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Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Noburu Hamasaki
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Noburu Hamasaki. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on September 17, 2011, in Penryn, CA. Transcribed by Kristine Xie.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/415715633This 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
Noburu Hamasaki
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: Noburu Hamasaki
Interviewers: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Kristine Xie
Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: Placer Buddhist Church, Penryn, California Date: September 17, 2011
Summary: Noburu Hamasaki, a Nisei born in 1921, discusses his upbringing in Newcastle and later Auburn before he and his family were forcibly moved directly to Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp in July of 1942. Hamasaki recalls the attack on Pearl Harbor and the effect it had on his town, as well as his own experiences in the Tule Lake Segregation Camp after answering “no- no” on the loyalty questionnaire. Hamasaki considers his experience in camp to be somewhat positive and does not feel angry or regretful.
Keywords: Immigration | Pre-WWII: employment – agriculture, barber; education – grade school; community – demographics; community activities and organizations - religion | Pearl Harbor: war hysteria | Forced Removal | Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: festivals | “Loyalty” questionnaire: no-no | Japanese Americans in the U.S. Military | Leaving camp: work leave, resettlement | Redress Movement
Oral History Excerpt:
00:22:02.89 It didn’t dawn on me that it had an impression or anything like that. You have only a few Japanese in the area, but when you got into a camp, it's all Japanese. In a way, it's...a blessing. What I mean is, everybody says …
they didn’t treat us right or anything, but I had no problem like that. I, personally, thought that it was a…good move…Like us, I knew just a few Japanese here, and then now in a camp, you got … all Japanese. … You got not only this area but Sacramento, Clarksburg, and all those towns.
Japanese got together, and then you got [to] meet all these people and then learn new trade[s]. … Before, I used to be a fruit farmer, but there’s no fruit up there where Tule Lake is. But you learn to raise potatoes, and barley, and all that. So, I personally thought I got more good input from being in Tule Lake ‘cause…I would have never met my wife or anything like that, if it wasn't for Tule Lake.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information
00:00:33.14 Parents’ background and immigration to the United States
00:02:49.10 Recollections from growing up in Newcastle
00:04:40.91 Father’s reason for moving to a farm in Auburn
00:05:15.44 Biographical information on immediate family
00:05:50.82 Schooling experience in Newcastle
00:06:50.35 Speaking English and Japanese languages
00:07:35.53 Father’s occupation as a barber
00:08:32.63 Moving to Auburn and experience living there
00:09:25.83 Religious centers in the area
00:10:32.18 Events in the Japanese American community before the war
00:12:30.18 Other Japanese classmates in middle and high school
00:13:29.81 No incidents of conflict between Japanese and Caucasian students before the war
00:13:49.67 Lack of ethnic diversity among the student population
00:15:29.77 Recollections from the day of the Attack on Pearl Harbor; racism against Japanese Americans in the aftermath
00:19:23.91 Experience being evicted and forcibly moved directly to Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp; no WCCA “Assembly Center”
00:21:13.38 Transportation to Tule Lake
00:21:56.75 General impression of the incarceration
00:21:56.75 Farming outside of camp
00:26:16.39 Meeting his wife; wife’s background and occupation
00:28:02.42 Culture surrounding dating and marriage in the Japanese American community; getting married
00:30:30.47 Loyalty questionnaire; answering "no-no"; segregation at Tule Lake; The "Washo group" of Kibei planning to immigrate to Japan.
