Research Guides: Asian History and Culture Materials in Haverford Special Collections (HC): Japan

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Japan Committee

The Friends Yearly Meeting in Philadelphia began mission work in Japan in the 1880s, and materials in our collections cover through the 1970s. Philadelphia Quakers supported the creation of a Tokyo Friends Center (largely for visitation), Girls' School, several Monthly Meetings, and eventually the Japan Yearly Meeting. Activities in Japan were first overseen by the Women's Foreign Missionary Association, and many of the early missionaries and teachers were also women. Listings in the individual manuscripts section on the right include papers of those who worked at the Girls' School and Friends Center. The Japan Committee records include correspondence, meeting mintues, reports, statistics, financial records, work applications, and photographs.

Japan Committee records

Manuscript Materials

Esther A. and Lloyd Balderston papers
The collection includes letters of Esther Balderston Jones, a Quaker missionary, primarily written from Japan in 1914-1916 to the Mission Board, to her future husband, and to friends. These describe Japanese life, people, and culture; the school where she teaches and its students; Tokyo's appearance and available goods; and the coronation of Emperor Yoshihito.
Lewis Benson papers, 1932-1986
Lewis Benson was a Quaker missionary in Japan, and the collection includes material from his time there.
Gilbert and Minnie Pickett Bowles family papers, 1896-1974
Gilbert Bowles arrived in Japan in 1901, where he taught English at a Friends school. He was a founder of the Japan Peace Society. The Bowles moved to Hawaii in 1941, where they worked at Japanese internment camps.
Gilbert and Minnie Bowles correspondence, 1930-1949
This collection is comprised of two accessions of the letters of Gilbert and Minnie Bowles. The collection
is comprised of both private letters and public letters meant for circulation among Friends, written by
Gilbert Bowles and his wife Minnie Bowles during their religious visits to India and Japan.
Howard Haines Brinton and Anna Shipley Cox Brinton papers, 1859-2005
The Brintons worked at the Friends Center in Tokyo from 1952-1954. The collection includes their diaries and correspondence from that time in addition to photographs and glass slides.
Collins Family papers, 1945-1952
The collection includes journals written by middle-class women from the United States on their travels to Japan.
Margaret Mary Clark Haines papers, 1913-1946
This collection includes materials written by Margaret Mary Clark Haines, an English Quaker who moved to the Philadelphia area, letters written to her, minutes of the Philadelphia Mission Board, activities she was involved in, among other materials.
Hartshorne Family papers, 1797-1957
The collection includes the correspondence of Anna C. Hartshorne covering her missionary work in Japan, and Henry Hartshorne's "Letters from Japan."
Jones-Cadbury Family papers, ca. 1770-1994
Elizabeth B. Jones was the wife of Rufus Jones. This collection includes a diary she kept during a trip to Japan.
Naomi and Rayner Kelsey papers, 1842, 1900-1952
Naomi Kelsey (1875/6-1967) was a member of Haverford Monthly Meeting and president of the Haverford College Women's Faculty Club. Included in the collection is a diary she kept, probably in 1936, during a leg of a world cruise, recording events in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Hawaii and discussing people with whom she visits.
Lewis Family papers, 1853-1960
This collection includes the correspondence of Alice Lewis Pearson, who taught in Japan from 1905-1923.
Photographs taken in Japan, 1893-1896, PYM Japan Committee
Photographs are primarily of groups in Japan, including school groups, while other photographs are of Japanese life and customs.
Edith Forsythe Sharpless papers, 1910-1952
Sharpless was a missionary in Japan from 1910 to 1942. This collection includes correspondence while Sharpless was a missionary in Japan, an art book, a birthday album, teaching certificates, among other materials.
Esther B. Rhoads papers, ca. 1895-ca. 1979
Esther Rhoads was the head of the Friends Girls' School in Tokyo for more than fifty years and worked with the Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia. Included in the collection are many letters on Japanese education, relief efforts after World War II, and information on Quakerism in Japan.
Esther B. Rhoads collection on Quakers in Japan, 1897
This collection is comprised of three folders of materials related to Quakers in Japan, and specifically focuses on the American Quaker, Anna C. Hartshorne, and the Japanese Quaker, Inazo Nitobe, collected by Esther B. Rhoades. The collection includes mainly Nitobe's correspondence, but also includes photographs of various members of the Hartshorne family, as well as members of Inazo Nitobe's family.
Edward Wanton Smith papers, 1681-1971
Sarah Anne Green Smith taught at the Friends Girls' School in Japan from 1933-1935, and the collection contains her diary, correspondence, and photographs from that time.
William Swift papers
Letters describe cities and life within them and Swift's visits with other officials to various high-ranking people, including the Emperor and Empress of Japan; describes a grand dinner at the Maple Club in Tokyo.
Elizabeth Gray Vining papers
Elizabeth Gray Vining was a children's author and librarian. From 1946 until 1950 she served as tutor to Crown Prince Akihito of Japan. Materials in the collection include letters, clippings, diaries, and scrapbooks. Please note that some of the materials in the collection are restricted; be sure to consult a librarian before making requests.
Takeo Arishima correspondence, 1903-1907
Takeo Arishima (1878-1923) was a Japanese novelist, short-story writer and essayist. After a mandatory stint in the Imperial Japanese Army, Arishima took English lessons from Mary Elkinton Nitobe, Inazo Nitobe's wife, and in July 1903, he obtained a position as a foreign correspondent in the United States for the Mainichi Shimbun. In the United States he enrolled at Haverford College and later Harvard University. This collection is comprised of the personal correspondence of Takeo Arishima, and a single portrait photograph of him.
Iwao Frederick Ayusawa correspondence, 1945-1954
Iwao Frederick Ayusawa (1894-1972) was active in the Japanese Delegation to the International Labor Organization, served on the Central Labor Relations Board until 1948, and joined the faculty of International Christian University in Japan in 1952. This collection is comprised of the personal correspondence of Iwao Frederick Ayusawa.
William C. Allen diaries, 1904-1937
This collection is composed of six volumes of William C. Allen's religious visits around the world from the 1904-1937. Entries generally describe the customs, manners, language, transportation, food, and religious beliefs in each location Allen visited. In addition, Allen describes Quaker meetings he lead, and religious and political leaders he met with in each place he visited.

