Sold by Crow Hop Rare Books, ABAA, Woodstock, GA, U.S.A.
Association Member:
AbeBooks Seller since September 11, 2020
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
A postwar friendship between Harry and Toku Mitoko from Fukuoka, Japan, and Vernon and Gladys Hill of Miami/Coral Gables, Florida (and later Flat Rock, NC). Harry Mitoko was a chauffeur in the 1930s when he apparently met the Hills and returned to his native Japan in 1940 after his brother died in the war the previous year Mikoto then took his father s place as Shinto priest. According to a news article included in one album, the Hills visited the Mitokos in Japan September 13-16, 1978, the first time they had seen each other in person in nearly forty years. All letters behind transparent plastic film. Nicely preserved, about VG+ in all.Album 1 handwritten "Harry Mitoko 1948" on cover. 27 postmarked envelopes with letters from the Mitoko family to the Hills, with three typed letters from the Hills (one letter notes, "Everyone is moving from Miami as soon as they are able because we are strictly Spanish…The Gables is still safe. Miami is New York"). Also includes 19 postmarked envelopes and letters from Mitoko to the Tanner family of Miami, Florida. 38 black and white photos of the Mitoko family in Japan, 1941-1965 (many are accompanied by annotations on album pages) a series of family photos and pictures detailing a mud avalanche/tidal wave disaster in the Mitoko village on July 13-14, 1959. At the rear of the album in pasted envelopes are 8 photo doubles and 17 postmarked postcards from Japan to the Hill and Tanner families. Mitoko references a Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951 and remarks "Hoping United State and Japan be very very good friend again as before."Album 2 38 postmarked envelopes and letters (some with additional clippings and ephemera) from the Mikoto family to the Hills (1961-1978). Four typed letters from the Hills to the Mitoko family included ("our yearly visit in letters"). Also includes 18 photographs (7 in color) from the 1960s and 1970s of the Mitoko family in Japan. A few pieces of ephemera, including postcards from Japan, laid in.Album 3 29 handwritten letters from Mitoko to the Hills from 1978 to 1983, and one typed letter from the Hills to Mitoko. Includes 17 color photos of a June 1980 visit of another friend from Japan Haruyuki Nakahara visiting the Hill family and exploring the Yamato Colony and Morikami Park and Museum near Boca Raton. Sadly, around 1982-1983, Harry Mitoko s letters are much shorter and in a shaky hand after he was bedridden after a fall (he was 83 at that time). The final letter is from August 1983.A fascinating epistolatory record of an enduring friendship for over 40 years told through more than 110 letters and 75 photographs that links a Japanese family and a Florida family after World War II.
Seller Inventory # 1276
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| Order quantity | 5 to 8 business days | 3 to 5 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | US$ 10.50 | US$ 15.00 |
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