00:33:58.53 No conflict between the “Washo group” and Hamasaki’s friends
00:35:08.08 Lack of communication with the outside world regarding news
00:35:48.37 Shopping through catalogues
00:36:36.34 Alcohol in camp
00:37:42.32 Japanese festivals and other activities in camp
00:38:42.73 Father passes away in camp
00:41:35.39 Brother’s experience in the Army
00:42:54.94 Resettlement
00:45:12.80 Reception to Japanese Americans in Auburn after the war
00:46:33.08 Wife’s resettlement experience; friends passing away
00:47:26.50 Children not asking about camp; remembering camp years later and reflecting on experiences
00:49:20.54 Siblings’ experiences during the war
00:51:07.01 Reflections on the government’s decision to incarcerate Japanese Americans
00:52:38.69 Redress movement; receiving reparations and the apology letter
00:54:43.31 Hamasaki’s opinion on the relevance of Japanese American incarceration during WWII
00:57:30.38 Getting together with his wif
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Tadao Yamashiro
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Tadao Yamashiro. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on September 17, 2011, in Penryn, CA. Transcribed by Johnny Ho and j e umamoto.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/415724838This 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
Tadao 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: Tadao Yamashiro
Interviewer: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Johnny Ho and j e umamoto
Editor: Grace Shimizu and j e umamoto
Location: Placer Buddhist Church, Penryn, California Date: September 17, 2011
Summary: Tadao Yamashiro grew up in Penryn, California before he and his family were evicted and imprisoned at Marysville Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” and later the Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp. While at camp, he worked as a carpenter before becoming a hog farmer and played in a band. When Tule Lake became a segregation center, his family opted to stay; Yamashiro recalls conflicts that took place at the camp after segregation and discusses the Hoshidan1. After camp, he and his family returned to farming before Yamashiro attended school at the University of California, Davis before going on to work for the geological survey and Department of Water Resources. Yamashiro feels that there was a positive atmosphere for Japanese Americans in Penryn both before and after the war. He describes how he has accepted his wartime incarceration and reflects on positive experiences in camp.
Keywords: Immigration | Pre-WWII: education – grade school; community – demographics; community activities and organizations – religion, Buddhism | Pearl Harbor: war hysteria | Marysville Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” | Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: living conditions – privacy; activities – band; employment – assistant carpenter, hog farmer | “Loyalty” questionnaire | Resistance / Dissidence: dissident groups, protests | Leaving Camp: resettlement
1 The term “Hoshidan” refers to pro-Japan group at Tule Lake
Oral History Excerpt:
00:29:04.04 Every morning I’d get up and go eat breakfast early, walk up to a gate—main gate—and then ride a tractor and go out to the hog farm.
00:35:55.68 Well, … our block was [a] relatively quiet place, so...we had a few parties and dance maybe, but then other than that not very much. (Pauses) Actually, to tell you the truth, I've been going out from the camp every day. That was one of the rewarding thing[s], to … work in the hog farm, so even in the camps you don’t…see … what’s transpiring … inside the camp.
00:36:24.88 Hog farm, yes. I would come back around 4:30, after a day's work, and then…It was nice because you can associate with your friends. We used to play baseball, … basketball, card game[s], and other activities together.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information; family’s background in Japan and Hawaii
00:01:26.50 Parents immigrate to the United States
00:03:24.63 Parents meeting in the United States
00:04:17.22 Growing up in Newcastle and then Penryn, California; other immigrant families, other ethnic groups in the community
00:06:42.37 Going to school; siblings; having good teachers
00:09:27.87 Parents’ involvement in the Japanese American community; the Buddhist church; obon and community activities
00:13:00.44 Unaware of any conflict between Japanese Americans and other groups while in Penryn; speaking Japanese at school
00:14:39.92 Hearing the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor
00:16:34.75 The aftermath of Pearl Harbor; no change in treatment by peers
00:17:44.07 Pearl Harbor was a surprise; the JACL
00:18:49.02 Restrictions on travel after Pearl Harbor; FBI arrests did not take place in Penryn
00:20:21.28 Rumors of being forced out of the area; finding out that they would have to leave; preparing to leave and having a kind neighbor store their belongings; family owned land; bringing in contraband items