Books

Stereoscopic Views of Japan, n.d.
Published in New York, these scenes from Japan were meant to be viewed through a scope which would allow the viewer to see them in 3-D.
Alice Mabel Bacon, Japanese Girls and Women, 1891
This book is a study of Japanese home life with particular focus on the lives of women; it was compiled from interviews with Japanese women.
Frank Brinkley, Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese, 1897
Frank Brinkley lived in Japan for forty years as a British military attaché, foreign adviser to the Japanese government, and newspaper owner. These books describe all aspects of Japanese culture and society from religion to games to dress. Includes many illustrations and photographs.
Bayard Taylor, A Visit to India, China, and Japan, In the Year 1853, 1855
Bayard Taylor was an American poet and travel correspondent. This book contains his observations on the culture and geography of places he visited during a tour of Asia. Of particular interest is that Taylor’s trip to Japan was made with the expedition of Commodore Perry.

Visual Materials

Aerial and ground views of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan
Twenty-one photographs (14 of Nagasaki and 7 of Hiroshima) that were presumably taken by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in August and September 1945.
Photographs
Photographers include Felice Beato, Kusakabe Kembei, Matsusaburo Yokoyama and K. Tamamura. Probably taken between 1865 and 1912.
Snow Scene
19th century photograph by Beato.
Minamata
"Minamata: Life, Sacred and Profane" contains photos by W. Eugene Smith of individuals from the city in southern Japan severely affected by mercury poisoning from industrial pollution.