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Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Yoshiro Tokiwa
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Yoshiro Tokiwa. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on August 11, 2011, in Berkeley, CA. Transcribed by Justin Masuda.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/426034136This 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 11, 2011 with
Yoshiro Tokiwa
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: Yoshiro Tokiwa1
Interviewers: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Justin Masuda
Editors: j e umamoto and Grace Shimizu
Location: Berkeley, California
Date: August 11, 2011
Summary: Yoshiro Tokiwa was a teenager when he was forced into Salinas Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” and later, Poston WRA Concentration Camp. In this interview, Tokiwa discusses his cultural identity, answering the “loyalty” questionnaire and being drafted into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and witnessing tension both between Japanese Americans in Poston over volunteering for the military. He explains how he witnessed the destruction of war and its effect on civilians while overseas and states his beliefs about the pointless nature of war. Tokiwa also explains what being incarcerated was like for a young person in Poston and speaks of the incarceration’s effects on relationships between members of the family and between people in the larger Japanese American community.
Keywords: Salinas Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Poston WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: family structure, living conditions - extreme weather; education | Identity: Japanese American | “Loyalty” questionnaire: yes-yes | Japanese Americans in the U.S. Military: recruitment / draft, 442nd Regimental Combat Team | Leaving Camp: resettlement | Effects of WWII Experience: cultural identity | Redress Movement
Oral History Excerpt:
00:10:43.10 I got drafted. To expand in joining the military … [W]hen we had to answer the two questions regarding loyalty, and I had answered “yes” and “yes” on both, they asked me if I would volunteer. And my response to them was, “I will volunteer if you allow my parents and my family to return to their homes and…” The officer who was interviewing me stated, “I don’t think that I can blame you. I would do so if I could. But since I can’t, I can’t agree with you.” And I said, “Then I can’t … volunteer.” So, he did ask, “If you were drafted, would you go…refuse?” And I said, “If I am drafted, I would not refuse.” (Coughs)
Index:
00:00:00.00 Growing up in the Japanese American Community in Salinas
00:00:44.27 Eviction and imprisonment at Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center”; background and structure of the “Assembly Center”
00:02:33.85 Being forcefully moved to Poston WRA Concentration Camp; extremely hot conditions
00:03:42.58 Riding the train from Salinas to Poston
00:05:09.00 Growing up as an American teenager; cultural identity
00:06:36.79 Family in Poston; graduating high school there and leaving for service in the Army
00:07:36.99 Attending high school in Poston; having dedicated teachers
00:10:41.37 Being drafted into the Army; answering “yes-yes” on the “loyalty” questionnaire
00:12:06.42 Family’s answers to the “loyalty” questionnaire; talking about it with family; difficulties for Nisei in Japan
00:14:24.78 Parent’s feelings toward Japan
00:15:26.22 Feelings towards the United States and about being a minority
00:16:40.30 Attitude among friends about unconstitutional nature of the incarceration
00:18:08.98 Other people on the block went to Tule Lake, had strong opinions about incarceration
00:19:35.17 Noticed a pattern of who answered “no-no” amongst peers
00:20:55.49 How the questionnaire was implemented; feelings of resentment among incarcerees at Poston lead to riots; tension within the community about volunteering for the Army
00:24:03.94 Going into the service; what it meant to join the military
00:25:53.05 Building a swamp cooler and desk in camp; working as a night watchman
00:29:34.90 Heritage and culture applied to military service
00:31:00.22 Feelings about making big decisions at a young age
00:32:43.26 Training for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and meeting Hawaii Nisei
00:33:43.45 Hearing stories of conflict between Hawaiian and mainland Japanese Americans
00:36:13.07 Being sent overseas for military service; experience in Italy; brief uncertainty after war in Europe ended
00:40:23.59 Seeing the destruction of war in other countries; citizens suffering
00:43:56.83 Anti-war beliefs
00:45:27.12 How family recovered after the war, resettlement; difficulties for older Issei
00:49:04.77 Experience being a young person in camp; entertainment
00:52:40.22 Breakdown of family structure in camp; relationships between family members
00:56:17.51 Camp experience led Japanese Americans to become closer to each other
00:58:39.75 Participation of the Sansei in addressing Japanese American incarceration during WWIII
00:59:57.76 Positive feelings towards redres
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Hiroshi Shimizu
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Hiroshi Shimizu. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on August 23, 2011, in San Francisco, CA. Transcribed by Christopher Zacarias.This 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
Hiroshi Shimizu
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: Hiroshi Shimizu Interviewer: Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Christopher Zacarias Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: Hokka Nichibei Kai, San Francisco, California Date: August 23, 2011
Summary: Hiroshi Shimizu was born in Topaz WRA Concentration Camp to Kibei parents. Although he was a young child during the war, Shimizu can recall certain elements of his incarceration at Tule Lake Segregation Center and Crystal City DOJ Internment Camp. In this interview, he discusses multiple elements of his parents’ lives, including the cultural divide between Kibei and Nisei and how these differences manifested in the lives of Japanese Americans. He also describes the adversity faced by his parents, their attempt to repatriate, and how their experience during the war impacted their lives, detailing the Tule Lake Segregation Center and his father’s imprisonment in the “stockade.” Shimizu explains the pressures on Japanese Americans to renounce their American citizenship and repatriate, and how the terrible treatment of incarcerees at Tule Lake created a situation of mass renunciation of citizenship.