00:22:47.22 Eviction and imprisonment at Marysville Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center”; bringing belongings
00:24:19.21 Feelings about being forced out of home; not experiencing remorse or anger
00:25:56.35 Experience at Marysville; living with less privacy
00:27:26.47 Being forcibly moved to Tule Lake WRA Concentration Camp by train
00:28:32.07 Arriving at Tule Lake; being processed in the camp; occupation as an assistant carpenter and as a hog farmer
00:32:55.80 Other activities in camp: playing in a band and obtaining the necessary instruments
00:35:50.63 Working on the hog farm; socializing with friends and feelings of enjoyment; the “loyalty” questionnaire; climbing Castle Rock and becoming a tour leader
00:40:12.64 Alcohol in camp: neighbors making sake
00:40:58.98 The Hoshidan: pro-Japanese group at Tule Lake; staying in Tule Lake after segregation
00:43:33.67 Conflict at the segregation center
00:45:38.23 Parents’ occupations and activities in camp: father worked as a carpenter and helped build the jailhouse
00:47:18.13 Family leaves camp; knowing people who left for Japan and eventually returned
00:48:42.48 Reclaiming the family property; going to work raising hogs in Stockton; going to school at the University of California, Davis to study plant science
00:51:12.70 Working for a geological survey drawing a topographic map; working for the California Department of Water Resources
00:52:46.67 Parents’ lives after the war
00:53:32.67 Talking with children about his wartime experience; reflecting on enjoying camp life; going on the Tule Lake Pilgrimage
00:56:15.97 Parents’ acceptance of their incarceration experience; starting over after the war and being welcomed back by neighbors
00:56:53.30 Japanese American home was burned in Auburn; no negative incidents in Penryn; positive relations between people in Penry
Haiti Health Clinic Presentation Boards, Roof Details Sheet
No full textConstruction DetailCAD Renderin
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Esther Ruth (Kambe) Oda
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Esther Ruth (Kambe) Oda. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on August 19, 2011, in San Jose, CA. Transcribed by Shoko Yoshida.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/410423392This 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
Esther Ruth (Kambe) Oda
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: Esther Ruth (Kambe) Oda Interviewers: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Shoko Yoshida
Editor: j e umamoto and Grace Shimizu
Location: Wesley United Methodist Church, San Jose, California Date: August 19, 2011
Summary: Ether Ruth (Kambe) Oda, a Nisei from Seattle, Washington, recalls the incidents that affected her after the attack on Pearl Harbor: having to leave her studies at the University of Washington, her father’s arrest by the FBI and internment at Fort Missoula, Lordsburg, Santa Fe, and Crystal City Internment Camps; burning her Japanese belongings; being incarcerated at Puyallup Assembly Center and Minidoka WRA incarceration camp. Oda recalls her and her family’s positive attitudes feelings of acceptance in the face of adversity, despite being separated from one another. Oda discusses her unique experience outside of camp as a military wife to a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Keywords: Immigration | Identity: Japanese American | Pre-WWII: community activities and organizations - religion | Pearl Harbor: FBI arrests, war hysteria | Forced Removal: Executive Order 9066 | Puyallup Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center “ | Minidoka WRA Concentration Camp | Leaving Camp: resettlement, racism | Crystal City DOJ Internment Camp | Japanese Americans in the U.S. Military: 442nd Regimental Combat Team | Effects of WWII Experience: trauma
Oral History Excerpt:
00:09:00.43 So that day, we were driving around Lake Washington because it was a sunny day. It was a nice day. … [W]e had the radio on, and we heard that Pearl Harbor was bombed, and we were shocked because we knew there was a lot of discussion between the two countries. But then, we never thought that it would affect us. To me, Japan was where my parents came from. That was not my country, and that was the way Bill also felt. So, we just … listened to the radio, and then later on, we went to get something to eat. That’s when we first felt it because people were staring at us.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information
00:00:21.94 Parents’ background in Japan; marriage and relationship between parents
00:03:11.05 Father’s occupations in the United States
00:04:35.30 Father’s education and language ability
00:05:38.95 Speaking Japanese and English
00:06:22.77 American and Japanese cooking at home; participation in the Church
00:07:43.15 Family’s relationships with other Japanese Americans while growing up
00:08:29.38 Being treated differently due to Japanese heritage after the war; “I am Chinese” buttons
