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Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Noboru Nakamura
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Noboru Nakamura. Conducted by Grace Shimizu on September 28, 2011, in Berkeley, CA. Transcribed by Julie Keiko Beal.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/412883389This transcript was created as part of Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project, produced by the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. The project reveals untold stories of Nisei former camp inmates, including U.S. Army enlistees, during World War 2.NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
An Interview on September 28, 2011 with
Noboru Nakamura
Conducted by Wesley Ueunten Grace Shimizu
Oral History Summary, Keywords, Excerpt, and Index
“Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project”
© 2011 NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
Interviewee: Noboru Nakamura Interviewer: Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Julie Keiko Beal Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: Berkeley, California
Date: September 28, 2011
Summary: Noboru Nakamura was born in Japan while his siblings were studying as Kibei Nisei. In this interview, Nakamura describes immigrating to the United States and experiencing hardships due to the Great Depression. He discusses the changes in his life that took place after the attack on Pearl Harbor, including his father’s arrest by the FBI and internment at Santa Fe and Lordsburg Department of Justice Internment Camps. Nakamura then recalls being forcibly evicted and incarcerated at Poston WRA Concentration Camp and playing the saxophone in a camp dance band before finding work outside of camp. He explains being turned away after volunteering to join the 442nd Regimental Combat Team because of his status as an “enemy alien” before eventually joining the Military Intelligence Service and serving abroad.
Throughout the interview, Nakamura speaks critically about the Eurocentric nature of the United States and how racism affected his life.
Keywords: Immigration | Pre-WWII: education, employment – agriculture; community activities and organizations - festivals | Identity: Issei, Kibei | Pearl Harbor: FBI arrests, war hysteria | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Poston WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: activities – band; education, employment | Japanese Americans in the U.S. Military: volunteering, Military Intelligence Service (MIS) - Postwar Occupation of Japan | Effects of WWII Experience: trauma
Oral History Excerpt:
00:27:09.90 Well, the reaction was…Well, first of all, since my father was a very pro- Japanese, we panicked, and that was a mistake. We burned everything. We cut the kendo [Japanese swordsmanship] equipment and buried them in the field; broke the knife, the samurai knives, and buried them in the field; burned all the photographs and all that. It was just terrible that we did that, but we did hoping to save papa's life. Well, the FBI came anyway and picked him up. They took him, and he went to Fresno County jail, … to Tanforan, and … Santa Fe, New Mexico, and then Lordsburg, New Mexico. After four years, he was paroled out and came to Poston, Arizona. So, he was caught. My brothers were in the Army, and I was eventually in the Army and so forth. Anyway…that kind of shook me up that he would be taken away.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information and family background
00:00:49.68 Father’s immigration story, occupations
00:01:37.24 Mother’s background; Nakamura’s parents’ marriage
00:02:49.83 Siblings (kibei) get education in Japan
00:05:07.12 Immigration to the United States and being held at Angel Island
00:06:29.00 Feelings about Angel Island and general negative impression
00:07:03.25 Leaving Angel Island and growing up in Reedley; learning English; ethnic makeup of Reedley
00:09:05.01 Attending school, adapting to the United States
00:09:58.00 Experiencing the Great Depression; eating sparse Japanese food
00:11:23.60 Working on the family farm
00:11:47.37 Speaking Japanese and English
00:12:20.42 National and cultural identification among siblings
00:13:17.72 Japanese American community institutions
00:14:09.99 Interest in music growing up
00:15:42.47 Social events in the community; Sports Festival [undoukai]
00:16:58.56 Issei interacting with the greater community; language barrier
00:18:43.51 Hearing the news of Pearl Harbor and being shocked
00:20:41.30 Change in treatment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor; Eurocentric nature of the United States; Others failing to stand up for Japanese Americans
00:23:37.25 Lack of communication with family members about the incarceration
00:23:53.77 Going to see older sister in Japan; a tense reunion
00:26:43.84 Seeing notices for forced removal and reaction; burning and destroying Japanese items; father arrested by the FBI and interned at Santa Fe and Lordsburg internment camps
