’s family lived in Portland, and one of his brothers is in the group of children. Circa 1931.
Shoichi Endow (right) in the U.S. Army with two other Nisei soldiers during World War II. Sho joined the army prior to Pearl Harbor and eventually ended up in the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This photo may have been taken in Camp Shelby, Mississippi, circa 1944.
The Mikado baseball team of Portland, Oregon, circa 1936. Players include George Somekawa, George Marumoto, John Murakami, George Azumano, Art Somekawa, Hood Shiogi, and Salem Yagawa.
January 1945, Menton, France. Soldiers from the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team determining coordinates for targeting mortars. Left to right: Okamoto, Lt. Teraoka, Akira “Ike” Iwasaki.
The Endow Family of Hood River, circa 1926. From left to right: Tei, Kane, Mitsue, Shoichi, Shohei.
Woodblock print made in the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho by Marian Hara of Portland, Oregon, an art student of Fumi Haraguchi Kato at Hunt High School.
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.
Sahomi Tachibana performs on stage at the Topaz, Utah, internment camp in 1944.
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.”
The Girl Reserves Nisei basketball team of Portland, Oregon, circa 1940.
