Frank Atsuo Matsuyama bio

Frank Atsuo Matsuyama biography

Frank Atsuo Matsuyama was born in Japan on 9/28/1886 and died 2/10/1957 in Sonoma, California. On his WW1 draft registration the town of his birth in Japan is listed as Miyazaki. His mother’s name was Kiku Takemoto. His father’s name was Miyakonojo Atsusane Matsuyama. There is a port town of Miyako in northeastern Japan. Frank had a sister named Haruko. Matsuyama means Pine Mountain, a relatively common Japanese surname.

Frank departed from Yokohama, Japan on the ship Gaelic and arrived in San Francisco on 4/5/1903. The ship manifest states his age as 16 and 5 months years old. His last residence was in Miyazaki. He paid for his own ticket and was not going to join any relatives.

However, the 1900 US Census lists an A. Matsuyama, single, age 34, born in Japan, living in San Francisco as a shoemaker. This is possibly Frank’s father but could have been an uncle or way older brother. This person is also possibly unrelated. One source says Frank immigrated at age 14, in 1900, the same time as Atsuo. Another record says Frank immigrated to the US in 1905 at age 19. His funeral record says he lived in California for 54 years, which would make his immigration year 1903. The ship manifest seems the most direct evidence to say Frank’s immigration date was 4/5/1903.

In 1904 a 26-year-old F. Matsuyama departed from Yokohama and arrived in San Francisco by way of Honolulu on the ship Lououia, passage in “Asiatic steerage”. Asiatic steerage was a section with a separate dining room and separate quarters for Asians. This makes two possible relatives 11 and 19 years older than Frank, both as chain migration possibilities in San Francisco, maybe a brother and a father or an uncle? Whoever these people are, they are never mentioned again in the source material I found except for one time at Frank’s marriage in 1912.  

On the 1910 Census, Frank was 24 and resided in Sonoma. Frank was listed as ‘partner’ in the household of William Ladlee who was a teamster, in general teaming. Frank was also listed as a poultry man, on Napa Rd. Frank and William were thus partners in a poultry farm and perhaps teamsters together as well. The poultry operation could have been where Friedman’s is now, thereby making it contiguous with the Wallman-Dolcini empire.

In 1910 Frank was in Sonoma, in the same town as the Wallman family and hence he met Georgiana Dolcini and they took a shining to each other.

On 1/17/1912, Frank and Georgiana were married. Frank was age 25, in his first marriage. This was Georgiana’s second marriage. Her first marriage was to an unknown Dolcini, Swiss-Italian immigrant male, from which came her first child, George Dolcini. Georgiana would have been living at the family farm on Broadway, site of the current middle school.

1/20/1912 I-T Headline: “SONOMA WOMAN MARRIES JAPANESE”

‘Mrs. Georgiana Wallman Dolcini, daughter of George Wallman, Sonoma Valley farmer, married Atsuo Matsuyama (married out of town), formerly of Sonoma and brother of Frank Matsuyama “well known fruit dryer residing off Broadway in the southern limits of town”. Georgiana said: “I tried a white man first and did not like him and will now try the Japanese.”  

Here it is confusing as there appear to be two Franks, one the brother, the well known fruit dryer mentioned above and Atsuo, who was also known as Frank Atsuo. Could the well known fruit dryer Frank be the F. Matsuyama who immigrated in 1904? This person was 11 years older than Frank Atsuo. This is a pertinent unknown. It’s impossible to know now if there was a brother of the same or similar name. If the newspaper confused Frank and his brother and/or his father or uncle’s identities at the time, it’s really tough to get details straight 102 years later! Hard to tell. (A)

On Georgiana and Frank’s Certificate of Marriage it states they were married 1/17/1912 in Vancouver, Clarke County, Washington State. Vancouver is across the Columbia River from Portland, OR. Joined in lawful wedlock were Atsuo Matsuyama and Mrs. Georgiana Dolcini both of Sonoma County, Cal.; their signatures were both neat and legible. If I were a handwriting analyst, I’d say (Frank) Atsuo was more purposeful and structured while Georgiana was looser and more of a free spirit.  