00:30:04.95 Family’s reactions to father’s arrest by the FBI
00:32:35.67 Family prepares to leave home; eviction and imprisonment at Poston WRA Concentration Camp
00:34:36.53 Impressions of Poston
00:36:35.27 Interaction with Native Americans in Poston
00:37:00.93 Education in camp
00:38:30.31 Playing saxophone for the camp dance band; getting a job outside of camp; volunteering for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and getting turned away for being an “enemy alien”; joining the Military Intelligence Service (MIS)
00:42:16.16 Getting citizenship
00:42:33.65 Playing in the dance band the “Rythmaires”
00:45:42.70 Generational gap between Issei and Nisei
00:46:41.18 Further discussion of Eurocentricism
00:48:32.87 How racism affected his life
00:52:04.89 Experience in the MIS
00:52:56.44 MIS training; lack of social interaction
00:54:46.28 Graduation and the “turkey farm”
00:55:33.60 Service abroad; time in MIS was rewarding
00:56:27.45 Treatment by other soldiers, civilians
00:58:17.63 Participating in the Occupation of Japan; returning to where he was born
01:00:31.13 Reuniting with family after the war
01:01:07.41 Noticing a change in father’s personality after his time in the Department of Justice internment camps
01:03:44.85 Having bitter feelings about wartime experience; finding an outlet in musi
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Shisuko (Yasuda) Kurosawa
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Shisuko (Yasuda) Kurosawa. Conducted by Grace Shimizu and Wesley Ueunten on September 16, 2011, in Sacramento, CA. Transcribed by Meder Manuitev, Mika Arai, and Grace Shimizu.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/503679492This transcript was created as part of Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project, produced by the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. The project reveals untold stories of Nisei former camp inmates, including U.S. Army enlistees, during World War 2.NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
An Interview on September 19, 2011 with
Shisuko (Yasuda) Kurosawa
Conducted by Wesley Ueunten Grace Shimizu
Oral History Summary, Keywords, Excerpt, and Index
“Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project”
© 2011 NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
Interviewee: Shisuko (Yasuda) Kurosawa1
Interviewer: Grace Shimizu and Wesley Ueunten Transcribers: Meder Manuitev, Mika Arai, and Grace Shimizu
Editors: Julie Keiko Beal, Grace Shimizu, and Wesley Ueunten Location: Sacramento, California
Date: September 16, 2011
Summary: Shisuko Kurosawa was born in the United States but raised by her grandparents in Japan. After graduating from high school in Japan, she traveled alone to the United States and began doing housework while attending American grammar school. While in American school, she met and married her husband and lived with him on a ranch in Sacramento. After Pearl Harbor, she was evicted and imprisoned at Marysville Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center”, then Tule Lake, Jerome, and Heart Mountain WRA Concentration Camps before resettling and starting over after the war. During her incarceration, she had multiple children, and experienced pregnancy and birth in camp.
Keywords: Immigration | Identity: Kibei | Pre-WWII: education - schooling in Japan; employment – agriculture, other | Pearl Harbor | Marysville Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Tule Lake, Jerome, and Heart Mountain WRA Concentration Camps | Life in Camp: psychological impact, living conditions: extreme weather, activities, holidays, food, healthcare | Leaving Camp: resettlement
Oral History Excerpt:
00:49:05.27 No, I don’t make mochi. I got from friend kara. Camp de minna ga mochigome
o nanbō kana kōte wakete sei kara tsukuru no yo. (Pauses)
[No, I didn’t make mochi. I got it from a friend. In camp we all bought some mochi rice and split it up and made mochi with it.] (Pauses)
Heikara usu nankamo nihonjin ga tsukutte no. Mochi tsukuru usu ga iru deshō. Are nanka ano nihonjin ga tsukutte. Sore o minna ga tsukau no.
[So, the Japanese even made a mortar. To make mochi a mortar is needed, isn’t it. The Japanese made a mortar, and we all used it.]
00:50:15.31 I don’t know. Everybody doing same thing so they don’t think too much.
Outside no koto wa anmari shiran deshō. Inside no camp shika shiran deshō
sore oijakara.
[I don’t know. Everybody was doing the same thing so they didn’t think too much. They didn’t know much about what was happening outside.
They only knew what was happening on the inside of camp.]
00:35:22.85 I don’t know. Nanbo thinking shite mō nani mō kanawan kara sono mama yo. (Pauses) Dōsurukotomo dekin mono.
[I don’t know. Nothing would have changed no matter how much time we spent thinking of things. (Pauses) There was nothing we could do.]
