Anonymous Japanese Diary from WWII

Page from MSS 238 – Anonymous
Japanese World War II Diary

Boise State University’s Albertsons Library Special Collections and Archives holds an anonymous diary from a seaman working on a hospital vessel for the Japanese Navy during World War II.

The diary is shrouded in some mystery because its author (or authors), the name of the ship, and the author of the partial English translation are all unknown.

The diary was donated by a former Head Librarian at Albertsons Library, Timothy A. Brown. Mr. Brown received the diary from his cousin, a widow, whose husband had made trips to Japan.  The prior provenance of the diary is unknown.

In an attempt to gather more information about the diary, Tim Brown sent the artifact to the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle, Washington in 2001.

In 2005, the diary was returned stating that the consulate was unable to determine the identity (or identities) of the authors and did not indicate the name of the ship. It was then that Brown donated it to Special Collections and Archives.

Page from MSS 238 – Anonymous
Japanese World War II Diary

The diary contains details of World War II battles, the leisure time activities of the crew and officers, and opinions about the war. Here is a small sample of entries:

15 May 1944 Our ship finally reached its full complement of corpsman total of 96. Officers and crew invited to picnic at Manilla Park. I won a prize in the 100 Meter Run – just two rice cakes. In the afternoon played baseball with the officers – they won … the beer in Manilla is very tasty and had my fill.

20 May 1944 … My own opinion of this war right now is a possible attack by America or England on our home land… I’m sure Japan could not stand such an attack since so many of our troops and naval forces are now employed in the South China Sea.  Even if we do conquer New Guinea and New Zealand our major forces will still be deployed and too far away to defend Japan and the war could be lost.

25 Oct 44 Observed 18 enemy aircraft over Rabaul.  All Army and Navy guns trying to rebel the attack.  All enemy aircraft very smartly keeping outside our 19,000 meter range.  High flying bombers did much damage to base and facilities, staying at least 20,000 meter altitude. Our guns were useless at this range.  After sunset more bombing. Heavy damage to airfield and fuel storage. Many buildings no longer standing. Heavy black smoke covered the whole island…. I was sure I would be killed in this attack. The noise from our guns was deafening. The blast and wind from enemy bombs was terrible, could not stand or talk. Makes a man want to fight with all he has.

Because the translation is incomplete, anybody with Japanese language skills is welcome to come to Special Collections and volunteer their time to finish the translation. The archives are open 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday.  An online description of the diary and translation can found on the Northwest Digital Archives.

Kent Randell
Assistant Professor/Librarian/Archivist

Where do Special Collections and Archives come from?

Map of Minidoka Relocation Center in Hunt, Idaho.
Mildred Pieters Papers, Special Collections and Archives.

On the second floor of the library you’ll find exhibit cases that currently feature memorabilia
celebrating Boise State’s 80th anniversary. Behind those windows are hundreds of boxes and
cabinets full of memorabilia, papers, diaries, publications, letters, photographs, scrapbooks, oral
histories, and other unique items that document the university’s history as well as the history of
Boise and Southwest Idaho.

So how do those materials end up in Special Collections and Archives? The University Archives
is the repository for university publications and the official records of the President, Faculty
Senate, ASBSU, administrative offices, and academic departments. Materials include the student
newspaper, university catalogs, budgets, yearbooks, photographs, audio and video, books,
posters, and other ephemera. There are many departments on campus who automatically donate
material to the University Archives but we also actively ask people for items as well.

The collections about Boise and Idaho are different. Most often, I receive a call or email from
someone asking if we are interested. There are a variety of reasons why people contact me:
an organization is moving an office and no longer has room; an individual is cleaning out a
basement or attic; or perhaps a family member passed away and left material behind. I often visit
homes and offices to look at the collections and see if they are what we would like.

Our goal is to collect material that documents history and provides a resource for students,
faculty, genealogists, documentary filmmakers, journalists, authors, the community, and anyone
interested in research. We want to have material that will be used!

Recent acquisitions:

Political buttons
Posters of Cecil Andrus
Record albums of band concerts from the Southern Idaho Conference, Boise, and Ada County
Articles about Japanese internment camps
A manuscript and screenplay by Idaho author Michael Corrigan
Materials from the Nordic Voice Cross-Country Ski Association
Records of the Episcopal Diocese
Diaries from 1912-1984 of a Boise woman
Student papers about Latinos in Idaho

Search our collections: http://nwda-db.orbiscascade.org/nwda-search/advanced.aspx
Search select photographs: http://digital.boisestate.edu/
Search University Documents: http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/uni_docs/

Cheryl Oestreicher, PhD
Head, Special Collections and Archives/Assistant Professor

Special Collections joins the Northwest Digital Archives

Idaho governor Len Jordan with nine other western governors and a campaigning Dwight D. “Ike”
Eisenhower. The Len Jordan Papers now have a detailed, folder-level finding aid in the Northwest Digital
Archives. Boise State University, Albertsons Library, Special Collections and Archives, Len B. Jordan
Papers, MSS6, Box 53, Photographs.

