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Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Akiko (Awaya) Okuno
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Akiko (Awaya) Okuno. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on September 23, 2011, in San Jose, CA. Transcribed by Sylvia Sommer and j e umamoto.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/426028464This 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 19, 2011 with
Akiko (Awaya) Okuno
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: Akiko (Awaya) Okuno Interviewers: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcribers: Sylvia Sommer and j e umamoto Editors: Grace Shimizu and j e umamoto
Location: Wesley United Methodist Church, San Jose, California Date: August 19, 2011
Summary: Akiko Okuno grew up in the rural community of Cienega and later Gilroy, where lived at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. After that day, Okuno worried that her father, who had a leadership role in the community, would be arrested. Although her father was not arrested, the whole family was forcibly moved to the Salinas Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” and then to Poston WRA Concentration Camp. Okuno recalls difficult moments such as having to destroy some of the family’s belongings before going to camp and leaving behind the family dog. She was able to leave camp to attend Temple University but returned to help her mother while her father was ill with Tuberculosis. Although her education was affected by her wartime incarceration, Okuno worked hard to become a laboratory medical technologist. She later worked to help achieve redress and has since spoken about Japanese American incarceration in elementary, high school, and college classrooms.
Keywords: Immigration | Identity: Nisei | Pre-WWII: education - Japanese language school | Pearl Harbor: war hysteria | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Salinas Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center“ | Poston WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: living conditions, education | Leaving Camp: student leave, resettlement | Redress Movement
Oral History Excerpt:
00:58:11.36 It can be fun…because you have a lot of people that you can become friends with. I enjoyed sports, so we had our own … volleyball team and basketball team, and we would play. Then, I think, once a week there was a movie being shown, so we would go to see the movie. … In the block we would hold dances. So, that kind of activity…The days went, you know. And…you have your friends, so…it was a very carefree kind of…And at that point, you know, you are not that really…worried about the future. And what’s the use of worrying. We have no idea if we’ll ever be released from this place. So, you make the best of what you have and what you can…gain for yourself by taking classes and learning, making friends.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information; siblings
00:00:48.78 Parents’ background in Oita Prefecture, Japan
00:01:32.06 Father’s occupation as a farmer
00:02:10.10 Other Japanese Americans in the Gilroy area
00:03:17.11 Mother’s occupation: formerly a teacher in Japan, housewife in America
00:03:36.01 Parents meeting and relationship
00:04:07.75 Father immigrating to the United States; Parents’ English language abilities and using the Japanese language at home
00:05:51.55 Attending school in Cienega
00:07:38.13 Ethnic makeup of Cienga
00:08:36.12 Relationship with next door neighbor
00:09:59.33 Anti-Japanese family in Cienga
00:11:21.59 Making friends in a small community, more information on next door neighbor
00:13:26.62 No stores in Cienga, Japanese American connections in Gilroy
00:14:44.96 Moving to Gilroy; having other Japanese classmates and community members; standing up for others and being outspoken
00:19:05.10 Father is involved in Japanese community and not successful as a farmer
00:19:48.49 Cultural identity; learning Japanese; having a different financial situation than Caucasian families
00:23:27.49 Recalling the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor: destroying Japanese items and guns, worrying father would be arrested by the FBI
00:27:32.68 How life changed after Pearl Harbor; restrictions for Japanese Americans
00:28:51.16 Preparing to leave home: selling cars, finding a new owner for the pet dog
00:30:44.29 Salinas Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center“
00:32:15.98 Forced removal from Salinas to Poston WRA Concentration Camp; uncertainty
00:33:34.01 First impressions of Poston; living conditions
00:38:23.79 Chaos immediately after Pearl Harbor; destroying belongings
00:39:41.11 Having to give away pet dog
00:42:06.45 What it was like as a teenage girl in Poston; being surrounded by other Japanese Americans
