Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/420/

Interviews

Ito,Mitsuo

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

Getting a job at the British Army camp in Hiroshima

When I got to Hiroshima... in Japan, there's a police station right beside the railway station. There's always a police station and a policeman there. So I went to the police box and asked him, Where do I find the British Army? He says, You get on that train, and go to Kure, Kaitaichi. Kaitaichi, and then there's a camp there. You might get a job there. So I got on the train going to Kure, and when it came to Kaitachi, I just got off and went to the police box right by the station and asked him, Where is the camp? And he says, It's over there, so I went over there, and there was a security guard, a soldier at the gate, and he says, What can I do for you? Says, I want to, I'm looking for a job. So he called the man who was in charge of labor, and he came out to see me, and he says, You speak English? Says, Yeah. Where'd you come from? I said, Canada. Where? Mission. And he looked at me and he says, Mission, that's where I come from. And I told him, My name is Ito, and he knew who we were. And he gave me a job.


interpreters linguists postwar World War II

Date: March 23, 2005

Location: Toronto, Canada

Interviewer: Mary Ito

Contributed by: Sedai, the Japanese Canadian Legacy Project, Japanese Canadian Cultural Center

Interviewee Bio

Nisei male. Born August 20, 1924, in Mission, British Columbia, Canada. Grew up in Mission, attending school and helping on family farm. Left home to work several jobs, including in a sawmill and on a sugar beet farm. After World War II, moved to Japan, worked as an interpreter for the British Army, and got married. Moved to Toronto, Canada, in the 1950s and raised two sons. Active in Toronto's Japanese Canadian community, and is involved with charitable foundations. (March 23, 2005)

*The full interview is available Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Kosaki,Richard

Devastation in Tokyo after World War II

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

Kutsukake,Rose

Life after internment in Slocan

(1918-2004) Interned in Slocan during World War II. Active member of the Japanese Canadian community.

Kadoguchi,Shizuko

Choice to move east or go to Japan

(b.1920) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Established the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Toronto

Kato,Alfredo

Post-war experiences in Lima (Spanish)

(b. 1937) Professional journalist

Kato,Alfredo

Stereotypes about Japanese: past and present (Spanish)

(b. 1937) Professional journalist

Hashizume,Bill

Laid off for being Canadian

(b. 1922) Canadian Nisei who was unable to return to Canada from Japan until 1952

Kinoshita,Masao

Makegumi - Movement to regognize the defeat of Japan (Japanese)

A central figure for the “Makegumi” (defeatists)

Ninomiya,Masato

Since childhood, he has been interpreting for his father.

Professor of Law, University of Sao Paulo, Lawyer, Translator (b. 1948)