Keywords: Immigration: picture bride | Identity: Kibei | Pre-WWII: employment – other, newspaper; community – racism; community activities and organizations; sports, Judo, golf | Pearl Harbor: FBI arrests | Topaz, Rohwer, and Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camps | Resistance / Dissidence: citizenship renunciation, repatriation / deportation | Crystal City DOJ Internment Camp | “Loyalty” questionnaire | Leaving Camp: resettlement | Effects of WWII Experience: cultural identity
Oral History Excerpt:
00:41:29.35 I don't think there were any real cases of, quote, “disloyalty." Some people might have felt more loyal to Japan but not disloyal to America. I think what happened was that, after the way they were treated, especially if they … First, they go to the assembly centers. The organization of incarcerating 100,000 people, initially, was very bad. So, their treatment was terrible. You’ve heard the stories about how they had to go to the racetracks, and they were given horse stalls to stay in that weren't even really clean. They were white washed, but the manure wasn't even scrapped out or washed off, so they had bad smells.
… [T]hey had this thin white paint over it. They were given sacks to fill with hay for their mattresses. Right off the bat, they had to feed 10,000 at one facility. It takes a lot of planning and some knowledge to be able to do that. They didn't have that, and so their treatment was terrible. People endured that, and they get sent to the so-called “relocation centers.” And, you know, things aren't much better. They are being treated badly…
[T]hen, all of a sudden, here comes the ‘loyalty” questionnaire. … [A] lot of people, out of just frustration, said, "No." … [A] lot of people said, "Restore my constitutional rights, and I'll answer your questions." Well, they were deemed “disloyal,” and they were taken to Tule Lake.
Index:
00:00:01.01 Basic biographical information
00:00:21.02 Family background and immigration story
00:02:03.43 Maternal grandparents; grandmother as picture bride
00:04:11.63 Paternal grandparents; father’s upbringing and education
00:06:38.42 Father’s interests in Judo and golf
00:07:47.49 Mother’s upbringing
00:08:37.29 Parents’ meeting in the Kibei community
00:09:56.34 Parents’ marriage
00:12:13.02 Parents communicating in Japanese; Father’s job at American and Japanese newspaper
00:13:14.12 Mother’s occupation
00:13:54.46 Kibei lifestyle
00:14:48.71 Cultural divide between Kibei and Nisei Japanese Americans
00:16:15.24 Job opportunities better for Kibei; Nisei as scholars unable to get jobs due to racism
00:19:06.53 Grandfather’s arrest by the FBI
00:20:09.15 Pressure on Father to repatriate; meaning behind the name “Hiroshi”
00:24:52.15 Being born in Topaz WRA Concentration Camp; parents and grandparents planning to repatriate to Japan; incarceration at Rohwer and Tule Lake
00:27:50.86 The “stockade” at Tule Lake; Tule Lake “riot”
00:29:19.79 Rationed food and setting for the Tule Lake “riot”
00:33:50.81 Father put in the “stockade”
00:34:55.63 Horrible treatment and living conditions in the “stockade”
00:36:26.72 Going to Crystal City; pressures on Japanese Americans to renounce citizenship
00:39:13.71 Reasons why the government passed law allowing renunciation of citizenship on American soil; Wayne Collins
00:41:16.39 Reasons why people renounced their citizenship – no true “disloyalty” among Japanese Americans; rather, terrible treatment by the U.S. government; “loyalty” questionnaire; Tule Lake as a Segregation Center
00:46:37.45 Memories of Crystal City DOJ Internment Camp as a young child
00:48:45.00 Memories of George and Edison Uno
00:53:36.33 Father’s job helping Japanese Americans leave Crystal City; Seabrook Farms, New Jersey as a common destination
00:56:31.55 Leaving camp and resettlement
00:59:40.33 Moving to San Francisco; influence of wartime experience on parents’ cultural identity; father starting Buddhist newspaper, “Hokubei”; Father using mostly Japanese after the war, Hiroshi losing Japanese ability
01:07:00.95 Being affected by his first Tule Lake pilgrimage
01:09:52.71 Memory from Tule Lak
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Hope Gertrude (Omachi) Kawashima
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Hope Gertrude (Omachi) Kawashima. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on September 16, 2011, in Clovis, CA. Transcribed by Carol Wong.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/412914426This 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
Hope Gertrude (Omachi) Kawashima
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: Hope Gertrude (Omachi) Kawashima Interviewer: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Carol Wong
Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: United Japanese Christian Church, Clovis, California Date: September 23, 2011
Summary: Hope Kawashima, a Sansei who grew up in Loomis, California, was forced from her home to Marysville Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” before being forcibly moved to Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp. Kawashima describes how her father, a Nisei who was also raised in Loomis, strongly opposed the government’s actions of forcibly removing and incarcerating Japanese Americans and believed them to be unjust. Kawashima recalls first moving from Tule Lake to Idaho, where her father found work, to Topaz WRA Concentration Camp where she was able to attend school but experienced harsh winter conditions. Throughout the interview, Kawashima reflects on the trauma that she and her family experienced and how it had a lasting effect on her life: watching her house go up in flames while being forcibly removed from Loomis; her mother’s depression following a failed pregnancy; Kawashima’s own struggles to speak up in front of a crowd. She ends the interview with a message of resilience in the face of adversity.