00:08:53.69 Memories from the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor; father’s arrest by the FBI and internment at Fort Missoula
00:09:05.64 Father moved to Lordsburg, Santa Fe, and Crystal City internment camps
00:13:25.85 Father’s involvement in the Seattle community
00:14:19.59 Father was very American
00:14:59.75 Family’s responses and situation after father’s arrest
00:16:01.29 Friendly neighbors and not feeling discriminated against for being Japanese; changes after Pearl Harbor
00:16:29.85 Restrictions on Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor; FBI taking belongings
00:17:18.85 Burning belongings
00:19:01.32 Exclusion orders
00:20:22.28 Preparing for eviction and imprisonment at Puyallup Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center“
00:21:46.16 Leaving for Puyallup and first impressions of the “Assembly Center”
00:23:54.45 Questioning her incarceration and acceptance of her conditions
00:24:29.95 Forced removal to Minidoka WRA Concentration Camp by train
00:25:07.43 Mother’s worries about Father’s well being
00:25:45.09 First impressions of Minidoka; moving to Mississippi to marry her husband; husband’s involvement in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team; finding a place to live
00:35:42.39 Viewing segregation and seeing how African Americans were treated while living in the South
00:36:36.23 Mother moves to Crystal City DOJ internment camp; parent’s living conditions
00:38:34.86 No conversations with parents about their feelings about camp
00:40:36.30 Visiting Crystal City DOJ internment camp
00:41:20.21 Reflections on her wartime experience; how mother was affected by the war and father’s arrest
00:44:12.45 Being a military wife
00:44:59.09 Limited interactions with the Japanese American community; moving frequently; friends passing away
00:46:19.83 Having children
00:46:56.48 Husband wounded in war
00:47:42.74 Husband returning from the war; moving to Illinois and cooking while husband attends school
00:49:58.73 Being treated differently from African Americans while living in the South
00:51:26.62 Original division and eventual cohesion between Hawaiian recruits and mainland Nisei volunteering for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
00:53:45.84 Living in the Presidio; husband working as an Operation Officer for Military Intelligence
00:55:28.27 Reflections on her life and making the best of her situatio
2011-2016 Collective Bargaining Agreement Between the University of San Francisco and USF Faculty Association
No full textExcerpt, Oral History Interview, Marie Mikiko Kurihara
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Marie Mikiko Kurihara. Conducted by Grace Shimizu on August 23, 2011, in San Francisco, CA. Transcribed by Mika Arai and j e umamoto.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/415732225This 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
Marie Mikiko Kurihara
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: Marie Mikiko Kurihara Interviewer: Grace Shimizu Transcribers: Mika Arai and j e umamoto
Editors: Brandon Unruhe, j e umamoto, and Grace Shimizu Location: Hokka Nichibei Kai, San Francisco, California Date: August 23, 2011
Summary: Marie Kurihara was a young woman when she was forcibly removed from her home in Orosi, CA. directly to Poston WRA Concentration Camp. In this interview, Kurihara discusses the importance of her faith in camp, as well as pursuing her passion for nursing at the camp hospital. She went on to build a respectable career in nursing after the war and became a role model, helping to recruit other Japanese Americans into the nursing field and using her reparations money to fund nursing scholarships. A participant in the redress movement, Kurihara describes how she lobbied congressional representatives in support of the reparations bill.
Keywords: Immigration: law and legislation – Alien Land Law | Pre-WWII: employment
– agriculture; community activities and organizations – religion, Christianity | Pearl Harbor | Forced Removal: personal, property, and financial loss | Poston WRA Concentration Camp | Life in Camp: family structure, psychological impact, healthcare, religion, employment – hospital | Leaving Camp: student leave, resettlement | Japanese Americans in the U.S. Military: volunteering, Military Intelligence Service (MIS) - Postwar Occupation of Japan | Redress Movement: activism
Oral History Excerpt:
00:27:24.04 My typical day in the beginning was … breakfast at the mess hall and… I'm [the] kind of person who would stay and help clean up. It has to be done. We had teams of people who would do this work. But what I finally
did, I applied to work at the hospital which is … Camp One. There were three camps, see, and the truck would take us. So, I went to apply for a position as a nursing assistant, and I … [received] training. So, I stayed in the Camp One, the hospital. We worked twelve hours a day. We got nine dollars a month.
