[Photo Album of Japanese American Students in Hawaii]
- Honolulu and Tokyo , 1952
Honolulu and Tokyo, 1952. Very good -. 7 ” x 11. Decorative thin card boards, plastic red comb binding. 28 construction paper pages with 49 B&W photographs and 1 RPPC corner-mounted + envelope of 3 negatives laid in and the last 16 leaves are blank. Photos range from 1 ” x 2¾” to 4” x 5”, 10 are signed on mounts or on the image and 4 are captioned versos. Album very good minus: top two coils perished; covers moderately spotted; a few leaves detached. Photos very good: one with a small tear; some mounts a bit spotted; a few photos loose.
This is a photo album compiled by a Japanese American student in Honolulu, revealing his high school classmates, as well as a few later photos of his trip to Tokyo as a member of the United States Air Force. Importantly it holds 14 formal portraits from a Japanese American photography firm, then in its infancy.
We believe the compiler, Henry Arakaki, was born around 1931 and graduated from Wallace Rider Farrington High School in Honolulu in 1949. Newspaper accounts we found online shared he was an ROTC cadet corporal and officer in his school's NCO Club, and went on to be a private and “Trainee of the Week” at the Hawaiian Infantry Training Center at Schofield Barracks in 1952.
The album features joyful photographs of Japanese American high school students posed in small groups, likely getting ready for a dance, with the girls in dresses and one boy with boutonniere. There are two great shots of girls in cheerleader or majorette outfits and 14 yearbook portraits, most of which were signed to Henry with sentiments of “Always a Pal.” They are all in windowed cardboard frames, several of which have the imprint “Ace Studio Honolulu.” Now known as Ace Portrait Studio, the firm was founded in 1943 by Ng Kwai who enjoyed a 45-year career as a professional photographer. Kwai's son, Richard Yee, along with his wife Rhoda, started his own phtography business in 1954 as an off-shoot of Kwai's. It exists today and is still run by the Yee family.
Four later photos in the album reveal our compiler's trip to Tokyo in 1952. One shot shows several airmen heading toward a U.S. Air Force jet, captioned “This is the plane I went to Japan with on my R&R. They sure pack a lot of guys in the plane.” In 1952, the Air Force was establishing its presence in the Pacific, and a flight from Hawaii to Tokyo would have been supported by the newly formed Pacific Air Forces. Other photos have views of the Imperial Palace including “the bridge to enter the Palace grounds” and “Looking forward the heart of Tokyo.” There is also a real photo postcard showing the Farrington school.
Evocative and lovely photographs of Japanese American high school students in Hawaii with many by a longstanding Japanese American portrait studio.
This is a photo album compiled by a Japanese American student in Honolulu, revealing his high school classmates, as well as a few later photos of his trip to Tokyo as a member of the United States Air Force. Importantly it holds 14 formal portraits from a Japanese American photography firm, then in its infancy.
We believe the compiler, Henry Arakaki, was born around 1931 and graduated from Wallace Rider Farrington High School in Honolulu in 1949. Newspaper accounts we found online shared he was an ROTC cadet corporal and officer in his school's NCO Club, and went on to be a private and “Trainee of the Week” at the Hawaiian Infantry Training Center at Schofield Barracks in 1952.
The album features joyful photographs of Japanese American high school students posed in small groups, likely getting ready for a dance, with the girls in dresses and one boy with boutonniere. There are two great shots of girls in cheerleader or majorette outfits and 14 yearbook portraits, most of which were signed to Henry with sentiments of “Always a Pal.” They are all in windowed cardboard frames, several of which have the imprint “Ace Studio Honolulu.” Now known as Ace Portrait Studio, the firm was founded in 1943 by Ng Kwai who enjoyed a 45-year career as a professional photographer. Kwai's son, Richard Yee, along with his wife Rhoda, started his own phtography business in 1954 as an off-shoot of Kwai's. It exists today and is still run by the Yee family.
Four later photos in the album reveal our compiler's trip to Tokyo in 1952. One shot shows several airmen heading toward a U.S. Air Force jet, captioned “This is the plane I went to Japan with on my R&R. They sure pack a lot of guys in the plane.” In 1952, the Air Force was establishing its presence in the Pacific, and a flight from Hawaii to Tokyo would have been supported by the newly formed Pacific Air Forces. Other photos have views of the Imperial Palace including “the bridge to enter the Palace grounds” and “Looking forward the heart of Tokyo.” There is also a real photo postcard showing the Farrington school.
Evocative and lovely photographs of Japanese American high school students in Hawaii with many by a longstanding Japanese American portrait studio.
Details
Title
[Photo Album of Japanese American Students in Hawaii]
Author
Arakaki, Henry
Condition
Very Good
Publisher
Honolulu and Tokyo
Date
1952