Special Collections

The Japanese American Association of New York (JAANY) was founded in 1907 by Dr. Toyohiko Takami as the Japanese Mutual Aid Society (Nihonjin Kyosaikai). Takami was a prominent physician who wanted to provide social services and aid to the Japanese and Japanese American communities. In 1914, Dr. Takami, Dr. Jokichi Takamine,...

Jiro Kozai (maiden name: Matsui), an Issei from Tottori Prefecture who immigrated to the United States in 1911, was a writer, publisher, and owner of Japanese-American, which he founded in 1924. He also served a term as President of the New York Nihonjinkai. Jiro was incarcerated at Ellis Island during...

After the war ended, the “Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia” (L.A.R.A.) was organized in April 1946 as a single umbrella agency to represent and coordinate the private relief activities of eleven – ultimately fourteen – North American charitable and religious organizations that operated in Japan and Korea (LARA...

Interviews with Japanese Americans about the experience during the WWII incarceration, life in New York and beyond.