Kichio Allen Arai

Kichio Allen Arai (c. 1901 – 1966) was a Japanese American architect known for designing Buddhist temples in the Pacific Northwest. He was the first Asian American in Seattle to design buildings under his own name.[2][3][4][5][6]

Kichio Allen Arai
BornAugust 30, 1900, or 1901[1]
Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island, Washington
DiedOctober 13, 1966
Los Angeles, California
Alma materUniversity of Washington, Harvard University
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsSeattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple

Biography
Arai played baseball for the Nippon Athletic Club, shown at right in a 1927 match against Waseda University

He was born to Japanese immigrant parents in Port Blakeley, Bainbridge Island, Washington. Although his birth was originally reported as August 30, 1901, his father later stated in 1921 that he was actually born on August 30, 1900, in an affidavit to amend Kichio's birth certificate.[1] However, he continued to write his birthday as 1901.[7]

Their family moved to the International District in Seattle where they stayed from the before 1910 until they were forcibly located by Japanese internment during World War II.[8][9][10] He spoke Japanese and visited Japan once for less than 6 months during the 1910s.[11] He graduated from Broadway High School in Seattle in 1919. From 1919 to 1925, he attended University of Washington, where he received a bachelor's degree in architecture. In 1925, he was one of at least five students of Japanese descent to graduate from the UW architecture program.[3] In the 1920s, he played baseball semi-professionally for the Nippon Athletic Club in Seattle, where he was a left-handed center fielder.[12]

In 1929, he attended graduate school at Harvard University's School of Architecture, graduating with a Masters of Architecture in June 1930.[13] He married Nobu Kawaguchi on October 6, 1932.[6]

In 1940, the original building of the Seattle Buddhist Church (now known as the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple) was condemned to make way for construction of the Yesler Terrace housing project. Arai was commissioned to design the replacement and construction started in late 1940. Although he had completed his M.Arch., he lacked an architecture license, so Pierce A. Horrocks was the architect of record.[12] The building was completed on October 5, 1941, just a few months before he and most of the sangha would be forcibly removed and interned in camps.[5]

Internment

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, President Roosevelt ordered all Americans of Japanese descent on the west coast to be interned in camps. Arai registered for the draft on February 15, 1942, just days before Executive Order 9066 was signed on February 19.[14] Like most Japanese Americans in Seattle, he was interned at Minidoka in Idaho, arriving with his sons on August 18, 1942. His wife Nobu and daughter arrived a few weeks later on September 5.[15][16]

He was able to leave the camp early for employment by working as a draftsman, traveling to Madison, Wisconsin, on October 15, 1944. The rest of his family left the camp on May 28, 1945.[15]

Later life

After internment, Seattle's Nihonmachi declined and the Arai family moved to the Central District, where they stayed until at least 1950.[17] He died in 1966 in Los Angeles and was buried in Bellevue.[18]

Works

References
  1. "Affidavit to correct public records regarding Kichio Allen Arai's birth date from August 30, 1901 to August 30, 1900, and his name from Kichio Arai to Yoshio Kichio Arai".
  2. "Revisiting Washington — Nichiren Buddhist Church (#32)". revisitwa.org. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  3. "PCAD - Kichio Allen Arai". pcad.lib.washington.edu. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  4. "Steven Arai remembered as a 'gracious, respectful warrior'". www.djc.com. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  5. MacIntosh, Heather M. (November 3, 1998). "Arai, Kichio Allen (1901-1966)". HistoryLink. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  6. "FamilySearch.org". ancestors.familysearch.org. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  7. "Application for federal employment".
  8. "K Arai", United States census, 1910; Seattle, King, Washington; page 15A,, enumeration district 60. Retrieved on May 18, 2023.
  9. "Kichio Arai", United States census, 1920; Seattle, King, Washington; page 1A,, enumeration district 278. Retrieved on May 18, 2023.
  10. "Yone Arai", United States census, 1940; Seattle, King, WA; page 12A, line 5-13, enumeration district 184. Retrieved on May 17, 2023.
  11. Ancestry.com. U.S., Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005. Original data: Japanese-American Internee Data File, 1942-1946 [Archival Database]; Records About Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1988-1989; Records of the War Relocation Authority, Record Group 210; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
  12. Rash, David A. (2014). "Kichio Allen Arai". In Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl; Suttles, Wayne P (eds.). Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. pp. 240–243. ISBN 9780295993485. OCLC 856647647.
  13. "Letter of recommendation from G.H. Edgell".
  14. "U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 for Kichio Allen Arai". Ancestry.com.
  15. "U.S., Final Accountability Rosters of Evacuees at Relocation Centers, 1942-1946 for Allen Kichio Arai". Ancestry.com.
  16. "Arai and Kawaguchi Family Collection".
  17. "Allen K Arai in the 1950 United States Federal Census". Ancestry.com.
  18. "Allen K Arai in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997". Ancestry.com.
  19. Mar 2016, Tamiko Nimura / 18. "A New Gateway to the Past: The Seward Park Torii Project in Seattle". Discover Nikkei. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  20. Rutledge, Bruce (November 10, 2018). "Seward Park Torii Gate Project Breaks Ground". Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  21. Liu, Marian (June 15, 2008). "Seattle Dojo has welcomed generations of families for more than a century". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  22. "Summary for 1212 S KING ST S / Parcel ID 8170100185 / Inv # 0".
  23. Ayer, Tammy (February 1, 2018). "Wapato's Buddhist Hall merges present and the past". Yakima Herald-Republic. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.