Published in 1947, Chicago Japanese-American Year Book takes the reader into a time capsule of an ethnic community feeling its way after the government of Japan had waged war against the United States. The U.S. government had responded by forcibly removing Japanese American citizens and aliens from the Pacific coast, where the majority lived, and consigning them to detention centers in remote areas.
Sono was born in Omaha in 1919, the first of three children, and the family moved to the north side of Chicago in 1925. She started ballet classes in the Loop after school. Berenice Holmes became her teacher. Sono speaks highly of her in her 1980 autobiography Distant Dances. Holmes treated her with respect, like an adult, and patiently worked to correct her technique. Sono danced in Holmes’s student troupe with Ann Barzel, who later became dance critic for several Chicago newspapers and collector of all things terpsichorean.
Shoji Osato likely attracted the attention of the U.S. government because of his promotion of Japanese culture. In 1938, he had duly registered his work as publicity and advertising agent for the Japanese Board of Tourist Industry and the Japanese government railways. This brought him about $4,500 plus expenses annually. An additional source of income was the Japanese Tea House and Garden in Jackson Park. According to Alice Murata’s book Japanese Americans in Chicago, Shoji purchased the garden and donated it to the Chicago Park District. Frances Osato operated the teahouse with a staff of Japanese American women dressed in kimonos.
