Kimiko Side: Matriarch of the Colorado Japanese American Community

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what stories would a thousand photographs tell? I asked myself this question often as I accessioned the Kimiko Side Papers. The collection of over 20 boxes was originally donated to the Japanese American Resource Center of Colorado by Kimiko’s daughter Ms. Deborah Side, and is now available for research at the Special Collections and Archives at the Central Library. 

Kimiko "Kim" Side (née Sumitomo) was born in Beijing to Japanese parents on September 29, 1922. Following World War II, the family settled in Japan after they were forced out of China along with all the other Japanese people living in the country. To support the family following her brothers' deaths and her father's illness, Kimiko worked at the Imperial Bank Teikoku Ginko in the Domestic and International Public Relations department. She served as a Japanese/English bilingual typist for five years, and earned her English shorthand certificate at Tokyo Secretary School while working in this role. 

She met her future husband Eugene "Gene" Jessie Side (b. July 28, 1929, d. December 18, 2020) in 1949 while he was a GI stationed in Tokyo, Japan working for the U.S. Army's post exchange. They married on November 6, 1951 in Tokyo.

In 1955, Kimiko and Gene traveled around the United States for three months. During this time she acquired U.S. citizenship in Miami, Florida on March 7, 1955. In 1958, Gene lost his job in Japan and moved to Denver, Colorado. Kimiko and their two children Deborah Ann "Debby" Side (b. February 19, 1957) and Daniel Blake Side (b. November 26, 1958) then moved to Denver to join Gene in 1959. That same year, they opened an Asian gift shop on East Colfax, called Madam Butterfly's Gift Shop, and they later opened two more locations. 

In 1960, Kimiko studied accounting at the Emily Griffith Opportunity School. During this time, she also worked for the Rocky Mountain JIHO newspaper as one of the first typists for the Japanese section of the newspaper. In 1975, the Sides closed the gift shop locations and started an import/export trading company called Sidelines International, which their son Daniel eventually took over. 

During her time in Denver, Side acted as the chairperson of the Denver-Takayama Sister City program, president of the Japan Association of Colorado, and board member of the Japanese American Citizens League. For her extensive community service and cultural exchange work in Denver, Side received the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold, and Silver Rays medal from the Emperor of Japan, the Asian American Hero of Colorado Lifetime Achievement Award, the Kansha No Hi award, and the Women Trailblazers Award. Her collection’s 20 boxes of photos, albums, and scrapbooks illustrate the story of her life, from young adulthood in the 1930s to her death at the age of 100 in 2023. 

During my research into her life and legacy, I came across several articles in Colorado Historic Newspapers (accessible online for free) and Access World News (accessible online with a library card) about her community service in Denver. Many hard copies of these newspaper clippings are in this collection, which Side saved over the years and compiled into scrapbooks and file folders. Local newspapers often featured articles about Side’s achievements in leadership positions in various Colorado Japanese organizations and with the Denver-Takayama Sister City program. They also highlighted her community engagement with Denver’s Simpson United Methodist Church and the Tri-State Buddhist Temple teaching traditional Japanese handicrafts.

The photographs Side collected showcase many of her community and civic activities. They also give insight into her personal life that articles about her might not mention, such as the extensive world travel she completed during her lifetime. With her favorite travel partner and husband Gene, she visited countries across five continents. 

On these visits, she reconnected with exchange students and families from the Denver-Takayama Sister City program, and her many friends and relatives living abroad. She even lived in Spain to learn Spanish. Other images emphasizing the couple's dedication to community and connection show them hosting large gatherings at their home in Denver. Pictures of numerous Kimekomi dolls that Kimiko handcrafted and displayed in her home demonstrate her tireless productivity and mastery of the craft. From snapshots taken during the last years of her life, it is evident she was still very active in the community, teaching classes and running booths at local festivals well into her late 90s. 

Though I never met Kimiko Side, I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to get to know her through these images spanning ten decades and the stories they told. I encourage you to get to know her the way I did, and see why this remarkable Japanese American woman is aptly referred to as the “matriarch of the Colorado Japanese American community.”