Seiki Kayamori
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Seiki Kayamori (9 June 1877 – 9 December 1941) was a Japanese
photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...
who lived in
Yakutat, Alaska The City and Borough of Yakutat (, ; Tlingit: ''Yaakwdáat''; russian: Якутат) is a borough in the U.S. state of Alaska and the name of a former city within it. The name in Tlingit is ''Yaakwdáat'' (meaning "the place where canoes r ...
, before
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. His photographs captured the village's residents, mostly Tlingit Indians, at a time when the fish canning industry and other outside influences were beginning to change or eclipse traditional ways of life. Kayamori lived in Yakutat for some 30 years and never returned to Japan. But even before
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
was bombed, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation suspected him and other Japanese immigrants on the West Coast of spying. Two days after the attack, awaiting his arrest, Kayamori committed suicide. No credible evidence has ever been produced to indicate that he was a spy. Today, about 700 of Kayamori's photographs are housed at the Alaska State Historical Library in Juneau.


Early life in Japan

Kayamori was born in 1877 in what was then the village of Dembo, today part of Fuji City in central Japan. He was the fifth of eight children; the second of four sons. The wealthy and prominent Kayamori family owned a
paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
, farm lands and a small
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
. Under Japan's
conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
law, Kayamori likely served a three-year military term. The law also required an additional three-year term in the reserves. In 1903, Japan was on the brink of war with Russia, and reservists like Kayamori waited to be recalled up to duty.


Life and death in Alaska

In September 1903, Kayamori turned 26 aboard the steamer Iyo Maru during the voyage from Yokohama to Seattle. He arrived with $87.10 and a steamer ticket for San Francisco, according to the ship's manifest, which lists his last residence as Tokyo and his occupation as "laborer and farmer". The ship's manifest lists his destination as the Japanese Methodist Mission on Pine Street. By 1910, Kayamori was living in a Seattle's Welcome Hotel and working as a "cleaner and passer" at a dye works, according to census records. Around 1912, he moved to Yakutat, a small
Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),
village in
southeast Alaska Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...
, where he worked in the Libby, McNeil & Libby fish cannery. Racist attitudes and active unions at the time ensured that the jobs available to
Japanese immigrants The Japanese diaspora and its individual members, known as Nikkei (日系) or as Nikkeijin (日系人), comprise the Japanese emigrants from Japan (and their descendants) residing in a country outside Japan. Emigration from Japan was recorded a ...
on the West Coast were largely limited to agricultural, railroad, laundry and cannery work. Today, Yakutat is a large (9860 square mile), sparsely populated, consolidated city/borough. After his father's death, Kayamori's mother went to live with her grandson's family in
Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
, then a Japanese colony. According to family members, Kayamori sent letters, money, pictures, toys and once a whole salmon packed in salt. In Yakutat, children just called Kayamori Picture Man. For thirty years, he photographed celebrations, ceremonies, Tlingit culture, and the growing influences of colonialism. Kayamori had a
box camera A box camera is a simple type of camera, the most common form being a cardboard or plastic box with a lens in one end and film at the other. They were sold in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The lenses are often singl ...
with a hood, and a
darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...
in his small house near the cannery on Monti Bay. Yakutat's exposed Pacific coastline made it vulnerable and U.S. military forces began to fortify the area as
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
escalated. Soldiers warned Yakutat residents to prepare for an attack. In October 1940, FBI director
J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation  ...
sent a letter to the bureau's
Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...
agent requesting the names of "persons who should be considered for custodial detention pending investigation in the event of a national emergency." The reply included the name S. Kayamori and a description: "Is reported to be an enthusiastic photographer and to have panoramic views of the Alaskan coast line icfrom Yakutat to Cape Spencer." A day before the Japanese bombed
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
, Hoover wrote to the War Department's
military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
division requesting information on a number of individuals. Under Kayamori's name the reply noted: "Reported on suspect list, Alaska." After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, soldiers reportedly beat up the 64-year-old, 5-foot-3 (160 cm) photographer, according to a town resident. Locals say Kayamori knew he would soon be arrested and interned. On December 9, he committed
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
in his home. Under cause of death, his death certificate asks "Drug?" The doctor who responded to Kayamori's death later wrote that he found evidence of an attempt to burn some documents. Locals say soldiers buried Kayamori across the bay, a site that was later paved for a naval ramp.


Photograph collection

Twenty years later, a Yakutat couple found boxes of Kayamori's negatives, mostly fragile 5×7 inch glass plates, in the attic of an abandoned church mission house scheduled for demolition. Yakutat residents eventually delivered the collection to the
Alaska State Library The Alaska State Library and Historical Collections and Talking Book Center are located on the second floor of the Andrew P. Kashevaroff Building in Juneau, Alaska. Mission statement The Alaska State Library: *promotes and coordinates library s ...
in Juneau. In the late 70s, the city of Yakutat and the library shared expenses to develop two sets of prints from about seven hundred negatives, and to make copy negatives of about three hundred photographs. A group of Yakutat residents met with the state librarian to identify people and places in the pictures. One set of prints currently resides at the Yakutat City Hall, the other at the state library, which lists 694 photographs. According to the library, ethnologists and historians from various universities have studied the photo collection, listed under the name Fhoki icKayamori. Kayamori family members have confirmed that the photographer's
first name First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
was actually Seiki, though Kayamori himself sometimes signed his name "Shoki." The Alaska Historical Library collection includes at least three pictures of Kayamori (ASL-P55-140, ASL-P55-197 & ASL-P55-714). The Sealaska Heritage Institute owns another image of the photographer (SHI72-140).Thomas, Picture Man


Notes


Sources and external links


Guide_to_the_Fhoki_[sic
Kayamori_Photograph_Collection,_[ASL-PCA-055.html" ;"title="ic">Guide to the Fhoki [sic
Kayamori Photograph Collection, [ASL-PCA-055">ic">Guide to the Fhoki [sic
Kayamori Photograph Collection, [ASL-PCA-055/nowiki> ca. 1912-1941], Finding aid prepared by Alaska State Library, 1976. * Spartz, India, and Ron Inouye, "Fhoki icKayamori: Amateur Photographer of Yakutat, 1912-41". ''Alaska History'' 6, no. 2, Fall 1991. * Thomas, Margaret. "Was Kayamori a spy?" ''Alaska'' magazine, Nov. 1995, pp. 48+.
"Kayamori" at Alaska's Digital Archive
(photographs)

at the University of Alaska Fairbanks * Thomas, Margaret. ''Picture Man: The legacy of Southeast Alaska photographer Shoki Kayamori''. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska University Press. 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kayamori, Seiki 1877 births 1941 suicides 1941 deaths American photographers Drug-related suicides in Alaska Japanese expatriates in the United States Japanese photographers Artists from Shizuoka Prefecture People of pre-statehood Alaska Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska