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Catalog Data

Creator:
Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family  Search this
Names:
Harvard University  Search this
Yamanaka & Company  Search this
Yatsuhashi family  Search this
Yamanaka, Sadajiro  Search this
Yatsuhashi, Harumichi, 1886-1982  Search this
Extent:
9 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Catalogs
Correspondence
Printed material
Address books
Announcements
Sheet music
Diaries
Visiting cards
Photographs
Photograph albums
Books
Place:
Boston (Mass.)
New York (N.Y.)
Date:
1907-1976
Summary:
The Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family Papers (1906-1976) document the professional and personal lives of a Japanese-American family in Boston during the twentieth century. The patriarch, Yatsuhashi Harumichi (1886-1982), was an influential Asian art dealer and the papers also document the professional experiences of Asian art dealers in the United States during the early and mid 20th century. Mr. Yatsuhashi worked at the antiquities firm of Yamanaka & Company before starting his own Asian antiquities shop in 1945. Included in the papers, portions in Japanese, are correspondence; catalogues relating to the Alien Property Custodian's 1944 liquidation of Yamanaka & Company's New York branch's holdings; photographs depicting art objects and shop interiors, the Yatsuhashi family, Yamanaka & Company, and extended family, friends, and colleagues; and items belonging to Mr. Yatsuhashi's wife, Shigeki, and some of their children.
Scope and Contents:
The Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family Papers (1906-1976) document the professional and personal lives of a Japanese-American family in Boston during the twentieth century. The patriarch, Yatsuhashi Harumichi (1886-1982), was an influential Asian art dealer and the papers also document the professional experiences of Asian art dealers in the United States during the early and mid 20th century. Mr. Yatsuhashi worked at the antiquities firm of Yamanaka & Company before starting his own Asian antiquities shop in 1945. Included in the papers, portions in Japanese, are correspondence; catalogues relating to the Alien Property Custodian's 1944 liquidation of Yamanaka & Company's New York branch's holdings; photographs depicting art objects and shop interiors, the Yatsuhashi family; Yamanaka & Company, and extended family, friends, and colleagues; and items belonging to Mr. Yatsuhashi's wife, Shigeki, and some of their children.
Arrangement:
The collection has been organized into four series. Series 1: Yatsuhashi Harumichi papers, 1912-1965, undated — Subseries 1.1: Biographical information, undated — Subseries 1.2: Correspondence, 1940-1980 — Subseries 1.3: Diary, 1912 — Subseries 1.4: Address book, undated — Subseries 1.5: Printed materials, 1919-1965, undated Series 2: Business Correspondence, Boston Art and Book Shop, 1960s Series 3: Other family members, 1937, 1966, undated — Subseries 3.1: Yatsuhashi Shigeki — Subseries 3.2: Yatsuhashi S. — Subseries 3.3: Yatsuhashi Masao — Subseries 3.4: Yatsuhashi Sumiko Series 4: Photographs, 1907-1976, undated — Subseries 4.1:Still prints and portraits — Subseries 4.2: Photo albums
Biography:
Asian art dealer and merchant Yatsuhashi Harumichi (1886- 1982) was born in Tano, Japan, on December 15, 1886. Upon completion of his studies in Osaka, Mr. Yatsuhashi secured employment in the Osaka office of the prestigious Asian antiquities firm, Yamanaka & Company. (For more information about Yamanaka & Company, please see: Lawton, T. (1995). Yamanaka Sadajiro: Advocate for Asian art. Orientations, 26 (1), 80-93.) In 1907 he joined Yamanka & Company's branch office in Boston, Massachusetts, as its general manager and treasurer of the company's Asian division. Located at 424 Boylston Street, the store was a center for Chinese art, as well as for Japanese assorted goods. In 1913 Yatsuhashi married Shigeki. They produced two sons (Michio and Masao) and two daughters (Sumiko and Kukiye). (Harumichi Yatsuhashi, Oriental art authority and Brookline resident. (1982 December 3). The Boston Globe, obituaries.) Following the United States' entrance into World War II, the Alien Property Custodian seized the Yamanaka shops in New York, Boston, and Chicago. The holdings were sold at auction in May and June, 1944. In 1945, Yatsuhashi Harumichi and his son Michio opened their own Asian art dealership at 420 Boylston Street in Boston. Yatsuhashi Harumichi fostered exchange between his native and adopted homeland. He was a member and officer (president in 1931) of the Japan Society of Boston since 1921, an avid supporter of the Boston Marathon, and a founder of the Boston-Kyoto Sister City Foundation. (Boston Globe, 1982 December 4. ) Michio Yatsuhashi, who helped his father open the Yatsuhashi antique shop, died prematurely as a result of cancer in 1981. One year later, Mr. Yatsuhashi died in Boston at the age of 96. He was survived by his daughters, Sumiko and Kikuye and one son, Masao. 1886 December 15 -- Yatsuhashi Harumichi born in Japan 1905 -- Yatsuhashi Harumichi graduates college in Osaka, Japan 1905 -- Yatsuhashi Harumichi joins the antiquities firm of Yamanaka & Co. 1907 -- Yatsuhashi Harumichi joins the Boston branch of Yamanaka & Co. 1913 -- Yatsuhashi Harumichi and Shigeki marry [ca. 1918 - 1919] -- Masao Yatsuhashi (son) born 1944 -- Yamanaka & Company New York, Boston, and Chicago shops are seized by the Alien Property Custodian and its holdings are sold at auction 1945 -- Yatsuhashi Harumichi and son Michio open an Asian antiquities shop in Boston 1961 -- Yatsuhashi Shigeki dies 1981 -- Michio Yatsuhashi dies 1982 December 1 -- Yatsuhashi Harumichi dies at Massachusetts General Hospital at the age of 96
Provenance:
The Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family Papers were donated to the Archives by James Arthur Marinaccio in 1994. 2022 addition was purchased by the Archives.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
No restrictions on use.
Occupation:
Art dealers  Search this
Art dealers -- Japan  Search this
Art dealers -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this
Topic:
Alien property -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Foreign property  Search this
Japanese American families -- Photographs  Search this
Japanese American families  Search this
Genre/Form:
Catalogs -- 1910-1960
Correspondence
Printed material
Address books
Announcements
Sheet music
Diaries
Visiting cards
Photographs
Photograph albums
Books
Citation:
Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family Papers. FSA.A.1994.02 National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of James Arthur Marinaccio, 1994.
Identifier:
FSA.A1994.02
See more items in:
Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family Papers
Archival Repository:
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc3e4126fd0-f772-472a-b18c-1eb9bac9e7d8
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-fsa-a1994-02