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information; parents’ immigration to the United States and occupations
00:01:30.47 Siblings; going to live with grandparents as a baby and growing up in Japan
00:05:22.30 Moving to the United States after finishing high school in Japan; coming over alone by boat, meeting with parents and attending grammar school; getting married while attending high school in Auburn
00:09:35.26 Being around other Japanese Americans in Auburn; father farmed on ranch purchased in her brother’s name
00:10:54.71 Meeting husband, an Issei farmer, and getting married
00:13:58.85 Pearl Harbor attack
00:15:07.63 Daily life doing housework and attending school; working for a kindergarten teacher and her family
00:17:10.80 Living in Oak Park after getting married
00:18:56.78 Being imprisoned at three different WRA Concentration Camps after Pearl Harbor: Tule Lake, Jerome, and Heart Mountain. Going to the Marysville Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” with family
00:21:16.82 Being imprisoned at Tule Lake and being transferred to Jerome; being pregnant and having children in camp
00:23:06.68 Food in camp
00:24:31.33 Giving birth in camp; medical facilities; activities in camp: mostly taking care of her children
00:26:48.82 Father and brother’s ranch in Newcastle
00:28:37.68 Having a washing machine in camp
00:30:57.22 Husband’s work in Jerome; moving from Jerome to Heart Mountain because of camp closures
00:32:19.38 Experience in Heart Mountain; not feeling scared, feeling like Japanese Americans had nowhere to go
00:34:27.02 Taking care of her children in camp; leaving camp for Newcastle; a friend had taken care of her father’s ranch while the family was in camp
00:37:22.35 Returning to Ranch in Sacramento area; resettlement and starting over again
00:39:08.74 Why the incarceration of Japanese Americans occurred; her opinions on the incarceration
00:44:03.70 Poor weather and natural conditions in camp
00:45:43.41 Her children’s experiences; father’s feelings about camp
00:46:57.89 Japanese food in camp; people making sake in camp
00:48:55.19 New Year’s holiday; making and eating mochi in camp
00:49:43.21 Her children were growing up in camp; resettlement and reflecting on how she felt about being incarcerated
00:54:24.81 Reflecting on her life as a whole
00:58:59.97 Feelings about America and Japan; having both U.S. and Japanese citizenship
01:01:20.82 Reflecting on conflict between Japanese and Caucasians: then and now
01:02:29.41 Bad feelings during the war; visiting Japan after the wa
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Osamu Sam Shimada
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Osamu Sam Shimada. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on September 16, 2011, in Sacramento, CA. Transcribed by Mike Bellini.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/415736457This transcript was created as part of Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project, produced by the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. The project reveals untold stories of Nisei former camp inmates, including U.S. Army enlistees, during World War 2.NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
An Interview on September 16, 2011 with
Osamu Sam Shimada
Conducted by Wesley Ueunten Grace Shimizu
Oral History Summary, Keywords, Excerpt, and Index
“Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project”
© 2011 NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
Interviewee: Osamu Sam Shimada Interviewers: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Mike Bellini
Editors: j e umamoto and Grace Shimizu
Location: Sacramento, California
Date: September 16, 2011
Summary: Sam Shimada, a Nisei from Sacramento, California, was a young boy at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He recalls how he became aware of the discrimination faced by his family and himself, including being forced off a farm because of the family’s Japanese heritage, as he grew older. Shimada discusses what it was like to see notices of the exclusion order posted and complying with government restrictions on Japanese Americans from the perspective of a young boy. He also recalls leaving behind his belongings and beloved pets, spending several months imprisoned at Merced Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center”, and later at Amache WRA Concentration Camp.
Keywords: Immigration: law and legislation | Pre-WWII: employment – agriculture; community | Pearl Harbor: war hysteria | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Merced Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Amache WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: activities, education | Effects of WWII Experience: cultural identity
Oral History Excerpt:
01:01:12.63 As bad as the situation was elsewhere, we didn't have…We didn't worry too much about… as a kid. My dad was just devastated, of course. But, as a kid, we were happy as a lark. Heck, I had twenty other kids to play with. My same age! We fought, played, chased, did everything.
00:53:39.12 We’d go up to the fence, right under the tower, and there’s a guard up there with a rifle. And we would taunt him! (Bursts out laughing) "Hey, whaddya doin' up there!"
