Interviews
First impression of America (Japanese)
(Japanese) I came to America in mid-May, 1969. It was a period when we were so eager to see the world, you know, the time of hippies, and I myself left Japan for two years when I was in the third year of college. I lived in Los Angeles for a year and a half and traveled to the South Pacific and stayed in Australia for about half a year and went back to Japan, after two years of living abroad. But at that time, I was already captivated by cultures so different from Japan’s, so I soon started saving money again and came back to Los Angeles, America.
In those days, a dollar was worth 360 yen, and I was just amazed by everything I saw. For instance, when I went to supermarkets like Ralphs, just the smell of it excited me, making me go, Wow, this is amazing, and it was just an eye-opening experience for me. I came here with a tourist visa, and back then things around visas were not that complicated, and so I really wanted to come back. I went back to Japan once, saved up and came back here on a ship called Brazil-maru.
Date: August 4, 2015
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Mitsue Watanabe
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Going to Brazil to escape debt (Japanese)
(1911-2010) Founder of JACTO group
Treatment of Japanese Paraguayans during World War II (Spanish)
Nisei Paraguayan, Researcher
Inclusiveness of the first Japanese colony in Paraguay (Spanish)
Nisei Paraguayan, Researcher
Nikkei contributions to Paraguayan agriculture (Spanish)
Nisei Paraguayan, Researcher
Leaving for the States without telling my parents (Japanese)
Shin-Issei from Gifu. Recently received U.S. citizenship
Grandmother convinced his mother to return to Canada
(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.
Government urged Japanese Canadians to go to Japan
(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.
Not wanting to stand out as a foreigner
Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner
Moving to Brazil wanting to see the world (Japanese)
Kasato-maru immigrants
Differences in discrimination
(1913-2013) Doctor specializing in obstetrics in Southern California