Résumé

Interpreter, US Army in occupied Japan, 1946-1949. He served in the US Army between 09/27/1946 and 01/21/1949. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011, accessed 10/29/2024.)

Architect / Partner, Sasaki Associates, Incorporated, Watertown, MA, c. 1961-1977.

Partner, Urban Design Collaborative International, Columbus, OH, 1977-1990.

Teaching

High School / College

Coursework, Rohwer Center High School, McGehee, AR, c. 1944.

B.Arch., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1955.

M.S., Japanese History, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, 1957.

M.Arch., Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA, 1961.

Relocation

Masao Kinoshita was born in the port town of San Pedro, part of the City of Los Angeles, CA, in 02/1925. (The exact date of his birth varies among sources, including 02/12/1924 [Irei Monument Project; Los Angeles, CA, USA], 02/12/1925 [U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 abd California Birth Index] or 02/19/1925 [U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947]. Because two of the documents listed 02/12/1925 as the date, this has been chosen as most accurate.)

Although born in CA, Masao spent much of his life traveling back and forth between Japan and the United States. An internment document created sometime between 1942 and 1944 indicated that Masao had spent a "total Time In Japan10 Years But Less Than 15 Years In Japan." (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005, accessed 10/29/2024.)

He traveled with his mother Mitsue and a relative named Seizo Kinoshita (born c. 1880 in Tawara, Wakayama-ken, Japan), returning to Los Angeles from Kobe aboard the Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) Taiyo Maru between 03/28/1929 and 04/18/1929. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, California; NAI Number: 4486355; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85, accessed 10/29/2024.) For at least five months in 1940, he visited relatives in Japan, returning to CA in late 09/1940, about fifteen months before the Pearl Harbor attack. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, California; NAI Number: 4486355; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85, accessed 10/29/2024.) Between 1955 and 1957, as well, he spent an extended period of time in Kyoto, where he attended graduate school at Kyoto University.

On 04/17/1930, when the 1930 US Census was taken, Masao lived with his father Otomatsu at 136B Cannery Street in San Pedro. His widower father paid $8 per month in rent. No other siblings were recorded in this census document. Otomatsu was listed as a fisherman, although he also may have worked in the cannery, too. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Page: 34A; Enumeration District: 0585; FHL microfilm: 2339890, accessed 10/29/2024.) In 1940, Otomatsu was listed as a fisherman living at 136B Cannery Street with Masao and three other siblings, Michimura, Toshiko and Tokiye. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: m-t0627-00431; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 60-1267, accessed 10/29/2024.)

At age 18, Masao was interned at the Rohwer Relocation Center, near McGehee, AR. His address there was 1-3-C, Rowher Relocation Center on 01/21/1944. He was then a student at Rowher's high school. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Arkansas, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147, accessed 10/29/2024.) According to one document Masao entered an internment facility in Torrance, CA, on 09/27/1942 and was released on 06/01/1945, likely from Rohwer, to be sent to Naperville, IL. His parents did not appear in the same internee log as Masao, but his sister Tokiye did, and so she may have been interned with him in either Torrance or Rohwer.

His last address was at the US Consulate in Tokyo.

Parents

His father was Otomatsu Kinoshita (born 08/24/1886 in Wakayam-ken, Japan), who worked at least some of the time as either a fisherman or a San Pedro fish cannery worker. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005, accessed 10/29/2024.) The 1920 US Census recorded that he had first come to the US in 1907. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Los Angeles Assembly District 71, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_111; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 308, accessed 10/29/2024.) Another document listed 1905 as his year of arrival. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005, accessed 10/29/2024.)

Masao's mother was Mitsue Yamada (born 05/05/1893 in Wakayama-ken, Japan-d. 04/03/1930 in Los Angeles, CA), who arrived in the US on 01/22/1912 on a ship from Honolulu, HI, to San Francisco, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at San Francisco; San Bruno, Ca; Index to Alien Case Files At the National Archives At San Francisco, Ca. 1975 - 2020; NAID: 6827288; Record Group Title: Records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2003-2004; Record Group: 566, accessed 10/29/2024.) Mitsue died in Los Angeles at age 37.

As noted in the 1920 US Census, his parents and three siblings lived in Cottage #133 1/2 at the Sea Coast Cannery Camp in San Pedro. A possible relative, Yasutaro Kinoshita (born c. 1876 in Japan), lived in a nearby rented cottage with his wife Sumi (born c. 1881 in Japan) and their two children. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Los Angeles Assembly District 71, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_111; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 308, accessed 10/29/2024.) Two years later, in 06/1922, his parents lived at 1310 Aza-Yezumi, Yezumi-Mura, Wakayama-ken, Japan, not in the Los Angeles area. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.; NAI Number: 302021; Record Group Title: General Records of the Department of State; Record Group Number: Record Group 59; Series Number: Publication A1 205; Box Number: 4676; Box Description: 1910-1929 Japan Ba - Li, accessed 10/26/2024.)

He had a least four siblings: Michimasa Kinoshita (born c. 1916 in CA), Hanaye Kinoshita (born 1917 in US-d, 06/03/1922 in Yezumi-Mura, Wakayam-ken, Japan), Toshiko Kinoshita (born c. 1919 in CA) and Tokiye Kinoshita (born c. 1921 in San Pedro, Los Angeles, CA)

Spouse

Masao Kinoshita married Alice Miyeko Kozaki on 06/09/1952 in Cuyahoga County, OH. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016, accessed 10/29/2024.) They divorced on 03/28/2001 in Franklin County, OH. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Ohio Department of Health; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio Divorce Index, 1962-1963, 1967-1971 and 1973-2007, accessed 10/29/2024.)

Biographical Notes

Masao and his elder sister Tokiye Kinoshita sailed between Kobe Japan and San Pedro, CA, aboard the Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Lines') SS Kamakura Maru, between 09/05/1940 and 08/24/1940. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, California; NAI Number: 4486355; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85, accessed 10/29/2024.)

His World War II draft registration card of 01/21/1944 listed Masao at age 18 as Japanese-American, with a light brown complexion, brown eyes and black hair. He stood 5-feet, 9-inches tall, and weighed 150 pounds. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Arkansas, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147, accessed 10/29/2024.)

SSN: 558263229.