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information
00:00:41.70 Parents’ immigration to the United States
00:02:12.86 Paternal grandparents’ separation, grandfather’s immigration to the United States with father and uncle and working as a farm laborer
00:03:23.53 Uncle’s desire to play golf; Japanese American golfing in the Sacramento area
00:05:18.58 Father returning to Japan and marrying mother; limited education in rural Japan
00:07:11.29 Parents immigrate from Japan to Sacramento; life as a farmer
00:08:36.71 Parents start a family; memories from the free market in Sacramento
00:11:02.86 Father was unable to own land
00:11:44.40 Growing up surrounded by other Japanese Americans; attending school
00:13:02.04 Being unaware of discrimination as a young child; believing his life to be normal
00:14:25.39 The period before Pearl Harbor: expecting an attack from Japan, moving because of discrimination against Japanese Americans, experiencing prejudice
00:19:05.14 Experience of Japanese American sharecroppers being forced from their land
00:20:55.59 Japanese American community in Woodland; the Aoki family’s landownership
00:24:40.91 Emergency meeting among Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor
00:26:53.44 Parents’ concern about what would happen to their family after Pearl Harbor no recollections of the attack leading to prejudice at school
00:29:53.29 Father did not want to return to Japan; family dynamic where mother was subordinate
00:31:32.15 Seeing signs of the exclusion order and learning that he would have to leave
00:33:06.28 Family members’ reactions to the exclusion order; restrictions on Japanese Americans and having to give up items
00:35:39.94 Not being emotional about these restrictions and changes
00:36:59.00 Preparing to leave for camp and living in the Japanese school building
00:39:23.63 Packing, leaving behind his bike and the family pets
00:43:46.39 Imprisonment at Merced Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center”
00:47:07.92 Mood during departure; having to be separated from mother while she was pregnant
00:49:39.03 First impressions of Merced
00:50:20.82 Seeing the memorial at Merced
00:51:20.82 Living conditions at Merced; school and activities for children; taunting the guard in the tower
00:55:17.71 Socializing with other children
00:56:22.58 Moving to Amache WRA Concentration Camp; taking the train
00:59:26.36 Arriving at Amache and the layout of the camp
01:01:05.48 A typical day at Amache; father’s personality and reaction to being in camp
01:03:50.32 Hearing about the “loyalty” questionnaire; brother’s 3 months in the military
01:05:02.66 Father’s attitude towards the United States and Japan, his children’s cultural identity
01:06:32.75 Feeling unaffected by camp because of parents’ protection
01:07:18.03 Sam’s son does not face the same discrimination he did
01:08:22.67 Advice to the next generation: be socially active and recognize
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Stanley Masami Umeda
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Stanley Masami Umeda. Conducted by Grace Shimizu and Wesley Ueunten on September 16, 2011, in Sacramento, CA. Transcribed by Mika Arai and j e umamoto.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/426034192This transcript was created as part of Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project, produced by the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. The project reveals untold stories of Nisei former camp inmates, including U.S. Army enlistees, during World War 2.NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
An Interview on September 16, 2011 with
Stanley Masami Umeda
Conducted by Wesley Ueunten Grace Shimizu
Oral History Summary, Keywords, Excerpt, and Index
“Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project”
© 2011 NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
Interviewee: Stanley Masami Umeda Interviewers: Grace Shimizu and Wesley Ueunten Transcribers: Mika Arai and j e umamoto
Editor: j e umamoto and Grace Shimizu
Location: Sacramento, California
Date: September 16, 2011
Summary: Stanley Umeda discusses his upbringing on a farm in Sacramento and the undercurrent of racial prejudice he experienced before being forced into Fresno Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” and later Jerome WRA Concentration Camp. When Jerome closed, Umeda were transferred to Gila River WRA Concentration Camp with his family. He describes how he and his family faced financial hardships upon returning to their farm after leaving camp, and speaks about his experience learning more about the injustices done to him and other Japanese Americans starting from when he was in high school, and ends the interview with his perspective on achieving redress and reparations, and how it is imperative to share the stories of Japanese Americans in camp considering the fact that similar injustices can happen again.
Keywords: Immigration | Pre-WWII: education - grade school, Sierra School; community
- racial discrimination | Pearl Harbor | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Fresno Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Jerome WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: family structure, living conditions, education, guard interactions | “Loyalty” questionnaire: yes-yes | Leaving Camp: resettlement | Redress Movement | Effects of WWII Experience: cultural identity
Oral History Excerpt:
00:45:40.63 About being in camp, … as a first grader, … I look back and said, “Well, nobody told you anything. This is the way it is.” … [Y]ou sort of … did what…you did. You went to school, you played, and that was it. There was no explanation, no discussion about being in camp, why we were in camp, etc.