Keywords: Immigration: picture bride | Pre-WWII: Employment – agriculture | Community Activities and Organizations – religion, Christianity | Pearl Harbor: war hysteria | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Marysville Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: family structure, psychological impact, living conditions – extreme weather, activities, holidays, education | Leaving Camp: work leave | Topaz WRA Concentration Camp | Resettlement | Effects of WWII Experience: trauma
Oral History Excerpt:
00:17:38.77 [T]he war broke out before I started school because they didn’t have kindergarten then. … We had to go, first, to the Marysville Assembly Center, and then I remember taking the train to Tule Lake, California. … We lived in those tar paper barracks, all of us in one room. … [S]ince … my mom and … [dad] were both born in California, and we were all born in California, we were all United States citizens. So, he always said they had no right to do this.
… [H]e didn’t want to go voluntarily. … He waited until a truck load of soldiers came with the bayonets and forced us to move. … [W]e had, of course, to get on the truck, and then go to Marysville, and move. But while we were leaving, we noticed that our house was burning. Someone had set the house on fire so that they’d be sure that we wouldn’t come back, I guess.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information
00:00:40.60 Maternal grandfather’s immigration story
00:01:56.16 Maternal grandmother as a picture bride; her immigration story
00:04:22.04 Maternal grandparents’ family background
00:05:43.75 Paternal grandparents’ immigration story; work in agriculture; divorce and remarriage
00:08:31.08 Paternal grandfather converts to Christianity; helps to start a Methodist Church in Loomis
00:10:27.99 Japanese American community comes together to build the church
00:11:23.87 Parents growing up in Loomis
00:14:20.23 The effect of a samurai background on the family
00:15:20.88 Relationship with Paternal grandmother; having a language barrier
00:15:52.73 Upbringing in Loomis, CA
00:17:10.39 Interactions with other Japanese Americans growing up
00:17:38.77 Being forced from her home; father's belief that the forced removal was unjust; house set on fire
00:19:17.12 Preparing to leave for camp; brining the piano
00:21:16.66 Family’s reactions to Pearl Harbor attack
00:22:02.75 Parents’ reactions to Pearl Harbor attack; tensions within the community over the success of Japanese immigrants
00:23:15.86 Restrictions on assembly
00:23:24.16 Eviction and incarceration at Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp; feelings and reactions as a young child
00:25:08.40 First impressions of Tule Lake
00:26:23.96 Grandmother's experience in camp; mother's struggle, having a stillborn; father leaving to work in Idaho
00:28:22.86 Activities in camp as a young child; grandmother making crafts and jewelry with seashells
00:29:49.67 Moving to Idaho with family; experiencing racial prejudice as a young girl; applying for transfer to Topaz WRA Concentration Camp
00:31:26.28 Harsh winter conditions in Topaz; being sick
00:31:28.85 Explanation of her name
00:34:04.74 Impressions of Topaz; dust storms
00:35:02.40 A dog in camp
00:36:00.59 Living conditions at Topaz
00:37:27.14 Meals at Topaz
00:38:31.24 The holiday season in camp
00:39:30.80 Discussing incarceration experiences with family
00:40:30.16 Impact of camp on her personality; effects of trauma
00:41:39.57 Crying and singing in camp
00:44:41.02 Message for young people
00:45:47.71 Leaving her pets while going to camp; resettlemen
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Lily Chiyoko (Tsukahara) Hiraoka
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Lily Chiyoko (Tsukahara) Hiraoka. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on September 23, 2011, in Clovis, CA. Transcribed by Justin Masuda.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/414136617This 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 23, 2011 with
Lily Chiyoko (Tsukahara) Hiraoka
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: Lily Chiyoko (Tsukahara) Hiraoka Interviewers: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Justin Masuda
Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: United Japanese Christian Church, Clovis, California Date: September 23, 2011
Summary: Lily Hiraoka describes her experience as a young Nisei woman evicted and imprisoned at Tulare Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” before being forcibly moved to Gila River WRA Concentration Camp. Hiraoka explains how after the attack on Pearl Harbor, her father, alongside other community members, was arrested by the FBI and held until he was eventually moved to Tulare and reunited with family. Hiraoka also describes her experiences at Gila River, including meeting and marrying her husband and watching him face hostility after he volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Hiraoka ends the interview with a message to young people urging them to be a good person in the face of adversity.