And…I was going to be a nurse, anyway, so I was glad for the experience to be there. On the other hand, on the weekends or whatever days, we could go back…to our home. The trucks worked like a shuttle, so we would have transportation back and forth. …
00:47:16.47 Well, ... taking such things as temperature [and] if there were certain treatments we had to provide—looking for certain signs and symptoms of unusual bleeding, or vomiting, or whatever. In those days, we had one whole ward—forty … [patients]—with tuberculosis. … [W]e had no antibiotics, and the treatment was to rest and to eat good food, and it’s all there was … [Tuberculosis was very] contagious…We … [wore] isolation gowns and masks. … But it’s amazing how many of … [the patients] survived. … There was no treatment in those days.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Basic biographical information, family background and immigration story
00:02:03.16 Mother’s background
00:02:45.16 Experience being raised on a farm; duties; learning Japanese; embarrassment about Japanese food around Caucasian students
00:05:10.57 Japanese food at home
00:06:06.13 Communication between parents and children
00:07:04.89 Pleasant experience with neighbors before the war
00:07:43.15 Choosing Christianity, being raised by Buddhist parents
00:09:17.00 Moving from Tulare to Orosi, CA; the Alien Land Law and its impact on her family
00:10:51.17 Immediate impact of Pearl Harbor attack, recollections from that time
00:12:49.48 Parents’ response to the forced removal; neighbor’s suicide
00:15:28.42 Harvesting the rest of the crops eviction; befriending farm workers from Monterey
00:17:14.83 Eviction and imprisonment at Poston WRA Concentration Camp
00:18:17.54 Impressions of Poston; effect of incarceration on family members, who became depressed and suffered health issues; father passes away
00:19:46.64 Father's declining health before his death; Mother's adapting to internment conditions; siblings drafted to the Army
00:22:05.15 A typical day in camp; working for the hospital; becoming involved in the church
00:25:03.11 The meaningful nature of Church in camp
00:26:21.18 Brothers volunteered for the Army
00:27:33.98 Leaving camp after staying to work at the hospital; pursuing nursing school; being denied admission due to Japanese ancestry; applying again, being admitted, and becoming a role model
00:30:58.08 Mother's reaction to her leaving camp; younger brother's experience in the Occupation of Japan
00:32:36.94 Resettlement; family in old home, Kurihara in Chicago
00:33:29.99 Friendship with the Jacobsons, who financially supported her
00:34:51.84 Pursuing education as a young woman; work ethic
00:36:10.01 Adjustment to incarceration
00:36:58.26 Effect of the incarceration (specifically Christian faith) on personal development
00:38:34.59 Career development; first learning of and getting involved with the Redress movement
00:41:22.67 Involvement in Reparations movement, lobbying congressional representatives; using reparations payments to fund nursing scholarships
00:46:43.84 Medical care in camp; tuberculosis as a prevalent issue
00:48:46.18 Psychological issues in camp
00:49:41.49 Opinions on the government drafting Japanese Americans; why the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans occurred
00:51:39.45 Discussion of the importance of seeking peace
00:54:17.54 Message from Norman Mineta, greatest commendatio
Excerpt, Oral History Interview, Iwao Lewis Suzuki
No full textExcerpt, summary, and index of an oral history interview of Iwao Lewis Suzuki. Conducted by Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu on August 11, 2011, in Berkeley, CA. Transcribed by Shoko Yoshida.
Excerpt available online at https://vimeo.com/503679861This 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
Iwao Lewis Suzuki
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: Iwao Lewis Suzuki1
Interviewers: Wesley Ueunten and Grace Shimizu Transcriber: Shoko Yoshida
Editor: Grace Shimizu
Location: Berkeley, California
Date: August 11, 2011
Summary: Iwao Lewis Suzuki shares his unique experience as a Kibei and employee at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. at the time of the onset of World War II. Suzuki later went on to work for the Office of War Information as a translator. He describes his experience during the war as an MIS Language School instructor at Camp Savage and Fort Snelling, where he taught other Kibei military terminology and other aspects of Japanese language. Suzuki details his involvement in the Communist Party and his political views on peace, militarism, and national liberation, how these views impacted his art, and how his policy disagreements led to his eventual branding as an enemy of the Communist Party. Although he faced surveillance by the FBI for his views, he encourages others to speak up and share their opinions.