And so, when I look back, … we took it…as kids. That’s the way it was, and…no questions asked, and … [W]hen I look back on that particular period in time, I thank my lucky stars that I wasn’t older. If I was older and knew what I knew now about what was happening, I would have been really mad … about “one nation” … “with liberty and justice for all” kind of a thing. And it seems so ironic when I look back on some of the things. The “Pledge of Allegiance” is happening in school and everything else, and at the same time, you’re a prisoner.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information and family’s story of immigration from Wakayama, Japan, to the United States
00:02:00.86 Mother was a Kibei Nisei and returned to the United States at high school age
00:02:55.77 Parents’ marriage, mother moves into family farm in Sacramento
00:04:16.12 Siblings; growing up in Sacramento and attending Elk Grove High School
00:04:46.00 Returning to the family farm after the war and starting over
00:05:43.10 Growing up during the Depression; minimally affected because of farm
00:06:32.92 Other Japanese Americans in Florin [*also known as Taishoku]; attending Sierra School with children of other ethnicities
00:08:26.99 Undercurrent of racial prejudice
00:09:01.04 The day of the attack on Pearl Harbor; neighbors care for farm after family leaves; leaving behind cap pistol and recovering it after the war
00:10:46.97 Feeling like something was wrong after Pearl Harbor; life comes to a halt
00:11:57.14 Burying and recovering possessions before and after camp; packing and leaving
00:13:55.00 Talking to brother about camp
00:14:26.99 Forced removal to Fresno Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center”
00:16:18.48 Atmosphere at the train station; feeling of uncertainty; having armed soldiers on the train
00:19:45.15 Reaction to seeing the “Assembly Center”; family members at the “Assembly Center”
00:21:45.95 Being taught in Jerome WRA Concentration Camp, memories of fireflies, morning glories, soft water, and chiggers in Jerome
00:23:18.39 Traveling from Fresno to Jerome
00:25:01.87 First impressions of Jerome; being guarded by soldiers
00:27:02.87 Getting scolded by worried parents for staying out late with friends, with no way to communicate
00:28:54.19 Being transferred to Gila River WRA Concentration Camp when Jerome closed; comparison of Gila River and Jerome camps
00:31:02.78 Reflecting on growing up in camp; parents unable to exert a good deal of control over their children
00:33:55.29 Family experiences financial hardships after leaving camp
00:35:27.95 Leaving camp and returning to the family’s farm; reuniting with father and readjusting to family life
00:37:55.41 Returning to the house and finding his cap pistol
00:39:40.41 Being Japanese American was difficult after the war; giving children American names; adjusting to life with Japanese Americans out of camp
00:43:22.11 The “loyalty” questionnaire; family answers “yes-yes”
00:44:42.84 Family members who served in the military; feelings about being incarcerated by the government; becoming more aware of the meaning of his wartime experience when he was in high school; the success of the redress movement as a “tremendous American feat”
00:49:10.58 Grandparents become naturalized late in life
00:50:36.23 Recognizing the hardships that his predecessors faced; feeling a sense of duty to tell the story of Japanese Americans; preventing history from repeating after 9/11
*Florin was an all-Japanese community developed by immigrants in the Sacramento County. They called it Teishoku. Other communities were Bowles in Fresno County and Yamato Colony in Merced County. Source: Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey of California, Ch. 4 - A History of Japanese Americans in California, by Isami Arifuku Waugh, Ph.D., Alex Yamato, Ph.D. Candidate & Raymond Y. Okamura. 2004. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/5views/5views4b.ht
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Masaye (Nagao) Nakamura
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Masaye (Nagao) Nakamura. Conducted by Grace Shimizu on September 28, 2011, in Berkeley, CA. Transcribed by Mika Arai.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/426026268This transcript was created as part of Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project, produced by the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. The project reveals untold stories of Nisei former camp inmates, including U.S. Army enlistees, during World War 2.NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
An Interview on September 28, 2011 with
Masaye (Nagao) Nakamura
Conducted by Wesley Ueunten Grace Shimizu
Oral History Summary, Keywords, Excerpt, and Index
“Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project”
© 2011 NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
Interviewee: Masaye (Nagao) Nakamura
Interviewer: Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Mika Arai
Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: Berkeley, California
Date: September 28, 2011
Summary: Masaye Nakamura, a Nisei-Sansei Japanese American, describes her experiences being forcibly removed from her home and sent to Santa Anita Assembly Center. Nakamura recalls her diverse and inclusive high school community, where she felt comfortable as a Japanese American, and being forced to leave her studies at UCLA after the attack on Pearl Harbor. While at Santa Anita Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center,” Nakamura applied and was accepted to Park College in Missouri and continued her studies there with other Nisei students. She reflects on how she and the other students were welcomed by the school but experienced some hostility from the townspeople. Nakamura describes visiting her family at Heart Mountain WRA Concentration Camp and being affected by seeing where her parents had to live.
