Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/220/

Influence of veterans

The World War II, I think that made it possible for many of the AJAs in America, in the United States, here in Hawaii…to be able to rise to the cause, that made it possible for them to prove their loyalty to their country. And they did it in very superlative fashion. The way it impacted me was, I was too young to become part of that group. But, I got impacted by what they tried to do when they returned. They not only fought in the battlefield, but they came back and wanted to fight as civilians—wanted to have a better life, a more fair life, for every person in the United States. And as a result, I became part of that group. And I think I was greatly helped by the efforts of those veterans who had come back to want to create a more fair and more just society.


armed forces retired military personnel veterans World War II

Date: December 15, 2003

Location: Hawai`i, US

Interviewer: Art Hansen

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

Interviewee Bio

George Ariyoshi was born in Honolulu in 1926. He overcame a childhood speech defect to enter the Military Intelligence Service language school after World War II and served the United States in Tokyo’s ruins. Returning home from occupied Japan, he moved to Michigan where he received undergraduate and law degrees.

He married Jean Hayashi in Hawai`i and, between 1954 and 1986, held elective offices there as a Democrat. He served three terms as Hawai`i’s governor, the first Japanese American nationwide to govern a state. By his own definition, Governor Ariyoshi was “a social liberal and a fiscal conservative.” The title of his 1997 memoir, With Obligation to All, summed up his personal and political philosophies. (December 2003)

Yuri Kochiyama
en
ja
es
pt
Kochiyama,Yuri

Postcards to Nisei soldiers

(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.

en
ja
es
pt
Yuri Kochiyama
en
ja
es
pt
Kochiyama,Yuri

Hiding what happened in camp

(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.

en
ja
es
pt
Yuri Kochiyama
en
ja
es
pt
Kochiyama,Yuri

Arrest of father

(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.

en
ja
es
pt
Yuri Kochiyama
en
ja
es
pt
Kochiyama,Yuri

Camp as a positive thing

(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.

en
ja
es
pt
Yuri Kochiyama
en
ja
es
pt
Kochiyama,Yuri

Mr. Finch, godfather of the 442nd

(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.

en
ja
es
pt
Yuri Kochiyama
en
ja
es
pt
Kochiyama,Yuri

Rounding up Issei and Nikkei

(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.

en
ja
es
pt
Roy H. Matsumoto
en
ja
es
pt
Matsumoto,Roy H.

Mixed emotions after declaration of war on Japan

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

en
ja
es
pt
Roy H. Matsumoto
en
ja
es
pt
Matsumoto,Roy H.

Finding work in the assembly center

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

en
ja
es
pt
Roy H. Matsumoto
en
ja
es
pt
Matsumoto,Roy H.

Train ride to Jerome Relocation Center

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

en
ja
es
pt
Roy H. Matsumoto
en
ja
es
pt
Matsumoto,Roy H.

Atmosphere in his Merrill’s Marauders unit when surrounded by Japanese soldiers

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

en
ja
es
pt
Roy H. Matsumoto
en
ja
es
pt
Matsumoto,Roy H.

Finding his relative among Japanese prisoners

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

en
ja
es
pt
Peggie Nishimura Bain
en
ja
es
pt
Bain,Peggie Nishimura

Evacuation

(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII

en
ja
es
pt
Peggie Nishimura Bain
en
ja
es
pt
Bain,Peggie Nishimura

Conditions at Pinedale Assembly Center

(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII

en
ja
es
pt
Peggie Nishimura Bain
en
ja
es
pt
Bain,Peggie Nishimura

Making craft items from shells found at Tule Lake

(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII

en
ja
es
pt
Richard Kosaki
en
ja
es
pt
Kosaki,Richard

Working at a first aid station on Oahu after December 7

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

en
ja
es
pt