Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1699/

Neighbor took care of her mother after grandfather was taken by FBI

My mom had the really interesting story which is her father, Koichi Suzuki was the principal of Nihon Gakuen in San Francisco. So when Pearl Harbor came around they had him on their list, the FBI had him on the list and so they came and took him away. And my grandmother on that side had died and so it was just my mother who was, I believe, either 12 or 14 and her sister who was two years older than her and her brother who was four years younger and they were sitting in their house in San Francisco and not knowing what was happening with their father. They had no money, they had no food, and the FBI didn’t care that there was nobody there to take care of these three children. So, finally it got dark and they trucked downstairs because it was sorta a duplex, and they said to their families, their neighbors, who were also Japanese Americans, and said you know our dad, our dad got taken away. And they sorta took them in, and they took care of them.

So, and ultimately they also went to Tanforan where they lived like everybody else in a horse stall sleeping on bales of hay and then they were sent to Topaz.


World War II

Date: July 11, 2019

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Kayla Tanaka

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Interviewee Bio

Judge Holly J. Fujie is a Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California since 2012. She grew up in West Oakland, California in a diverse neighborhood. Both of her parents were incarcerated as children during World War II, but did not share their experiences with her until she was an adult. This affected her view on laws and government and led her to pursue a career as an attorney and later as a judge.

As a lawyer, she became involved with various minority bar association, including the Japanese American Bar Association, and mentorship programs. She became the first Asian American President of the State Bar of California in 2008. (July 2019)

*This is one of the main projects completed by The Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern each summer, which the Japanese American Bar Association and the Japanese American National Museum have co-hosted.

Yamada,Mitsuye

Her brother’s reasons as a No-No Boy

(b. 1923) Japanese American poet, activist

Kakita,Howard

Immediately after the bombing

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

Kakita,Howard

Other family members not as lucky

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

Kakita,Howard

His parents had little hope that he had survived the atomic bomb

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

Kakita,Howard

His views on nuclear weapons

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

Takamoto,Iwao

Loss When Leaving for Manzanar

Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)

Naganuma,Jimmy

Forcibly deported to the U.S. from Peru

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

Teisher,Monica

Stories of Grandfather at a concentration camp in Fusagasuga

(b.1974) Japanese Colombian who currently resides in the United States

Teisher,Monica

Her grandfather in a concentration camp in Fusagasuga (Spanish)

(b.1974) Japanese Colombian who currently resides in the United States

Naganuma,Jimmy

Family welcomed at Crystal City

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

Naganuma,Jimmy

First meal at Crystal City

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

Naganuma,George Kazuharu

Thunder in Crystal City

(b. 1938) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

Naganuma,Kazumu

His sister Kiyo was like a second mother to him

(b. 1942) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

Yamamoto,Mia

Impact of her father

(b. 1943) Japanese American transgender attorney