Keywords: Immigration | Pre-WWII: education – grade school, college: UCLA | Pearl Harbor: war hysteria | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Santa Anita Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Life in Camp: living conditions – privacy; activities - dances | Leaving Camp: student leave, racism | Heart Mountain WRA Concentration Camp | “Loyalty” questionnaire
| Effects of WWII Experience
Oral History Excerpt:
00:31:22.04 I felt fine. I wanted to continue. (Laughs) So, it was good. I was homesick, you know. I cried every night, wrote my mother, (laughs) but I was glad I was able to go to school instead of staying in the camps.
00:34:14.45 Except…Oh no, no…. At the beginning, it wasn’t. When I first got there… I got there late to the… The soldiers were late in picking me up from the camp to take me to Union Station in Los Angeles. So, I was late, and they had to hold up the train.… I guess he [the conductor] mentioned it to the other people on the train. He wasn’t very happy about it. So, when he came through to get my ticket, he spit on me. (Chuckles) That was my introduction to the outside world.
Index:
00:00:01.86 Basic biographical information; identification with a generation
00:00:58.83 Family background and immigration stories
00:03:00.91 Father’s immigration to Washington from Okayama-ken; schooling in Japan and at Washington University
00:04:18.89 Parents meeting through her grandfathers’ import-export business
00:05:19.95 Siblings
00:05:52.68 Moving from Hawaii to Seattle as a baby; then moving from Seattle to Los Angeles as a child due to job shortages
00:07:06.22 The type of community she grew up in
00:08:29.14 Going to school; interactions with other Japanese Americans and Caucasians growing up
00:10:37.63 Attending a diverse high school; positive interactions between students
00:11:40.50 Growing up speaking English
00:12:46.0 Attending UCLA until the war; continuing education at Park College, in Missouri
00:13:24.73 Diverse ethnic background of friends growing up; feeling removed from hostility against Japanese Americans, comfortable in the community
00:14:54.89 Recollections from the day of the Pearl Harbor attack; initial reactions
00:17:08.88 Having to leave school in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor; other restrictions and regulations
00:19:20.35 Parents’ predictions of the adversity they would have to face; mother gave up citizenship in marriage
00:20:39.58 Preparing to leave for camp; storing belongings in church
00:23:30.81 Being evicted and forcibly moved to Santa Anita Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center;” varying mood amongst Japanese Americans; wearing numbered tags
00:24:37.18 Saying goodbye to friends
00:26:21.95 Impressions of Santa Anita
00:27:53.84 Meals at Santa Anita
00:28:34.08 Description of living conditions; lack of privacy
00:30:13.84 Leaving the “assembly center” to continue studies in Missouri through the Presbyterian Church; missing her family in camp
00:32:15.10 Other siblings’ stories in camp
00:33:10.18 Traveling with other students to Missouri; being spit on by the train conductor
00:35:56.22 Going to school at Park College and studying English
00:37:15.03 Experiencing hostility from the townspeople; eventual relief of tension
00:39:43.46 Nisei students being accepted at Park College made the news; having a good living experience with a senior girl
00:41:18.87 Initial discrimination and hostility against Japanese American students that changed over time
00:43:38.66 Family’s incarceration at Heart Mountain WRA Concentration Camp; visiting for Christmas and being affected by seeing her parents’ conditions
00:45:43.37 Living conditions at Heart Mountain
00:47:52.54 Camp dances
00:49:43.78 Talking to siblings about their experiences in camp; Nakamura’s impressions of her parents’ experience
00:51:16.61 Crafts in camp
00:51:59.11 Controversy at Heart Mountain; the loyalty questionnaire
00:53:09.95 Reflecting on her decision to leave camp and attend school; parents’ resettlement
00:54:15.82 Further schooling and career in education 00:55:46.04 Marriage and family
00:56:07.03 Discussing her experiences during the war with others; reflection
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Betty Shizue (Taniguchi) Kitazumi
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Hope Gertrude (Omachi) Kawashima. Conducted by Grace Shimizu on September 28, 2011, in Berkeley, CA. Transcribed by Steven Gimeno.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/503680154This transcript was created as part of Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project, produced by the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. The project reveals untold stories of Nisei former camp inmates, including U.S. Army enlistees, during World War 2.NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
An Interview on September 28, 2011 with
Betty Shizue (Taniguchi) Kitazumi
Conducted by Wesley Ueunten Grace Shimizu
Oral History Summary, Keywords, Excerpt, and Index
“Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project”
© 2011 NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
Interviewee: Betty Shizue (Taniguchi) Kitazumi Interviewer: Grace Shimizu
Transcriber: Steven Gimeno
Editor: Brandon Unruhe and Shimizu
Location: Berkeley, California
Date: September 28, 2011
Summary: Betty Kitazumi, a Nisei and Sansei woman from Cortez, California, recalls memories from her childhood and the changes that took place in her life after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She Explains the family’s struggle to pack up and leave their farm, burning and burying Japanese Items, and leaving for Merced Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” and later Amache WRA Concentration Camp. Kitazumi shares her experiences from her years in Amache, from the perspective of a child playing games such as hiding from the guard tower’s searchlight. She also explains how she and other Japanese Americans faced racial prejudice upon resettlement and argues that it is important for young people to educate themselves about their rights to prevent a repeat in history.