Keywords: Japan: pre-WWII | Immigration | Pre-WWII: education - Japanese language school; employment - agriculture, other – houseboy; community activities and organizations - religion | Pearl Harbor: FBI arrests, war hysteria | Forced Removal | Tulare Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Gila River WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp : living conditions | “Loyalty” questionnaire: yes-yes | Japanese Americans in the U.S. Military: 442nd Regimental Combat Team | Leaving Camp: work leave, resettlement
Oral History Excerpt:
00:18:23.56 “Well, there were about…four units per barrack. … I don’t know how many barracks were in a block. But each block had its own kitchen, and everybody who lived in that block went to the kitchen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner…We had a building in the center that was the toilet facilities and no partitions. (Laughs) The showers was a big room with shower [heads] … against the walls. (Gestures with hands) Everybody had to take a shower in front of everybody…
It must have been difficult.
…And then there was a laundry room. We washed clothes by hand.”
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information
00:00:39.70 Father’s family background in Japan
00:02:05.25 Mother’s family in Japan
00:02:20.70 Parent’s separate immigration to the United States and arranged marriage
00:03:08.95 Father’s job as a houseboy; educational background in law
00:04:01.62 Mother’s education and occupation in Japan
00:04:30.87 Father’s changing occupations and eventual work in produce
00:06:21.68 Early life growing up in Santa Barbara; getting along well with other religious and ethnic groups
00:08:06.45 Going to Japanese school
00:08:58.64 Activities in the Japanese American community
00:09:45.61 Recollections from the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor
00:11:00.49 Parents’ reactions to Pearl Harbor; Father’s arrest by the FBI
00:12:13.06 FBI arrests within the community
00:13:18.76 Written communication with father; reunification at Tulare WCCA Temporary “Assembly Center”
00:13:53.49 Going to Tulare; selling belongings and storing with friends
00:14:57.79 Volunteering to help set up the Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center”
00:15:45.57 Description of Tulare and experience living there
00:16:57.21 Transportation to Gila River WRA Concentration Camp
00:17:34.65 Feelings about being incarcerated
00:18:03.28 Impressions of Gila River; living conditions
00:19:25.36 Tension in community surrounding husband’s decision to volunteer for the Army
00:19:50.75 Meeting and marrying husband
00:20:19.35 Background on husband
00:22:04.69 Activities for young people in camp
00:22:52.63 Answering “yes-yes” to the loyalty questionnaire
00:23:12.69 Husband receives hostility for volunteering for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team; his response
00:24:21.92 First impressions of husband
00:24:56.42 Husband leaving for the army; Hiraoka leaving with his family for New Jersey
00:26:59.98 Moving to Pennsylvania for work; positive interactions with the Quaker community
00:27:43.59 Working as a stenographer for an office placing displaced Japanese American students into colleges
00:30:08.00 Relevance of the Japanese American incarceration experience after 9/11
00:30:51.71 Husband fighting in Europe with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
00:31:56.88 Reuniting with husband after service in Army
00:32:43.42 Husband’s experience in Europe
00:33:50.19 Business after Pearl Harbor
00:35:43.20 Italian American experiences in Santa Barbara
00:36:22.81 Community reactions to the FBI arrests
00:37:41.32 Visiting father after his arrest; feelings about his arrest
00:39:08.51 Mother’s calm reaction to adversity
00:39:58.02 Friends helping the family during the forced removal and incarceration
00:42:03.18 Experience at Gila River
00:43:00.71 The law office at Gila River
00:44:00.10 Getting married in a concentration camp
00:47:14.46 Tension within the community regarding the loyalty questionnaire; Husband's experience facing hostility for volunteering for the Army.
00:49:03.87 Reaction to husband and others volunteering for the country that was incarcerating their families
00:50:12.50 Message for young people; reflection on how the incarceration affected he