Nishimura and Nagata Family Papers

Toshio Nagata and Nami Nagata (nee Tanabe) were born in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1885 and 1891 respectively. Toshio immigrated to the United States in 1904. Toshio and Nami were married and Nami immigrated to the United States in 1911. They settled in the Los Angeles area of Southern California. They would ultimately have six children: sons, Masao (1912), Minoru (1918), Saburo (1922), Shiro (1926) and daughters Toshiye (1916) and Chiyoko (1920) were all born in Los Angeles.

Until the beginning of WWII, Toshio worked for the railroads in the Southern California area, while Nami tended to raising the family. Their children attended public schools and worked various retail and clerical jobs in and around the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles. In 1942 Toshio, Nami, Masao, Toshiye, Saburo, Chiyoko and Shiro, along with Masao’s wife Hatsue, were sent to the Heart Mountain Incarceration Camp in Wyoming by the War Relocation Authority. In 1942 and throughout WWII, Minoru began his military service in the US Army. In 1944 and 1945 Masao, Toshiye, Chiyoko, Saburo, Shiro and Hatsue were allowed to leave the Heart Mountain Incarceration Camp to work in various cities across the United States. Toshiye in Chicago, Illinois; Saburo and Chiyoko in Denver, Colorado; Masao and Shiro in New York City; and Hatsue in Tooele, Utah. Toshio and Nami remained at the Heart Mountain Incarceration Camp until the facility was closed in October 1945.

After WWII all of the family members returned to the Southern California and most settled in the Pasadena and Los Angeles areas. Upon returning, Masao and Shiro owned the operated a small family grocery store in the Rosemead / El Monte area of California and eventually, along with other partners, founded the privately owned San Gabriel Valley Bank. Initially upon returning, Minoru worked in the insurance industry and would eventually start his own insurance agency in Monterey Park, California.

Toshiye began to work for the Bullocks department store chain and stayed with them for almost 40 years. Toshiye Nagata was involved with the beginnings of the Pasadena Buddhist Church in 1948 and was the superintendent for the Sunday School when the Pasadena Buddhist Church was founded. Saburo worked in the produce industry for a grocery store chain. Chiyoko was married to Roy Nishimura and began to raise a family of three sons, then eventually went on to work as an instructor at a private business school.

Nami Nagata was selected as one of the Pioneer individuals for the 1962 Nisei Week festival in Los Angeles.

Written by David Nishimura and edited by Shawne West.

Kinsuke Nishimura and Kii Nishimura (nee Misumi) were born in Kagoshima, Japan in 1884 and 1893 respectively. Kinsuke immigrated to the United States in approximately 1905 where he initially worked in the farming industry in Southern California. He later, along with a partner, started their own farming operation in the National City area, near San Diego, California. Kinsuke married Kii Misumi and she immigrated to the United States in approximately 1918. They settled in the National City area and would ultimately have seven children: sons, Kazuo (Roy) (1920), Kaneo (1921), Noboru (1923), Tsutomu (1925), and Kanemori (1927), and daughter, Kimiko (1929). All were born in the National City area in California.

In 1929 Kinsuke and the family returned to Kagoshima, Japan. There, youngest daughter, Emiko (1931) was born.

Eldest son, Roy Kazuo returned to the United States alone in 1938 while the rest of the family remained in Kagoshima, Japan. Roy worked for several farming operations throughout the Southern California area. In February 1942 Roy Kazuo began his service in the United States Army where he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Roy Kazuo was discharged from the US Army in January of 1946 with the rank of Technician Forth Grade.

The remainder of the family spent the duration of WWII in Japan, where sons Kaneo, Noboru, and Tsutomu were inducted into military service for Japan. During the war, Noboru was lost and was presumed dead.

While serving in the US Army, Roy Kazuo and Chiyoko (Nagata) were married in February of 1945 in Denver, Colorado. After the war Roy Kazuo and Chiyoko, returned to Southern California and settled into the Pasadena area and began to raise a family. They had three sons Allen (1947), David (1948), and Jerry (1953). Upon returning to Southern California, Roy Kazuo initially worked as a self-employed gardener. He would eventually become a corporate officer and production manger for Rose Frozen Shrimp Company, a seafood processing company located near the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles. Chiyoko would raise the family, and then eventually would go on to become an instructor at a Sawyer College, a private business school in the Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley areas of Southern California.

In the 1950’s most of the children of the Kinsuke Nishimura family that remained in Japan during WWII would eventually return to the United States and relocate to the Southern California area. Kanemori, Tsutomu, Kimiko, and Emiko would all marry and raise their families in the Monterey Park, Rosemead, and Gardena areas of Southern California. Kinsuke and Kii Nishimura and second son, Kaneo Nishimura and his wife and family, were the only immediate family members who remained in Kagoshima, Japan. Later on in the 1960’s, Kinsuke and Kii Nishimura returned to the Southern California area, where most of their children and grandchildren lived. Kaneo and his family continued to remain in Kagoshima, Japan.

Written by David Nishimura and edited by Shawne West.