Keywords: Immigration | Identity: Nisei | Pre-WWII: employment – agriculture; community activities and organizations – religion, Buddhism | Pearl Harbor: war hysteria | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Merced Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Amache WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: activities, education, food, security | Resettlement | Effects of WWII Experience: trauma
Oral History Excerpt:
00:38:32.19 No, it was provided.…Another thing we, the children, used to do is…When it used to get dark, they used to have searchlights because there used to be these watchguard towers, and the searchlights would…come
shining. So, we used to play games. You know, being little kids, they used to have a little ditch right by the barbed wire fence, and we used to hide every time that the searchlight came. We used to kind of duck down, so they won't see us. Now that I think about it, you know, I think there was a grownup that did get shot because of the searchlight.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Information on her name and using both English and Japanese names in the family
00:01:19.44 Speaking English and Japanese
00:01:44.60 Family background and immigration story
00:03:17.29 Parents’ meeting and marriage
00:05:24.29 Background on siblings
00:06:13.70 Growing up in Cortez, CA
00:06:42.06 Ethnic makeup of Cortez, religious demographics
00:08:48.19 Pre-war schooling
00:10:31.46 Experience growing up on a farm
00:11:18.48 Gatherings in the Japanese American community; being Buddhist
00:11:53.67 Relationship with grandparents
00:12:37.38 Visiting Japan before the war
00:13:36.91 Relationship with the Japanese language; being told to be a good American citizen
00:15:05.00 Memories from the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor
00:16:27.18 Destroying and burying Japanese objects; preparing to leave home
00:19:06.57 Eviction and incarceration at Merced Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center”
00:21:13.50 People saddened by leaving home
00:22:02.65 Recollections from Merced; making crafts and gardening
00:23:19.26 Description of Merced
00:25:27.29 Eviction and imprisonment at Amache WRA Concentration Camp; armed guards on the train
00:28:01.14 Impressions of Amache; living conditions
00:32:04.58 Friends and acquaintances in camp
00:33:10.25 Using the playground in camp; playing games with the searchlight
00:35:02.23 Other activities in camp, including movies and shows
00:35:48.17 Dining in camp
00:36:58.02 Hanging out with friends in camp 00:38:35.64 Going to school in camp
00:41:50.57 Personality as a child; facing racial discrimination from farm workers
00:42:27.17 Having pen pals in camp
00:43:13.32 Family leaving camp and resettlement; father helps to create “tent city” in Cortez for people resettling
00:44:35.83 Returning to the family farm after years in camp
00:45:40.47 Hostility towards Japanese Americans during resettlement
00:49:45.59 Going to Junior College, moving to San Francisco, and working for the State of California
00:52:30.88 Getting married and having children, grandchildren
00:53:16.02 Limited communication with children about experiences during the war
00:54:17.06 Message to young people
00:54:56.72 Impact of the camp experience on personal developmen
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Lawrence Toshimichi Yamamoto
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Lawrence Toshimichi Yamamoto. Conducted by Grace Shimizu on August 23, 2011, at the Hokka Hokubei Kai, San Francisco, California. Transcribed by Kristine Xie.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/426026384This transcript was created as part of Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project, produced by the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. The project reveals untold stories of Nisei former camp inmates, including U.S. Army enlistees, during World War 2.NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
An Interview on August 23, 2011 with
Lawrence Toshimichi Yamamoto
Conducted by
Grace Shimizu
Oral History Summary, Keywords, Excerpt, and Index
“Secrets Revealed: The Presidio Project”
© 2011 NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1684 Post Street
San Francisco, California 94115-3604
Interviewee: Lawrence Toshimichi Yamamoto
Interviewer: Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Kristine Xie
Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: Hokka Hokubei Kai, San Francisco, California Date: August 23, 2011
Summary: Lawrence Yamamoto, who was born in raised in Hawaii before moving to Los Angeles, recalls what it was like being a child at the time of the forced removal of Japanese Americans. He describes the conditions that Japanese Americans were forced to adapt to at Santa Anita Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center“ and Gila River WRA Concentration Camp. Yamamoto discusses the tension between himself and his father over the “loyalty” questionnaire; while Yamamoto did not want to leave his home in the United States for Japan and felt deeply loyal to America, his father, an American- born Nisei, answered “no-no”; Yamamoto believes that his father answered this way because he was angry about the way he was treated by his country. He then speaks about the breakdown of the traditional family structure in camp, and his experience resettling in Los Angeles while parents and younger siblings were still at Gila River. He reflects on the ways that his wartime experience influenced his personality and outlook, and discusses the discrimination faced by progressive-minded individuals in the 1950s.