It is probable that Georgiana and Frank had a place on the Wallman property as the above clipping mentions Frank as living “off Broadway in the southern limits of town”. This could be our Frank or the 1904 Frank… Whether our Frank had property himself on Broadway or on Napa Rd., independent of the Wallmans and George Dolcini, is not known. He may not have held title to land anyway due to the California Alien Land Laws of 1913 and 1920. There may not be a paper trail to trace Frank’s land dealings in Sonoma as ownership would have been by proxy with partners or with non-Japanese family. Frank did farm and was involved with agriculture, as did many Japanese immigrants who were known as top quality truck farmers.

Georgiana reportedly lost her US citizenship (Gerald Hill) upon marrying Frank and had to apply again. “Like other Japanese immigrants at the time, he (Frank) was not allowed to apply” for citizenship. 7/19/79 I-T Sandy Sanders   Whether or not a US citizen (Georgiana) in 1912 would really forfeit their citizenship by marrying a Japanese, while still on US soil, is open to question. Gerald Hill also claimed that Georgiana was German born and was a naturalized US citizen at the time of her marriage to Frank, however no records I found support this conclusion. 

In 1917, Frank was 31 and resided in San Francisco at 547 Fulton Street. He was listed as an attendant in a garage. Yet on10/6/1917 I-T Frank Matsuyama gave the mayor of Sonoma 24 gold fish imported from Japan for the city fountain in the Plaza, “beautiful specimens”. Apparently Frank split his time between the city and Sonoma; he was an early commuter, renting in S.F. and home in Sonoma on the weekends.

Frank also registered for the WW1 draft on June 5^th, 1917. On the draft card Frank lived at 547 Fulton, S.F. and was listed as married, as an alien, employed by Geo. Kinne as a garage attendant; he was ‘short’ with black hair.

A 1/5/1918 I-T ad has Mrs. F. Matsuyama selling tires. Various other I-T ads show Georgiana selling auto parts and various other things off the ranch. This, along with Frank’s auto shop work in S.F., shows the beginnings of an auto wrecking career. It is highly probable that Frank and Georgiana had cars early on and all the way through their marriage. They were mobile, with all the advantages that conferred.

In the 1920 Census Frank was 33, lived in San Francisco and was a machinist in a garage, moving up in the world.

12/10/21 I-T For sale: Ford auto body with top complete, one turkey gobbler, one nanney goat, one pair Goodyear rubber hip boots, one week-old Jersey bull calf (Burris stock), Mrs. Matsuyama. Broadway, Sonoma

A 1926 San Francisco City Directory lists Frank and Georgiana as auto wreckers, 711 Octavia Street, res(idence) Sonoma. In 1927 Frank has a r(esidence) 566 Fulton address, (Matsuyama and Sanfilippo). 1928 Frank Matsuyama and Joseph Sanfilippo, auto wreckers, 566 Fulton and 711 Octavia Streets. Frank seems to have had a toehold on the 500 block of Fulton Street. And in 1929 Frank and Georgian have a PO Box 207 listed in Santa Rosa.

In 1929 Frank and Georgiana have the same Santa Rosa PO Box 207.  

On the 1930 Census Frank was 44, lived in San Francisco and was a teacher of ‘Physical Culture’. He rented for $40 per month and showed no schooling or college. Frank had a naturalization status abbreviated as Pa, meaning ‘first papers’, a step somewhere between being an alien and being naturalized.

