Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1811/

Camouflage Net Weaving in Manzanar

The first job that I got was the weaving of camouflage nets and immediately managed to get ourselves into trouble. A lot of criticism from people assigned by the military to check the nets after we had woven it. We had the patterns underneath and there were two things that if you weren’t very good at it, which I wasn’t, that you did—one was to weave through both nets, the pattern net/reference net and the one you were weaving so they wouldn’t come apart once you were finished, and the other was to make mistakes. I could see them take the net we worked on and put it on the ground and these men would stride around and look at it, finding mistakes all over the place. That was my first job.


California camouflage concentration camps Manzanar concentration camp United States World War II World War II camps

Date: August 6, 1998

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Janice Tanaka

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

Interviewee Bio
Iwao Takamoto (April 29, 1925 – January 8, 2007) was a legendary animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera, most famously designing Scooby Doo in the late sixties. Incarcerated at Manzanar after graduating high school, Iwao leveraged his art skills into a job at Disney upon returning to Los Angeles, working on classic animated films like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. He would go on to mentor other Japanese American animators such as Willie Ito, who worked with him on Lady and the Tramp. After leaving Disney for Hanna-Barbera in 1962, Iwao continued animating, as well as producing and directing films like Charlotte's Web (1973) until his retirement. (June 2021)
Francesca Yukari Biller
en
ja
es
pt
Biller,Francesca Yukari

Writing a novel on the 442nd

Jewish Japanese American journalist

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Murakami
en
ja
es
pt
Murakami,Jimmy

Introduction to Film

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Murakami
en
ja
es
pt
Murakami,Jimmy

Seagulls

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Murakami
en
ja
es
pt
Murakami,Jimmy

Reparations

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

en
ja
es
pt
Harry Schneider
en
ja
es
pt
Schneider,Harry

Meeting Hamako in Japan

(1916 - 2013) Member of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service

en
ja
es
pt
Harry Schneider
en
ja
es
pt
Schneider,Harry

Meeting Mr. Amano

(1916 - 2013) Member of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service

en
ja
es
pt
Harry Schneider
en
ja
es
pt
Schneider,Harry

Marriage and Returning to US

(1916 - 2013) Member of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service

en
ja
es
pt
George Takei
en
ja
es
pt
Takei,George

Father's Influence

(b. 1937) Actor, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Susumu “Sus” Ito
en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Susumu “Sus”

Feeling prejudice while looking for jobs

(1919 - 2015) Nisei who served in World War II with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team

en
ja
es
pt
Susumu “Sus” Ito
en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Susumu “Sus”

Generosity of the Italians

(1919 - 2015) Nisei who served in World War II with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team

en
ja
es
pt
Susumu “Sus” Ito
en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Susumu “Sus”

Invited to teach at Harvard by his boss

(1919 - 2015) Nisei who served in World War II with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

The riot in Manzanar

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Willie Ito
en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Willie

Father making shell brooches at Topaz

(b. 1934) Award-winning Disney animation artist who was incarcerated at Topaz during WWII

en
ja
es
pt
Willie Ito
en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Willie

The Dopey bank that survived the war

(b. 1934) Award-winning Disney animation artist who was incarcerated at Topaz during WWII

en
ja
es
pt
Sawako Ashizawa Uchimura
en
ja
es
pt
Uchimura,Sawako Ashizawa

Evacuated to the Jungle

(b. 1938) Philipines-born hikiagesha who later migrated to the United States.

en
ja
es
pt