Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family
label: Names
content: Harvard University
label: Names
content: Yamanaka & Company
label: Names
content: Yatsuhashi family
label: Names
content: Yamanaka, Sadajiro
label: Names
content: Yatsuhashi, Harumichi, 1886-1982
place: label: Place
content: Boston (Mass.)
label: Place
content: New York (N.Y.)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art dealers
label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- Japan
label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- Massachusetts -- Boston
label: Topic
content: Alien property -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Foreign property
label: Topic
content: Japanese American families -- Photographs
label: Topic
content: Japanese American families
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family Papers were donated to the Archives by James Arthur Marinaccio in 1994. 2022 addition was purchased by the Archives.
creator: label: Creator
content: Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family
setName: label: See more items in
content: Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: 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.
bioghist: label: Biography
content: 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
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 9 Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1907-1976
custodhist: label: Provenance
content: Gift of James Arthur Marinaccio, 1994
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: FSA.A1994.02
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Catalogs
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Printed material
label: Type
content: Address books
label: Type
content: Announcements
label: Type
content: Sheet music
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Visiting cards
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Photograph albums
label: Type
content: Books
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: 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
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed by Colleen Hennessey and volunteer Suzuki Kiyoko in 1997. Additional arrangement and description by Linda Machado in 2002 and Lisa Fthenakis in 2022.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Catalogs -- 1910-1960
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Printed material
label: Genre/Form
content: Address books
label: Genre/Form
content: Announcements
label: Genre/Form
content: Sheet music
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Visiting cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Photograph albums
label: Genre/Form
content: Books
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: 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.