00:42:36.53 A day in the life in Poston; classes offered
00:44:28.26 Attending school in camp
00:49:21.59 Leaving camp to go to Temple University; mother hesitated to let her leave camp on her own
00:55:14.81 Family members’ occupations in camp; Father gets sick with tuberculosis
00:57:58.22 Life as a teenager in camp: social activities and making friends
01:00:28.33 Going back to camp to help mother and seeing father sick
01:03:02.45 Family resettles in Gilroy; siblings’ educational pursuits
01:04:40.68 Considering what her education would have been like if she were not in camp; becoming a laboratory medical technologist
01:07:05.17 Working to achieve redress
01:08:17.62 Talking to elementary school classes about Japanese American incarceration and joining the Japanese American Museum of San Jose speakers’ panel
01:10:25.17 Spreading the message to students that they must prevent history from repeating itself and exercise their right to vot
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Albert Yoshikawa
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Albert Yoshikawa. Conducted by Haruo Kawate and Sachiko Takita-Ishii on July 5, 2008, in Klamath Falls, OR and on December 18, 2008, in Los Angeles, CA. Transcribed by Kayoko Aoki. Edited by Brandon H. Unruhe.The Tule Lake Pilgrimage Oral History Project is a series of oral history interviews of participants of the Tule Lake Pilgrimage from 1994 - 2010. The project was conducted by the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc., in collaboration with the Tule Lake Committee
News 35: Occupy USF (usftv)
No full textNews 35 News Producer Nicola McLaughlin reports on the Occupy movement at USF.
See more of usftv's collection on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/usftvc
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Kiyo Sato
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Kiyo Sato. Conducted by Grace Shimizu and Wesley Ueunten on September 16, 2011, in Sacramento, CA. Transcribed by Kiyoshi Tonai-Din.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/410428199This 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
Kiyo Sato
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: Kiyo Sato
Interviewer: Grace Shimizu, Wesley Ueunten Transcriber: Kiyoshi Tonai-Din
Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: Sacramento, California
Date: September 16, 2011
Summary: Kiyo Sato grew up in the Sacramento Valley and was a young woman when Pearl Harbor was attacked. She recalls how the atmosphere became scary and depressing after the attack, with friends treating her differently, newspapers publishing racist columns, FBI searches invading her personal privacy, travel being restricted, and fear preventing Japanese Americans from meeting with one another. Sato took on responsibility as the oldest child in her family and had open discussions with her parents about what was happening to Japanese Americans. She describes what it was like to leave behind her dogs, get evicted and imprisoned at Pinedale Temporary “Assembly Center” and forced removal to Poston WRA Concentration Camp. Sato was able to leave camp and attend school in Hillsdale, Michigan, but felt uncomfortable in the community and was questioned by the FBI. She was able to reunite with her younger brother after he left camp to attend high school in Michigan, and later with the rest of her family who had been released from camp to farm sugar beets in Colorado. Sato was sent by her family to see what remained for them in Sacramento and discovered that their belongings had been taken. Although Sato faced discrimination in the process of applying to nursing school, she was eventually accepted to Western Reserve and joined the Air Force. She testified for the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, and ends the interview discussing her belief that teaching and sharing the history of Japanese American incarceration is a necessity.
Keywords: Immigration | Pre-WWII: employment - agriculture; education - grade school
| Pearl Harbor: FBI arrests, war hysteria | Forced Removal: Executive Order 9066, personal, property, and financial loss | Pinedale Temporary “Assembly Center” | Poston WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: family structure, living conditions – extreme weather, privacy | Leaving Camp: work leave, student leave, racism | Redress Movement: Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC)
Oral History Excerpt:
00:19:03.21 So, those were scary, scary times. … Our neighbors were being picked up.
Mr. Saiki was taken right off the farm. No time to pack a change of clothes, or toothpaste, or anything. … Another neighbor was taken. Another neighbor was interrogated, and he…killed himself after the investi…interrogation.
