This finding aid is made available for public use following the Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons designation.
Miwa Kai was the Head of the Japanese Collection at C. V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University. She began working at the East Asian Library in 1945, starting out as a typist, but later worked as a cataloger, and eventually became the Head of the Japanese Collection, working as a librarian until her retirement in 1983. Despite officially retiring, Kai continued to work as a researcher and bibliographic assistant to the University Committee on Asia and the Middle East. Additionally, she continued her work with the East Asian Library's Japanese Collection, aiding visiting scholars, publishing several catalogs, and completing a comprehensive book of history of the library's Japanese Collection.
Born in 1913 in San Francisco, California, Kai's first vocation was as a concert pianist. She received the Beethoven Prize at the Piano Playing Tournament in San Francisco in 1927 at the age of only fourteen, and won first prize at the Music Concourse in Japan in 1932. In 1937, she participated in the Third International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, representing Japan. She was still living in San Francisco, continuing her piano studies, at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. She was forcibly evacuated to the Central Utah War Relocation Center internment camp (otherwise known as Topaz) near Delta, Utah. During her time there, Kai taught piano lessons and performed concerts. She was discharged in 1943 by securing release to work for John Embree, an anthropologist specializing in Japanese studies. Kai then moved to Manhattan in 1944, where she began working at the C. V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University.
Kai's impact on Japanese studies and librarianship goes beyonds the confines of Columbia University. Following the end of World War II, Kai spent two months aiding the Library of Congress in processing books confiscated from libraries in Japan. Many unwanted or duplicate materials found there would be taken by Kai and added to the Japanese Collection at Columbia University's East Asian Library. Kai also trained many Japanese librarians from Japan during her time at Columbia, including members from the National Diet Library and the Waseda University Library. In 1995, the Japanese Government conferred her with the Order of the Precious Crown, Wisteria for her efforts to enhance cultural exchange. Kai also completed a number of publications, most noteworthy her translation of
The collection was originally housed in several filing cabinets in and near Miwa Kai's office space in Kent Hall, which she shared with Wm. Theodore de Bary. Kai kept well-organized files, and most of her original file names have been retained. In addition to the papers she collected and created through the course of her work and personal life, she also inherited papers created by Howard P. Linton and Ryusaku Tsunoda, which she incorporated into her own files and enhanced with supplementary material and her own hand-written notes.
Her papers include many newspaper clippings and other types of printed ephemera such as newsletters, brochures, pamphlets, and other handouts from events. Kai also liked to record notes when she attended events, met with people, and consulted reference material from the library. She particularly enjoyed drafting genealogies and family trees. There is also extensive correspondence, both hand-written and typed. She was most comfortable using her typewriter even after email became popular, and printed out copies of emails to keep for her records. Throughout her travels, Kai collected business cards of people she met and photo postcards from places she visited. There is a small amount of photographs within the collection.
In her professional life, Miwa Kai both created and accrued extensive material about Columbia, the Libraries, C. V. Starr East Asian Library, and the Japanese collection in particular. She believed that the origin story of the Japanese collection was unique and interesting enough that she made it her goal to document it thoroughly, intending to have its story published. Kai was also very interested in topics pertaining to Asian- and Japanese-Americans and the immigrant experience, as well as classical music and musicians. She kept tabs on major figures (i.e. celebrities, politicians) and institutions related to these subject areas.
This collection is located off-site. Collection is closed until processed.
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The C.V. Starr East Asian Library maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Transferred from Miwa Kai's office after her death, 2014 and 2017.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Miwa Kai papers; Box and Folder; C. V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University Library.
Papers partially rehoused by and finding aid drafted by Rita Wang, Project Archivist, 2020.
Intellectual arrangement devised, papers partially rehoused, and finding aid expanded upon by Meredith Self (LIU '21), Intern, Spring 2021.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact starr@library.columbia.edu for more information.
This series contains material created by Miwa Kai and others specifically relating to the operations and collections of the East Asian Library. Topics include gifts to the library, statistics, annual reports, the history of the library, and exhibitions. Notably, included is Kai's unfinished manuscript,
Materials used or created by Miwa Kai in service to her profession as a librarian. Kai made multiple trips to Japan during and after her time working at Starr, and all documents related to those trips are contained herein, including detailed agendas of her activities abroad and correspondence with people she visited. Also includes various reference materials for activities such as cataloging and using the library catalog.
Non-work-related correspondence, syllabi and readings for alumni colloquiums Kai attended at Columbia, and other papers documenting her life outside of her duties at Starr. Includes her collections of postcards and business cards.
By far the most extensive portion of the collection, the subject files document the various individuals Miwa Kai was in contact with or interested in, as well as the institutions and events in which she was interested. Much of this consists of newspaper and magazine clippings, as well as letters, printed ephemera, publications, and manuscripts. There are also several files of correspondence not assigned to any particular subject ("MK Correspondence").
There are relatively few photographs interspersed throughout Miwa Kai's files. Among them are some of the exhibitions displayed in the East Asian Library over the years and several of Kai herself. As removing them from their original files risks losing important context (many were enclosed with letters), they remain in their respective files alongside other forms of materials.