Alan Miyatake | Interview 2 | March 13, 2023

Oral History Center, UC Berkeley
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00:00:00 - Staying motivated in school through sports

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Keywords: Boy Scouts; Greenwood Elementary School; Japanese American basketball leagues; Japanese American sports leagues; Japanese church; Los Angeles, California; Montebello, California; basketball; church; church basketball team; football; glasses; grammar school; high school; junior high; psychotherapist; therapy; track and field; truancy; East Los Angeles

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

00:09:34 - Growing up in Montebello, California

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Keywords: Japanese Americans; Japanese community; Montebello High School; Montebello, California; county hospital; darkroom; eminent domain; ethnic enclave; kindergarten; photography; photography studio; real estate; moving

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

00:15:42 - Starting to work in photography in high school

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Keywords: Fukui Mortuary; Japanese American newspaper; Rafu Shimpo; Toyo Miyatake; Toyo Miyatake Studio; darkroom; family studio; photo editing; sports; photography

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

00:23:02 - Relationship between Toyo Miyatake Studio and Rafu Shimp newspaper

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Keywords: Bank of Tokyo; Japanese American newspaper; Mr. Komai; Rafu Shimpo; Sumitomo Bank; Toyo Miyatake Studio; Union Bank; identity; individualism; photography; Japanese American community

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

00:30:39 - Studying photography at East LA Community College

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Keywords: ArtCenter; East LA Community College; Toyo Miyatake Studio; college; dean's list; family business; high school; junior college; photography; psychoterhapist; sports; career aspirations

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

00:37:47 - Working full-time at Toyo Miyatake Studio / Dynamics of family business

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Keywords: ArtCenter; Toyo Miyatake Studio; family business; family dynamics; firstborn; graduation pictures; portraits; tradition; weddings; photography

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

00:47:12 - Toyo Miyatake's phography of Manzanar / Family relationship with Ansel Adams

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Keywords: 1978; Ansel Adams; April Matsumoto; ArtCenter; Edward Weston; Manzanar; Toyo Miyatake; Two Views of Manzanar; UCLA; cashier; college; daughters; marriage; receptionist; wife

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

00:56:52 - Photo development techniques at Toyo Miyatake Studio

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Keywords: ArtCenter; Toyo Miyatake Studio; commercial developer; darkroom; photo-editing; photography; photography techinques; photo developer

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

01:00:50 - Recreating Toyo Miyatake's photo using his homemade camera from Manzanar

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Keywords: Manzanar; Sydney Miyatake; Toyo Miyatake; darkroom; daughters; digital camera; homemade camera; photo developmernt

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

01:06:05 - Death of grandfather, Toyo Miyatake

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Keywords: Issei; Japanese American communtiy; Los Angeles, California; Mayor Bradley; Rafu Shimpo; Tom Bradley; Toyo Miyatake; Toyo Miyatake Way; death; grandfather; logbooks; phlebitis; pneumonia

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

01:17:03 - Legacy of Toyo Miyatake's photography at the Japanese American National Museum

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Keywords: JANM; Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American students; Little Tokyo; Manzanar; Nisei Week; Rafu Shimpo; Visual Communication; history class; interviews; phogoraphs; students; world history; Toyo Miyatake

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

01:26:07 - How copyrights work when donating to museum archives

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Keywords: JANM; Japanese American National Museum; Manzanar; Toyo Miyatake; archives; archiving; copyright; phogoraphs; UCLA

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

01:29:53 - Taking over the family photography studio business

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Keywords: Alan Miyatake Portraits; Toyo Miyatake; Toyo Miyatake Studio; contracts; family business; family dynamics; family identity; identity; marriage; oldest son; real estate; real estate classes; sibling rivalry; photography studio

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

01:38:16 - Connection to Japanese American community after taking over family business

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Keywords: Girl Scouts; Japanese American basketball; Little Tokyo; family; family fractures; family relationship; father; holidays; mother; family dynamics

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

01:42:25 - Moving the Toyo Miyatake Studio after earthquake

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Keywords: 1970s; Japanese American community; Little Tokyo; Los Angeles, California; Nisei Week; San Gabriel, California; earthquake; fires; redevelopment; Toyo Miyatake Photography Studio

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

01:45:10 - Acting as a liaison between Manzanar National Historic Site and the descendants of incarcerees

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Keywords: Japanese American communtiy; Rosemary Masters; concentration camp; historic site; museum; national park; negatives; oral histories; phogography; Manzanar

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

01:50:25 - Legacy and future of Toyo Miyatake Studio

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Keywords: Covid-19; JANM; Japanese American National Museum; Manzanar; Merritt Park; Toyo Miyatake; Toyo Miyatake Studio; basketball; concentration camp; family legacy; fishing; pandemic; photography; pigrimages

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity

02:01:24 - Shooting portraits of the Emperor of Japan

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Keywords: 1950s; 1992; Archie Miyatake; Little Tokyo; Nisei Week; Toyo Miyatake; crown prince; portraits; Emperor of Japan

Subjects: Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project; Community and Identity