Keywords: Immigration | Identity: Kibei | Pre – WWII Japan: education - schooling in Japan; community – racial discrimination | Pre-WWII U.S.: education – college, employment – other, Japanese Embassy | Pearl Harbor | Japanese Americans in the U.S. Military: Military Intelligence Service (MIS) – MIS Language School, Camp Savage, Camp Lansing, Fort Snelling, instructor | Activism
Oral History Excerpt:
00:31:34.16 I stayed four, five weeks in Camp Savage, and then I went down to Camp Lansing to take my basic training. (Pauses) … When I came back from basic training, I thought…I was hoping they would send me oversea[s], but instead they asked me to stay and become [an] instructor. At Camp Savage, there were about twenty-five, thirty teacher[s] at that time. At Camp Savage, a couple months later, it got so big, we had over fifty teachers. So, we went to Fort Snelling, and that’s where I spent the rest of my…army life.
00:38:14.82 [W]hen we left Camp Savage, [there were] about twenty-five teachers, and although all twenty-five did not have a class at one time, each class had fifteen to twenty students. So, there were quite a bit. But at Ft. Snelling, we had fifty teacher[s], and the class was big–about twenty, twenty-five.… So, it must be close to 1,000. I don’t know how many students actually went through the whole system.
00:36:20.85 Yeah, most of them were Kibei, but there were not enough Kibei. … Many of them…understood Japanese a little bit but did not learn how to read and write. So, teaching [how to] read and write was very intensive.
Index:
00:00:00.00 Being born in Los Angeles; parents’ background in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
00:00:44.01 Father’s occupation as a dry cleaner; his involvement in music; starting out as a rice farmer in the Central Valley
00:03:11.47 Moving to Japan with mother after father’s death in 1930; attending school in Japan having grown up as an American child
00:05:00.55 Being picked on by Japanese children; using child-like word instead of adult word when using Japanese language
00:05:43.09 Art in grammar school; plans to become an art teacher
00:07:10.40 Training with soldiers, Japan’s militarism in education
00:08:23.17 Being discriminated against for being born in America while studying in Japan; Nationalism in education
00:09:58.34 Studying art in Japan; meeting a student of the Chicago Art Institute; leaving Japan; beginning study at the Otis Art Institute; introduction to Marxism and anti-militarism
00:13:56.71 The “Long Beach incident”
00:17:32.63 Marxist study group
00:18:19.75 Moving to Washington D.C. to work for the Japanese Embassy
00:22:01.00 Living at the Embassy at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor
00:22:36.65 Feeling tension before the war broke out; choosing to stay in America
instead of being sent back to Japan; hearing story of a diplomat forced to behead civilians in China; speech about keeping the peace from Nomura Taishi
00:28:11.14 Leaving the Embassy and working at the Office of War Information; doing translation work; coworkers
00:31:26.11 Not getting clearance and being laid off; joining the Army; going to Camp Savage and Camp Lansing; teaching at Camp Savage and later Fort Snelling
00:34:42.13 Teaching Kibei translation and military terminology; students at Fort Snelling
00:38:54.97 Feelings about national identity; brothers in the Japanese Army
00:39:46.19 Family in Japan during the war
00:40:48.66 Leaving Fort Snelling after the war’s end; learning carpentry
00:43:01.88 Attending art school and work in activism
00:45:23.31 Joining the Communist Party; experiencing repression
00:49:53.92 Being active in the Communist Party; becoming a delegate for the Asian Pacific Peace Conference
00:54:04.23 Disagreeing with Communist Party policies; being interviewed; branded an enemy of the party
00:58:44.44 Beliefs about National Liberation
01:00:59.51 Beliefs about current (2011) issues in the context of national liberation and peace
01:02:49.12 Discussion about art political influences on his ar