Kan'ichi Asakawa papers

The papers consist of correspondence, diaries, writings, notes, photographs, and miscellanea documenting the personal life and professional career of Kan'ichi Asakawa, a professor of Japanese history at Yale University and author of several works on Japanese history. The Asakawa Papers are organized in three series:

SERIES I, CORRESPONDENCE, 1895-1955, contains letters to and from family members, beginning with Asakawa's first years in the United States, as a student at Dartmouth College and Yale University (1895-1902). Letters are written in both Japanese and English, depending on the correspondent. Additional correspondence relates to Asakawa's academic and literary interests, particularly his interest in Esperanto, an artificial language. Asakawa corresponded with David Morris and other members of the International Auxiliary Language Association on this topic. Letters written during World War II focus on the reaction of individuals to Japanese-Americans living in the United States and Asakawa's thoughts on this subject are often recorded in letters. A draft of a letter Asakawa wrote for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to send to the Japanese emperor in order to prevent hostilities from commencing in 1941 is also arranged in this series.

SERIES II, DIARIES, 1900-1948, contains several volumes of personal journals from 1900-1925 and 1940-1948. Asakawa's early journals are those of a college student and young educator, and contain many references to the differences in culture he encountered as an immigrant from Japan. Later journals detail Asakawa's personal and professional activities, and, once again, material written during the years of World War II focuses on the responsibilities and treatment of Japanese-Americans.

SERIES III, WRITINGS, NOTES, AND MISCELLANEA, 1894-1940, consists of articles, essays, notes, photographs, student papers and other materials. The bulk of material relates to Japanese history, although a section of "Notes" contains research files on modern European and French history in addition to extensive files on Japanese history. Under the heading "Japanese chronicles" is a group of research notes on a wide variety of Japanese historical topics from 1172-1945. Material relating to the Yale Association of Japan (folders 288-292) and the Yale Japanese Club (folder 296) is also arranged in this series.