Index:
00:00:01.63 Basic biographical information; father and grandfather’s story of immigration to the United States from Onjuku, Japan
00:01:40.96 Father and grandfather working as laborers on an orchard in Napa
00:03:06.42 Father returns to Japan to meet mother, a nurse in Tokyo, before their immigration is restricted; parents’ marriage
00:05:24.03 Parents move to Napa Valley and South Sacramento, become strawberry growers in the “Strawberry Capital of the World”; how her father was able to own property
00:07:54.37 Siblings; experience during the Depression: being well fed, taking piano lessons
00:09:36.23 Going to school in a one-room schoolhouse; fellow students are from immigrant families
00:11:07.77 Caucasian families in the area were accepting of Japanese Americans
00:12:54.00 Finding out about the Pearl Harbor Attack and being ignored by friends in the classroom; feeling scared by rumors of potential incarceration
00:14:45.23 She and other Nisei students received an honorary degree; she believes that the conferring the honorary degree was “a great thing to do”
00:16:10.64 A scary atmosphere for Nisei students returning to school after Pearl Harbor; racist newspaper columns caused her to stop reading the paper
00:17:45.79 The FBI searches her home; feeling afraid during “depressing scary times”
00:20:46.58 How FBI raids and arrests affected the community; fear of meeting with other Japanese Americans; restrictions on travel, curfew
00:24:20.16 Discussing the situation with her parents, but hiding the troubling reality from her young siblings; admiring the Issei generation or their perseverance in coping with adversity
00:26:33.26 Parents discussed their feelings about the situation with her; taking on responsibility as the oldest child; helping the family prepare to leave home
00:28:16.39 What she packed in her suitcase to prepare for leaving home; being unsure of where they were going and what kind of clothes they needed
00:30:41.10 Japanese Americans hiding or destroying their belongings before leaving for camp; taking some items to the sheriff’s office; church and homes being burnt down
00:33:53.90 Government figures who worked to force out Japanese Americans; General John L. DeWitt’s book about the Japanese American incarceration and the importance of Japanese Americans recording history for themselves
00:36:13.96 “Evacuation day”: the story of leaving behind her dogs; friend’s story of reuniting with their dog after camp; father hiding belongings in bedding; Issei mentality of doing everything for the children
00:42:23.74 Description of Pinedale Temporary “Assembly Center”; first impressions and being scared
00:44:17.85 Using the bathroom at Pinedale
00:46:19.82 Forced move to Poston WRA Concentration Camp by train, then truck; losing consciousness from traveling in intense heat; being forced to use straw mattress bags
00:51:58.37 Leaving camp to go to college in Hillsdale, Michigan; being stared at by civilians; questioned by the FBI about her father, who they suspected to be an enemy
00:55:22.55 Working to put herself through college; receiving the same treatment as other students while on campus, but stared at by civilians when off-campus
00:56:47.73 Other Japanese American students come to Michigan, including younger brother; brother’s experience in high school in Michigan
00:59:20.86 Family structure broke down in camp, and parents left camp to avoid this and worked on a sugar beet farm in Colorado
01:00:38.07 Returning to Sacramento after the war; others had experienced vandalism, burned homes, burglary; discovering that the family’s belongings had been taken and that people were living in her home; getting a job as a maid
01:08:23.57 Being rejected from top nursing schools because of her Japanese heritage; volunteering for the Air Force
01:10:12.07 Attitudes towards Japanese Americans were changing, but prejudice remained
01:11:03.23 Testifying for the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
01:14:14.82 The importance of teaching the history of the incarceration in schools; believing that the Issei handled the incarceration in the best possible wa
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Miwako (Yoshikawa) Yamashiro
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Miwako (Yoshikawa) Yamashiro. Conducted by Grace Shimizu on September 17, 2011, in Penryn, CA. Transcribed by Johnny Ho and j e umamoto.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/415707734This 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 17, 2011 with
Miwako (Yoshikawa) Yamashiro
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: Miwako (Yoshikawa) Yamashiro
Interviewer: Grace Shimizu
Transcriber: Johnny Ho and j e umamoto Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: Placer Buddhist Church, Penryn, California Date: September 17, 2011
Summary: Miwako Yoshikawa Yamashiro discusses her experiences growing up in a rural farming community in Placer county before she and her family were evicted and imprisoned at Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp as a teenager. She speaks of her day to day life in camp and what it was like to be a girl growing up under camp conditions. Yamashiro witnessed the tension between Japanese Americans in Tule Lake that occurred after the implementation of the “loyalty” questionnaire; in addition, her own brother and uncle were jailed because of their refusal to answer the questionnaire, and renounced their American citizenship.