5/16/1930 I-T Prof. Frank A. Matsuyama, vaudeville act, was in moving pictures and a veteran of the US Navy. “The Boyes Springs Theater will feature Prof. Frank A. Matsuyama in their wonderful set “The Yawara Art of Self Defense”. (1) The yawara stick replaced the night stick/ billy club in the police departments taking up Frank’s training, which was a ‘combination of wrestling, boxing and judo’. (Frank’s Obituary)

If Frank Atsuo Matsuyama was a navy veteran, it would have had to be prior to WW2, as during WW2 Frank moved to Denver to avoid the Japanese internment in California. Frank did register for the WW1 draft but later records indicate he was not a WW1 veteran, as was his brother in law George J. Wallman. If Frank was Navy veteran there is no record of it other than the above claim in the 1930 I-T note. The 1930 Census says Frank is not an armed forces veteran.    

In 1931 Frank introduced yawara stick self defense methods to the Berkeley Police Dept. Frank also worked with the Oakland and San Francisco police departments.

On the 1940 Census Frank was 53, resided in San Francisco, was listed as ‘husband’ and was Physical Director, Berkeley Police Department. His immigration status was ‘alien’. With the 1950 Census not yet available it is unknown if Frank ever became a US citizen.  

The 1940 Census had most of Frank and Georgiana’s children residing in Sonoma: Frank 28, Georgiana W. 23, George F. 21, Louis 20, Alvin 13 and Virginia 8. Alice must have moved out. All the children at this time had the Matsuyama surname. Even though Frank had business and affairs in San Francisco and the Bay Area through the years, he still made it back to Sonoma enough to sire many offspring.

1942 Frank moved to Denver ahead of the relocation and internment order for Japanese-Americans and imigrants after the Pearl Harbor attack. According to Gerald Hill, Georgiana went with him. Frank worked for the Denver Police Dept. ‘The Matsyumas would return to Sonoma and find they were readily re-assimilated, even welcomed.’ (2) (See also Matsuyama internment essay.) If Georgiana did go to Denver, she would likely have had to come back to Sonoma to manage the affairs of her interned and soon released children.

A 1945 Denver City Directory has Frank A. Matsuyama on 1818 Stout, “Physical Culture”.  

In 1948 under the auspices of the Denver Police Dept., Frank published ‘How to use the Yawara Stick, For Police’. There is a nice picture of a dignified Frank on the inside cover. This manual can easily be found online.

Frank retired in 1949 and lived full time in Sonoma for the next eight years.

‘Professor’ Frank Atsuo Matsuyama died on 2/10/1957, 5:30 PM at Sonoma Community Hospital at age 70. His street address was 20160 Broadway. His eldest son Frank took care of the funeral arrangements. The funeral record says he was Protestant. The funeral cost $565.53, including a $44.00 ‘professional discount’ to daughter Alice Kemper. The costs were paid in full. His obituary called him a ‘Master of Combat’.

Among other things Frank Matsuyama was a fruit dryer, gold fish importer, martial arts instructor, ‘instructor of physical training’, publisher of yawara stick manual, Denver, CO police dept. employee, teacher of ‘Physical Culture’, ‘Physical Director’ in Berkeley police dept., movie actor, vaudeville entertainer, US Navy veteran, garage attendant, machinist, and poultry man.

Frank is buried in the Upper Mountain Cemetery, the only Japanese in the older, upper area. In a town full of European immigrants Frank was one of the few Japanese. His line came to mix with that of the Swiss-Italian Dolcinis and the Prussian/ Holstein Wallmans, a part of the rich and diverse fabric of North Bay regional California history.

Mountain Cemetery head stone markers:

Georgiana W. Matsuyama, mother 1886-1978, (41 years old at birth of Alvin J.)

Frank Atsuo Matsuyama, husband, 1886-1957

George Wallman, brother (of Georgiana), 1892-1981, WW1veteran

George Dolcini, son of Georgiana, 1906-1988, (born 6 years before marriage to Frank)

Alvin Joseph (Matsuyama) Wallman, son 1927-2005, (born 15 years after marriage to Frank, 15 years old at time of Frank’s move to Denver)

George Wallman, grandfather, German immigrant 1851-1922, (age 35 at time of Georgiana’s birth)

-They all appear to be cremated. The location is not of sufficient size for 6 coffins, this is notable as an out of the ordinary burial custom for the times.

