Background
Nonaka was born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu in 1889.
野中 金吾
Nonaka was born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu in 1889.
In Japan he worked in the field and as a pearl diver. They settled in Oaxaca on a coffee plantation. After tiring of the harsh work, Nonaka embarked on a three-month journey to the United States.
In Chihuahua, he was taken in by a local family who eventually adopted him and had him baptized.
Later, he learned nursing from a nearby hospital and acquired a license to work at the infirmary. He participated in 14 combat operations during the Revolution: two with the forces of Francisco I. Madero and 12 with the Northern Division commanded by Francisco Villa.
In September 1967, he was awarded an order of merit for his service by Secretary of Defense Marcelino García Barragán. Between 1921 and 1942, he was settled in Baja California.
He opened two photo studios in Tijuana and became a naturalized citizen in 1924.
During this era, Nonaka"s photography showed a different side of the Tijuana area, which up to that point was focused on tourism. Focusing on cultural, civic, and sports events and on the changes Tijuana underwent, from small town to a larger city. He donated more than 300 photos of early Tijuana to the Archivo Histórico y la Sociedad de Historia de Tijuana.
As a result of World World War II tensions, Nonaka and other Japanese Mexicans living in the Northwest were forced to move to Mexico City on orders from President Lázaro Cárdenas.
He died in 1977 and is interred in the Panteón Jardín, Mexico City.
He was a founding member of the Instituto Nacional de Cardiología.