Keywords: Immigration | Pre-WWII: employment – agriculture; community – racial discrimination; community activities and organizations | Pearl Harbor: FBI arrests | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: family structure, living conditions, activities, education | Loyalty Questionnaire | Resistance / Dissidence: protests, citizenship renunciation | Leaving Camp: resettlement
Oral History Excerpt:
00:38:32.19 Well, a thirteen-year-old girl to be living together in the same room as my parents …Well, to me, we’re still thirteen, so it was not uncomfortable. But I always think that, for married people, it was definitely uncomfortable to live in a situation like that.
00:37:36.21 Well, there were…four girls and one brother. Oh, two brothers. Then we had an uncle and another elderly friend who we had to share two apartments with…because my uncle didn’t want to be … He was a bachelor. He didn’t want to live alone or with some other strangers. And also, this one elderly fella, he was always our … friend, and he helped us in the orchard, and so he was among one of us. So, he was there, too. So, we had two rooms for … Let’s see, how many was that? Six, seven, eight…eight of us.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information; parents’ story of immigration from Hiroshima, Japan to the United States
00:01:50.00 Siblings
00:02:32.72 Grew up in Placer County; father’s occupation as a tenant farmer and orchardist; mother’s work as a farmer’s wife
00:05:02.90 Chores on the farm
00:05:59.82 Living in the rural community; walking to school
00:08:16.43 Ethnic demographics of other children in the neighborhood; good relationships between children; discrimination against Japanese Americans in Auburn
00:10:00.16 Speaking Japanese with parents and English with siblings and friends; activities in the Japanese American community
00:11:50.07 Family separated between Japan and the United States during the war
00:14:10.81 Reuniting with brother who had lived in Japan, feelings of uneasiness
00:14:59.67 Discrimination against Japanese Americans soon before the war: name calling, racist signage
00:16:06.51 Hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor
00:19:11.88 No change in treatment from schoolmates and teachers; being accepted by others at school
00:22:13.89 Hearing about the exclusion orders; being in a “White Zone” and not needing to leave immediately
00:25:23.11 A community leader was arrested by the FBI
00:27:07.84 Being evicted and imprisoned at Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp; owner allows the family to use a room for storage and shares his family’s clothes
00:29:38.86 Getting rid of certain belongings out of fear of father’s potential arrest
00:31:32.96 The train ride to Tule Lake; feelings about going to camp
00:34:49.35 First impressions of Tule Lake; seeing friends in camp and people who had gone to Marysville Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center“
00:35:27.73 Conditions at Tule Lake; living in tight spaces
00:39:38.07 A day in the life of a thirteen-year-old girl at Tule Lake
00:42:25.12 Socializing with other kids in camp; movies and entertainment
00:45:12.32 Going to school; learning to sew; making necklaces
00:48:07.92 She and her friends did not have boyfriends in camp; mother sent her to etiquette school
00:50:41.63 Feelings about identity; brother and uncle refuse to answer the “loyalty” questionnaire and were jailed
00:54:32.10 Protests at Tule Lake
00:56:03.48 Brother and Uncle’s decision to renounce their American citizenship
00:57:30.05 Leaving camp
00:59:38.87 Prejudice and hostility towards Tule Lake incarcerees; pro-Japan sentiment; grandfather passes away in Japan and grandmother moves to the United States
01:02:28.79 Attending the Tule Lake pilgrimage; not speaking about her wartime experience before the pilgrimage
01:04:21.34 Message to others about making the most of your situatio
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Yuri (Matsumoto) Okamoto
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Yuri (Matsumoto) Okamoto. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on September 23, 2011, in Clovis, CA. Transcribed by Mika Arai and j e umamoto.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/414132798This 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
Yuri (Matsumoto) Okamoto
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: Yuri (Matsumoto) Okamoto Interviewers: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Mika Arai and j e umamoto
Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: United Japanese Christian Church, Clovis, California Date: September 23, 2011
Summary: Yuri Matsumoto Okamoto, who was raised in Gilroy, California, recalls the feelings of uncertainty and upset that she and her family experienced after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Despite her fears that she would be looked upon as the enemy, Okamoto’s friends and classmates were accepting of her Japanese heritage and did not discriminate against her. Okamoto describes how her parents felt “sabotaged” by Japan when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and eventually being evicted and imprisoned Gila River WRA Concentration Camp after moving to avoid exclusion zones. She recalls from her experiences at Gila River what life was like for a teenage girl just graduated from high school, how elements of the family structure broke down in camp, and how different people she interacted with answered the “loyalty” questionnaire in different ways.
