Interviews
Making craft items from shells found at Tule Lake
Then it was up to whoever was gonna make the flowers or little birds or pins or earrings or whatever they're gonna make, it was up to the person to use their talent in making different things. But mostly, what was selling was the corsages. They were roughly made at first. I don't know what other people used, because I wasn't really interested in what other people was doing. I got interested in finding ways to make the shell flowers myself, and I didn't want just clumsy-looking corsages. I wanted them to look real neat, and I wanted to be sure the stems were wrapped real fine. And I had experience wrapping fishing poles, so I knew how to wrap the wires. And, of course, the wires was the screens that my dad took apart, and they were kind of crinkly and he tried to straighten 'em, but you couldn't straighten 'em very well.
But it worked out pretty good, and then people found out about my corsages, so I kept getting orders from the, mainly from the Caucasian personnel that worked in the hospital in the administration department. So I was really busy; I got so involved that I'd wake up in the middle of the night and draw a sketch and then make it the next day. And I sold a lot of 'em and had orders when I got transferred to Idaho.
Date: September 15-17, 2004
Location: Washington, US
Interviewer: Alice Ito
Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.
Explore More Videos
Rounding up Issei and Nikkei
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Importance of education in achieving redress for incarceration
(1919-2014) Activist for civil rights and redress for World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans.
The birth of a novel through a conversation with her nephew
(b. 1934) Writer
Mixed emotions after declaration of war on Japan
(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.
Train ride to Jerome Relocation Center
(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.
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.
Larry designing chairs in the camp
Sister of automotive designer Larry Shinoda
Under suspicion after Pearl Harbor
(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i
Family's deportation from Peru to U.S. after the bombing of Pearl Harbor
(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.
Conditions aboard U.S. transport ship while being deported from Peru
(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.
Receiving a negative reaction from father upon asking about World War II experience
(b. 1939) Japanese American painter, printmaker & professor
Memories of dusty conditions at Minidoka incarceration camp
(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.