June 17 - In cleaning out our files last year, a member of my staff came across some surprising documents. She discovered some typewritten letters written in 1923 by the American missionary Clara Loomis, who was the fourth headmistress of the Yokohama Kyoritsu Gakuen. Another American missionary had given these documents to the U.S. Consulate in Yokohama for safekeeping over 50 years ago.

Reading these letters, I learned that Loomis had been vacationing in Gumma Prefecture in 1923 on the day of the Great Kanto earthquake. She wrote about her experiences in the aftermath of the earthquake and fires that engulfed the foreign community in Yokohama. I cried as I read her moving words describing the horrible tragedy.

These original documents were much too precious to lock up in our files. After a short search, we contacted the Yokohama Archives of History, which graciously agreed to accept these documents and ensure they can be preserved and studied by historians.

The other day I visited the Archives to turn over these documents. They presented me with a reproduction of a black and white photo of a memorial service for victims held at the British Consulate in Yokohama in 1923. I instantly recalled that Clara Loomis had written about this very ceremony in her letters. I was moved to see a photograph of the scene that she had described so vividly.

The museum director, Mr. Ueyama, told me that original documents about Yokohama's foreign community in that period are extremely rare. He said the museum would study these documents and planned to include them in its exhibition on the Great Kanto Earthquake that will open in 2013. I was glad to learn that these historic documents have finally found a proper home.

Until next time,

Jim