Keywords: Immigration | Identity: Sansei | Pre-WWII: education - Japanese language school; community activities and organizations – Women’s Association, religion, marching band | Pearl Harbor | Gila River WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: activities, education, healthcare, employment – administration cafeteria, hospital | “Loyalty” questionnaire: yes-yes | Resistance / Dissidence: repatriation / deportation
Oral History Excerpt:
00:27:24.04 When we got…I think it took two days and a night to get to Gila, Arizona.
… When we got there, again, there was a bus to take us from the station to the camp site. Gila … was divided into two camps, … and it was according to the bus that we took which went either to that one or to that one. And so my father kept saying, “Stay together. Stay together. We’re gonna go … together.” And so we did. …
I think it was about…in the afternoon about four or… four or five o’clock in the afternoon. It was getting dark. There was a bus waiting there, took us into camp, and I thought, “Oh my gosh. It’s a concentration camp.” There was a fence all the way around with guard towers. … When we went in, we had to wait in the sun, and … the head of … each family went in to be assigned a site, a barrack. …
I saw these people from the bus after we got there. … “Oh, these people look like immigrants with all their suitcases dragging and walking so forlornly. I thought, “Oh my gosh, look at them. When we got off the bus, waited for our
… barrack assignment, we were that. We dragged
whatever we could and walked over to the—and then a bus went by, and I thought—(breathes in)—to them, on the bus just coming in, we were looking like that. …
Index:
00:00:00.00 Being a Sansei; family’s background and immigration story
00:02:08.39 Mother’s education in Japan
00:03:34.55 Using different languages with each parent
00:04:07.43 Father being harassed and called racial slurs as a child in Oakland, California; Japanese language ability
00:04:57.03 Family’s origin in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan; unique dialect used; community from Kumamoto
00:07:00.11 Social activities in the Japanese American community: films, annual picnic, women’s association, Japanese school; religious centers
00:08:41.42 Attending Japanese school
00:09:55.59 Friends growing up and their ethnic backgrounds; playing in the marching band
00:12:03.42 Not experiencing discrimination from fellow community members in Gilroy; special assembly for Japanese Americans at school
00:14:18.55 Gilroy as a close-knit community accepting of Japanese Americans; knowing families with children in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
00:17:09.34 Reactions to the attack on Pearl Harbor; being treated well by friends
00:19:04.47 Father’s reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor, being upset with Japan for their actions; father’s cultural identity
00:21:35.72 Parents’ feelings of being sabotaged, adapting to life after Pearl Harbor and the uncertainty that accompanied it; moving from Gilroy to Sanger with 10 families, which was still a “free zone”
00:24:00.50 Explanation of Evacuation Zones in California
00:24:56.69 Friends visiting Fresno Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” and talking to inmates through the fence
00:25:32.59 Leaving Gilroy to go to Sanger; staying in a tent
00:27:14.11 Preparing for imprisonment at Gila River WRA Concentration Camp; taking the train to the concentration camp; first time seeing the camp; living conditions and feelings about camp
00:32:21.24 The Loyalty questionnaire and answering “yes-yes”
00:33:48.01 Anecdote: not being asked about service in Army
00:35:32.19 Relationship with teachers; teachers’ treatment of Japanese American students; Japanese population at school
00:39:24.86 Parents making the decision to go to Sanger
00:40:39.10 Not saying goodbye to friends; staying in touch with band teacher