(A) There is another Japanese ‘Frank’ buried in the lower Mountain Cemetery. Tito Sasaki helped to interpret the writing on the headstone:

“It seems to say: The Tomb of HoKo ZonKai a.k.a. Rin Ju (or, Hayashi Hisahi), 3/1/1900 ~ 10/17/1989.

“The name part is problematic. They are written in Kanji characters, each of which has more than one way to pronounce. Furthermore, many Japanese expats use approximately similar sounding characters to describe their Anglo (or whatever) names. For example, "HoKo" could have been used to represent "Frank." 

That there were two Franks “must have been a coincidence. If it were your Frank, it should have said "Matsuyama" or "Atsuo" or "Wallman" somewhere. It doesn't say any of them, not even "Dolcini" anywhere. My best guess is that this Frank was probably born to a family named "Hayashi" (Woods).  It is a relatively common name as "Matsuyama" (Pine Mountain). But if his family name was Hayashi, then his personal Japanese name that follows, Hisashi (or Kotobuki), is a rather unusual name.

"ZonKai" is difficult to guess. It can be read as "AriHira" or several other ways, but not "Matsuyama" or "Wallman" or any other related names. Why this Frank used another name than "Hayashi" is beyond my guess.”

That a brother, ‘Frank’ was referred to in the I-T marriage announcement and that Atsuo was the one marrying Georgiana, and that there is this other Japanese ‘Frank’, who was 14 years younger than Frank Atsuo Matsuyama, and who would have been 12 years old at the time of the Frank Atsuo’s marriage, leaves questions unanswered. This 12 year old Frank would not have been a ‘well know fruit fryer’ at the age of 12. According to Tito Sasaki, ‘Frank” was not a Matsuyama. This younger Japanese Frank was possibly a fictive kin of Frank Atsuo and took his first name. This makes three possible Japanese ‘Franks’

Unfortunately, the picture of young Frank on his headstone has either fallen off or been vandalized. A photo of young Frank’s picture can be found on a link to my Picasa web photo album of the cemetery, linked from either the Sonoma Overlook Trail section of the Sonoma Ecology Center website or the City of Sonoma website under their cemetery heading.

(1)  Yawara Stick Self Defense Techniques

By Becky Sheetz-Runkle, eHow Contributor

http://www.ehow.com/way_5509759_yawara-stick-self-defense-techniques.html

The yawara stick was introduced to America by Professor Frank A. Matsuyama, who passed the teachings and techniques on to law enforcement officers. His book, "How To Use The Yawara Stick," was written as an instructional manual for law enforcement officers. The yawara is an alternate to a night stick for police officers. Today, it's more widely used by martial artists. Though written for police, Matsuyama's book is a good guide for anyone in learning yawara stick self-defense techniques.
Matsuyama's book includes various elements of self-defense techniques with this weapon, including striking, throwing, joint locking and use against multiple opponents.

-see also Wikipedia article on yawara stick

(2)   Feb 1, 2011, Gerald Hill, Index –Tribune  http://kathleenandgeraldhill.com/fred-korematsu-day-honors-interned-americans

(3)

Index Tribune articles

1912 I-T Sonoma Woman Marries Japanese

10/6/1917 I-T Frank Matsuyama goldfish

5/16/1930 I-T Frank vaudeville act, navy vet, moving pictures, show in Boyes etc

5/22/1942 I-T Matsuyama internment

(4) Sun

Sonoma Valley Sun: Sonoma Valley Japanese-Americans detained during WWII

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Sun News

Note: No author attribution, Gerald Hill probable author

http://news.sonomaportal.com/2006/11/02/pub-a-5/

(5) Tito Sasaki, personal communication

(6) 1900 – 1930 US Census