Boise State University Special Collections and Archives, with the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, has joined the Northwest Digital Archives, also known as NWDA. The NWDA database provides enhanced access to archival collections and facilitates collaboration with archives, libraries, and museums in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska.  Boise State has joined the ranks of over 35 other archives in the Pacific Northwest Region and, at the time of this writing, have 132 searchable finding aids on the NWDA website.

In addition to the Finding Aids which already existed on the Special Collections website, there is a wealth of new information that is now available online.  For example, the research files of the Herstory Calendars of the 1980s, which contain biographical material about over 500 women of the Pacific Northwest: from Dorothy Arzner, motion picture director of California; to Emma Russell Yearian, sheep rancher of Idaho.

The NWDA project has made it possible to post full-text finding aids with detailed folder-level and sometimes item-level description for some of our largest collections, including the 776 linear feet of papers from Idaho’s four-term Senator and 1976 presidential candidate Frank Church as well as former Idaho governor and Secretary of the Interior Cecil Andrus, Senator Larry LaRocco, and former Senator and Governor Len Jordan.

One real world example of the advantage of having online Finding Aids is a past query for a Congressional committee report about Bangladesh’s independence titled “The Road to Jessore.” This report has not been published by the United States Superintendent of Documents or the Congressional Information Service, and no copies can be found in the OCLC’s WorldCat, the worldwide library. However, this unpublished report is available in the Frank Church Papers and easily findable by entering ‘Jessore’ in the search box of NWDA or by entering ‘“Road to Jessore” “Frank Church”’ into Google.  This is the only discoverable - and possibly the only surviving - copy of this important document.

The free Northwest Digital Archives database is located at http://nwda.orbiscascade.org . To find BSU Special Collections and Archives items, pull down the “Boise State University” option from the Advanced Search.

Kent Randell
Archivist, Albertsons Library Special Collections and Archives

Special Collections: Bronco Branding

“Fight Broncos, celebrate the orange and blue!” The first line of the Boise State fight song highlights the importance of the colors and mascot to the identity of the Boise State University. Blue and orange have always been a key part of school history and tradition and so has the school’s mascot, Buster Bronco. The colors and mascot were picked by the school’s basketball team in the very first school year in 1932. Preston Hale, a student athlete at the time recounts:

We checked the colors of all the schools in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon before we picked blue and orange…We didn’t want to double up on another school, and there was no other school with those colors. The same goes for [choosing] the mascot. There were a few schools along the Pacific Coast with the bronco as their mascot, but none [in the region] outside of California. 

In 1935 Boise Junior College students proudly showed their support for the Broncos with a wood and paper horse, nearly twenty feet high. The bronco was named Elmer, after Elmer Fox, one of the two yell leaders that built him. Elmer was paraded through downtown Boise during homecoming week and was left at city hall overnight. The tradition continued for at least another year when students made another bronco that was again paraded downtown. In 1936 the tradition expanded to a burning of the bronco the night before the big game. “Each year, ‘Elmer,’ symbol of Bronc prowess, is cremated and from his ashes rises the spirit of new conquests and victories.”

Idaho Statesman Photo. November 21, 1935. BJC students
parade Elmer, an enormous bronco through downtown Boise.

For many years Boise Junior College never had an official bronco logo. Students often created their own bronco character for publications and promotions. In 1955 a student organization created an insignia that caught on and was used widely for both athletic and academic purposes.

Insignia created by the Pi Sigma Sigma service organization.
See the BJC Roundup, October 4, 1955, page 1.
http://digital.boisestate.edu/cdm/ref/collection/archives/id/2215

When the school entered the Idaho state system as a four year university, additional attention was given to the branding of the school’s colors, mascot, and logos. A new “BSU” logo appeared on most academic and athletic items around campus. The Athletic Department also created its own unique mascot which was only used for athletic publications.  All of these new symbols of Boise State University made perfect branding symbols for the university bookstore.

Before the 1970s, most Boise State merchandise was either created by students and staff, or only used the Boise State seal as a symbol for the university. When the Student Union expanded into its current location, the bookstore was added to in both size and capacity. For decades the students bought their text books out of the basement of the Administration Building. In 1967, when the bookstore moved into the new Student Union, the bookstore also drastically expanded its Boise State University merchandise, for sale to both students and the public.

Students posing with Bronco merchandise. University Archives photo AR 013897.

From then on, the bookstore has continued to sell t-shirts, hats, bags, and other merchandise to promote the university and help students and supporters show school spirit. Boise State University has continued to establish its brands and marks for its unique identity – including the Blue Turf -- one of the most recognizable sports complexes in the country.

Today the Boise State brand receives the full attention of the University Administration. “The Office of Trademark Licensing and Enforcement serves the University by promoting and protecting its name, marks, colors, brands, and all identifiable properties.”  The university uses most of the revenue generated from selling merchandise for student scholarships. In 2011, the Boise State bookstores raised approximately $2 million for the general scholarship fund.

To view historic examples of Boise State Broncos click here.

To read more about the Office of Trademark Licensing and Enforcement click here.

Click here to view Bronco merchandise.

Jim Duran,
Special Collections