00:41:17.50 Bringing belongings to Sanger
00:42:09.94 Moving with other families from Sanger to Gila River
00:43:24.63 Feelings of acceptance in the face of adversity
00:44:29.19 Experience being a teenage girl in camp; getting in trouble for coming home late; parents feeling like they had less of a burden on them after working hard outside of camp
00:47:52.90 Working in the administration cafeteria
00:49:42.07 Working at the hospital; strict parenting
00:52:54.77 Social activities in camp
00:53:49.52 “No show” babies: young women pregnant in camp; breakdown of family structure
00:57:55.38 Relatives who answered “no-no” on the loyalty questionnaire and were repatriated to Japan
01:00:01.79 Being understanding of the circumstances of others who answered “no-no”
01:01:32.28 Feelings about being treated unjustly by the government; comparing experience with German family who did not have to go to camp; Pearl Harbor, racial differences, and war hysteria as key factors
01:04:37.47 How she became “independent and boisterous”; being divorced
01:06:54.01 Communication with her children about her wartime experience
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Terrie Joyce (Watanabe) Kaneko
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Terrie Joyce (Watanabe) Kaneko. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on August 19, 2011, in San Jose, CA. Transcribed by Mika Arai and j e umamoto.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/413369633This 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 19, 2011 with
Terrie Joyce (Watanabe) Kaneko
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: Terrie Joyce (Watanabe) Kaneko
Interviewer: Wesley Ueunten Transcribers: Mika Arai and j e umamoto
Editors: j e umamoto and Grace Shimizu
Location: Wesley United Methodist Church, San Jose, California Date: August 19, 2011
Summary: Terrie Joyce (Watanabe) Kaneko, a Nisei born to immigrants from Kobe and Tokyo, was raised in Seattle until she was forcibly removed at the age of 14. Kaneko recalls how treatment towards herself and other Japanese Americans changed after Pearl Harbor, with references towards specific ethnic groups. She also describes the feelings of fear experienced by herself and her Japanese American peers in the period leading up to incarceration. Having been incarcerated at Puyallup Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” and Minidoka WRA Concentration Camp, she details the conditions she experienced and discusses the effects of camp on her family structure and dynamic.
Keywords: Identity: Japanese American | Pre-WWII: community activities and organizations – religion, Christianity | Pearl Harbor: war hysteria | Forced Removal: Executive Order 9066 | Puyallup Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Minidoka WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: family structure, living conditions - privacy; activities | “Loyalty” questionnaire | Leaving Camp: work leave, resettlement | Redress Movement
Oral History Excerpt:
00:36:16.47 I have no idea what the adults…were doing. My father…They started making getas [Japanese wooden sandals] in camp. Because it was so muddy, somebody got very clever and found some lumber and started. So, everybody started making…So, everybody in camp was wearing getas [Japanese wooden sandals] to keep our … feet above the mud. And they found the things to do. They began to make things…make tables, chairs and shelves.
Index:
00:00:00:00 Basic background.
00:01:00:19 Parents’ background, meeting.
00:03:47:34 Father's relation to mainstream American culture and insistence on use of the English language.
00:04:26:38 Religious practice in the Japanese Christian Church in Seattle.
00:05:18:60 Mother’s relationship with American and Japanese cultures.
00:06:12:13 Involvement in Seattle’s Japanese American community.
00:06:44:25 Feelings about cultural identity.