Keywords: Immigration | Pre-WWII: education – grade school; community – demographics | Pearl Harbor | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Santa Anita Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center“ | Gila River WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: family structure, psychological impact, living conditions – extreme weather, privacy; education, food, healthcare, security | “Loyalty” questionnaire: no-no | Leaving Camp: resettlement | Activism | Effects of WWII Experience: cultural identity, trauma
Oral History Excerpt:
00:27:15.53 You scrounge materials from wherever you can get it. Old crates, fence posts…things of that nature. When we first … got moved to this...desert area, our block was at the end of the … camp. … There were barbed wired fences all around with wooden posts. … A bunch of us, little older people, we got together. We got our hammers, and we knocked the fences down and the barbed wires off them and made a ball field outside…right outside the fence. And no one complained. Because we were so far away from everything, … you wouldn't escape anywhere. That's why they put us there.
Now years later, we took a trip back to…Gila River, and…we went to an Indian village that was nearby called Sacaton. … We talked to the man who was…the manager of…the town, and he says, "You know, the government never told the Indians—this is a reservation, Indian reservation—that they were going to put a camp in there.” … The government just came and did whatever they wanted to do, and I think that happened all over the place, places like Manzanar, and Utah, Wyoming.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information and family background in Yamaguchi, Japan, and in the Hawaiian Islands
00:01:50.00 Growing up with the family separated due to the Great Depression; being raised by his grandparents in a Japanese railroad community in Hawaii
00:03:36.81 Moving from Hawaii to Los Angeles, California as a child and being reunited with parents
00:05:32.61 Demographics of community in Los Angeles; feeling accepted while attending school
00:07:08.51 Recollections from the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor; discussions with friends and parents worrying; getting along with others
00:10:01.73 Hearing that their family would be forced to leave home; rumors of being sent to the Sierras
00:11:40.66 Packing and selling belongings before forced removal to Santa Anita Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center“
00:15:29.09 Being taken by bus to Santa Anita
00:17:09.64 Arriving at Santa Anita and first impression of the “Assembly Center”; living conditions
00:19:04.27 Settling in; getting sick from the food; bathrooms without privacy
00:20:57.96 Activities and schooling as a child at Santa Anita
00:22:17.86 Forced removal from Santa Anita to Gila River WRA Concentration Camp; keeping in touch with friends sent to Arkansas
00:24:21.01 First impressions of Gila River WRA Concentration Camp and dust storms in Arizona; living conditions and building furniture
00:28:44.80 Relationship between Japanese Americans and surrounding Native American community
00:29:27.68 Leaving the boundaries of the camp; not interacting with guards, just teachers and administrators
00:30:14.65 Typical day at Gila River; attending school in camp; becoming interested in art and creating landscape pieces
00:33:05.43 Sense of security from being surrounded by other Japanese Americans in camp, despite difficult conditions
00:35:04.77 Psychological impacts of camp on his parents; not discussing his camp experience with others
00:36:13.95 The “loyalty” questionnaire; father answering “no-no”, but not being sent to Tule Lake
00:37:57.96 Friendship with Hiroshi Kashiwagi
00:39:18.18 Reason why father answered “no-no”; tension between his father and himself
00:41:08.67 Friends and acquaintances who were sent to Tule Lake and Japan before returning to the United States
00:41:55.30 Learning that Japanese Americans would be released from camp; leaving camp with his sister, but briefly separating from parents and the rest of the family; breakdown of the traditional family structure in camp
00:44:06.88 Returning to Los Angeles after camp; getting a job as a “schoolboy”; reuniting with rest of family
00:46:25.37 Grandparents had returned to Japan
00:47:00.84 Influence of camp years on outlook and personality; realization of the injustice experienced by Japanese Americans over time; interest in racial equality and race relations; involvement in the Independent Progressive Party
00:52:59.73 Discrimination against progressive-minded people
00:53:54.70 Occupations after the war; joining unions
00:56:06.23 Art at Gila River and beyond
00:58:13.93 Belief in fighting for peac
