Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/680/

Search of family home by the FBI following the bombing of Pearl Harbor

But apparently they came very early in the morning and they kind of—my mom went to answer the door and they kind of shoved her aside, not brutally, but shoved her aside, and then they kind of just stormed the house and shook my father, made him get up. When they started going upstairs, my mom shouted upstairs to my sisters who said “Get dressed! Get dressed!” because one of my sisters loved to run around nude. And [Laughs] apparently the men thought that my mom was giving some kind of signal or something 'cause apparently they drew out their guns and rushed upstairs. And then they barged into my sisters' bedroom and asked my sisters if they have ever seen anything like this and showed them the gun. “Does your father have one like this?” And they said only the toy. My other sister remembers the men putting their hands through the sugar bowls and through the rice bowls, and she was thinking, “Oh, that's dirty” and apparently ransacked closets looking for things.


World War II

Date: May 27, 1998

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Lori Hoshino

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Nisei female. Born February 1937 in Seattle, Washington. Spent prewar childhood in Seattle. Incarcerated at Puyallup Assembly Center, Washington; Minidoka incarceration camp, Idaho; and Crystal City internment camp, Texas. In postwar years, became a teacher, principal, and multicultural specialist for Washington State's Superintendent of the Office of Public Instruction. Developed and directed the Japanese American Cultural Heritage Program and the Rainbow Program, one of the first multiethnic educational programs in the country. She passed away on April 4, 2021 at age 84. (July 2021)

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Mixed blood people at camp from a child's point of view

(b. 1934) Writer

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Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Embarrassed to talk about camp

(b. 1934) Writer

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Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

The birth of a novel through a conversation with her nephew

(b. 1934) Writer

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Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Documenting family history for future generations

(b. 1934) Writer

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Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Not a "camp story" but a human story

(b. 1934) Writer

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Fujima Kansuma
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Kansuma,Fujima

Neighbor took care of hotel business during the World War II

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

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Fujima Kansuma
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Kansuma,Fujima

Different learning style in Japan and the United States

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Lack of political power led to camps

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Family separated in the camps

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Feeling imprisoned at camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

World War II hysteria against Japanese in New York City

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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es
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Institutionalization as a bad aspect of camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

State Department records show concern for treatment of Japanese American internees

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Political motivation to keep the camps open until end of 1944 election

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Francis Y. Sogi
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Sogi,Francis Y.

Remembering December 7, 1941

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

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