00:07:47:33 Father’s restriction on participation in Japanese school.
00:08:49:59 Parents’ differing reactions to complying with exclusion orders.
00:09:18:93 Hearing about Pearl Harbor attack and experience with the subsequent restrictions on Japanese Americans.
00:11:39:97 Experience with fear and shifting attitudes towards Japanese Americans following Pearl Harbor.
00:12:21:57 "I am Chinese" button; differences between Chinese and Filipino communities over treatment of Japanese Americans.
00:13:11:76 Attitudes of Caucasians towards Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor.
00:13:51:44 Experience facing discrimination after Pearl Harbor.
00:13:33:74 Supportive reactions from father’s friends.
00:16:23:44 Posting of exclusion order notices and reactions amongst the community.
00:16:57:01 Preparing for the forced removal. Destroying treasured Japanese valuables to prepare for FBI raids.
00:19:28:63 Obtaining information about what was to happen to Japanese Americans.
00:20:39:96 Role in the family changes as tensions increase.
00:23:27:50 Recollections from the day of the forced removal.
00:23:44:32 Numerical identification.
00:24:46:35 Saying goodbye. Parent’s sadness over leaving.
00:27:27:24 Eviction and imprisonment at Puyallup Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center.”
00:28:30:71 Description of Puyallup and living conditions.
00:31:27:32 Feelings about living in an “Assembly Center.”
00:32:16:89 Confusion and restrictions. Train ride to Minidoka WRA Concentration Camp and first impressions.
00:35:13:24 Activities in Puyallup; bathroom and bathing conditions.
00:36:16:47 Making getas and other useful items in camp.
00:37:14:33 Living conditions in Minidoka. How camp altered the family dynamic.
00:39:48:31 Potato picking in Idaho.
00:42:40:30 Activities in camp.
00:44:16:03 “Loyalty” questionnaire, volunteering for the Army, and "no-no’s".
00:45:22:19 Breakdown of the family system, cont. (1)
00:46:54:69 Redress movement.
00:47:58:87 Breakdown of the family system, cont. (2) Leaving the family after camp.
00:50:09:23 Relationship with sisters
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Lucy Yoko (Ikeda) Hamai
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Lucy Yoko (Ikeda) Hamai. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on September 28, 2011, in Berkeley, CA. Transcribed by Julie Keiko.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/426027016This 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
Lucy Yoko (Ikeda) Hamai
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: Lucy Yoko (Ikeda) Hamai
Interviewer: Grace Shimizu
Transcriber: Julie Keiko
Beal Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: Berkeley, California
Date: September 28, 2011
Summary: Lucy Yoko Ikeda Hamai, a Nisei and Sansei Japanese American born in San Francisco, was raised alongside her older sister by her Issei father and Nisei mother in the family dry cleaning shop. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Ikeda family was evicted and imprisoned at Tanforan Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” and then at Topaz WRA Concentration Camp. When her father answered “no-no” on the loyalty questionnaire, Hamai’s mother gave up her citizenship in an attempt to keep the family together, and the Ikedas were evicted from Topaz and imprisoned at Tule Lake Segregation Center. After being released in 1945, the Ikedas resettled in San Mateo. Because Hamai was only about 4 years old when her family went to camp, her memory of the camps is limited, although she does recall more from Tule Lake in this interview. After the war, an activity in high school in which classmates shared their experiences during the war caused Hamai to realize that her own family was treated very differently. From here, her interest in the Japanese American incarceration grew, leading her to study U.S. History in college. Hamai concludes the interview by discussing the importance of education on Japanese American incarceration during WWII.
Keywords: Immigration | Identity: Nisei, Sansei | Pre-WWII: employment - dry cleaning shop; community activities and organizations | Forced Removal: personal property and financial loss | Tanforan Temporary “Assembly Center” | Topaz, Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camps | Life in Camp: family structure, psychological impact, living conditions, activities, holidays, food | Living Conditions - dust storms, education | “Loyalty” questionnaire: no-no | Resistance / Dissidence: citizenship renunciation | Resettlement | Psychological impact
Oral History Excerpt:
00:53:23.10 Well, the way I was told was my father felt that, if he didn't say “no-no,” he was gonna be a man without a country…because it was asking you to forswear all allegiance to the Emperor. He was not a U.S. citizen. He could not become a
U.S. citizen then. So, it was like he was gonna throw away his Japan citizenship. His thought was what if Japan loses the war. He's not a Japanese citizen. He’s not a U.S. citizen. And the same goes if Japan wins the war. Here he is in America. He had no desire to go back to Japan. He never did. But he felt like he was really a…[Pauses as outside noise interrupts interview]…Well, anyway, he felt like he was really going to be a man without a country. I think he did have this feeling inside, anyway, that he never verbalized to us, that it was unjust. Somehow, this whole situation was not just. I think he had that feeling.
00:54:45.15 My mom went along with my dad, of course. And she was a U.S. citizen, but she gave that up by going along with him. She just figured you had to be together. The family had to be together, so whatever it took. So, that's what she did.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information
00:01:14.06 Identification with both the Nisei and Sansei generations
00:03:01.23 Speaking both Japanese and English
00:03:58.02 Paternal family’s story of immigration to the United States
00:06:58.09 Father’s occupations and early life
00:08:32.27 Maternal family’s immigration story
00:11:27.06 Grandparents’ hometowns in Japan
00:12:24.13 Parents’ arranged marriage
00:12:39.24 Background information on immediate family
00:13:08.08 Growing up in a dry-cleaning shop
00:15:18.19 Father’s participation in the Japanese American community
00:16:59.07 The Ikeda family’s lifestyle before the war
00:20:07.21 Accepting going to camp as a young girl
00:20:46.16 Preparing for camp; family members did not discuss with each other what was happening
00:22:32.14 Experience at Tanforan Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center”
00:24:48.12 Sister’s age during the forced removal
00:25:22.05 More information on Hamai’s experience at Tanforan; lack of memory due to young age
00:26:07.29 Parents’ personalities and tendencies to not share feelings about camp
00:27:15.28 Recollections about transportation between camps.
00:28:47.23 Impressions of Topaz WRA Concentration Camp; windstorms
00:29:59.27 Father answering “no-no” to the loyalty questionnaire
00:30:59.08 Descriptions of Topaz
00:32:03.28 Transportation from Topaz to Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp
00:32:44.10 Impressions of Tule Lake and description of the camp
00:35:09.08 Description of camp bathrooms
00:37:09.29 Description of the mess hall; food and dining in camp
00:40:02.26 Children’s activities in camp, including marbles, “kick the can,” and jintori [base occupation children’s game]
00:42:27.12 Friends in camp
00:43:31.09 Education in camp, including Japanese and American schooling
00:47:48.07 Social activities in camp, including holiday celebrations, Sports Day [undoukai], controversial morning exercises.
00:52:53.13 Lack of communication between Hamai and her parents about reason for moving to Tule Lake Segregation Center
00:53:21.08 Father’s reasoning for answering “no-no” on the loyalty questionnaire
00:54:43.28 Mother giving up her U.S. citizenship to keep the family together
00:55:32.28 Parents gaining and regaining citizenship in the 1950s
00:55:45.25 Leaving Tule Lake in late 1945 and reuniting with her father
00:57:51.29 Message for the public
00:59:18.03 Economic impact of the war on the Ikeda family; postwar living situations
01:02:22.16 Being affected by visits to large retail centers after being in camp
01:03:52.16 Living with other minorities and making friends with people from other ethnic groups after the war
01:06:24.23 Realizing that her experiences during the war were very different from others'; learning about the incarceration of Japanese Americans
01:08:30.01 Effect of the incarceration on Hamai’s scholarly interests; studying U.S. History in college
01:09:28.28 Strong feelings about educating others on the Japanese American wartime experience, and the importance of the incarceration in the context of U.S. Histor