Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/914/

Interviews

Korematsu,Fred

(1919 - 2005) Challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066.

The Final Verdict

And we were worried, you know, until the time that Marilyn Hall Patel announced what, you know, what happened, and then also that she vindicated my case. But until that last minute, until she said that, nobody knew what was gonna happen, and they didn't say anything like, you know, "We're gonna win," because, well, I guess they feared the worst. It could have possibly gone the other way. So until she announced it, we just didn't know. ... Well, everybody was jumping up and down, you know, and crying, and I, I didn't hear it. And I just thought, "That must mean that we won." So, and then I talked to Dale, "Yeah." [Laughs] So Dale says, "Yeah." [Laughs] And Peter said that we did win it.


World War II

Date: May 14, 1996

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Lorraine Bannai, Tetsuden Kashima

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Fred Korematsu was born on January 30, 1919, in Oakland, California. Korematsu was working as a welder in San Francisco when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After Executive Order 9066 was issued in 1942, he resisted and made an attempt to leave the state of California. He was apprehended and arrested for failing to report for evacuation. Korematsu was one of several who challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 in the courts and his case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the order in 1944.

Following World War II, Korematsu moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he married and raised a family before returning to California. In the early 1980s, his case was reopened after the discovery of a document indicating that in the original 1944 case, the federal government had withheld evidence to the high court. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel vacated the conviction in 1983. In 1998, Korematsu was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Fred Korematsu passed away in 2005. (April 15, 2008)

Tom Yuki
en
ja
es
pt
Yuki,Tom

Father was convinced the constitution would protect him

(b. 1935) Sansei businessman.

en
ja
es
pt
Fumiko Hachiya Wasserman
en
ja
es
pt
Wasserman,Fumiko Hachiya

The lack of discussion about family’s incarceration in Amache

Sansei judge for the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

en
ja
es
pt
Kay Sekimachi
en
ja
es
pt
Sekimachi,Kay

Family that saved her belongings during World War II

(b. 1926) Artist

en
ja
es
pt
Mitsuye Yamada
en
ja
es
pt
Yamada,Mitsuye

Her brother’s reasons as a No-No Boy

(b. 1923) Japanese American poet, activist

en
ja
es
pt
Holly J. Fujie
en
ja
es
pt
Fujie,Holly J.

Her grandfather was pressured to teach Japanese

Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

en
ja
es
pt
Holly J. Fujie
en
ja
es
pt
Fujie,Holly J.

Neighbor took care of her mother after grandfather was taken by FBI

Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

en
ja
es
pt
Howard Kakita
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

Immediately after the bombing

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

en
ja
es
pt
Howard Kakita
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

Other family members not as lucky

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

en
ja
es
pt
Howard Kakita
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

His parents had little hope that he had survived the atomic bomb

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

en
ja
es
pt
Howard Kakita
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

His views on nuclear weapons

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

en
ja
es
pt
Iwao Takamoto
en
ja
es
pt
Takamoto,Iwao

Loss When Leaving for Manzanar

Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Naganuma
en
ja
es
pt
Naganuma,Jimmy

Forcibly deported to the U.S. from Peru

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

en
ja
es
pt
Monica Teisher
en
ja
es
pt
Teisher,Monica

Stories of Grandfather at a concentration camp in Fusagasuga

(b.1974) Japanese Colombian who currently resides in the United States

en
ja
es
pt
Monica Teisher
en
ja
es
pt
Teisher,Monica

Her grandfather in a concentration camp in Fusagasuga (Spanish)

(b.1974) Japanese Colombian who currently resides in the United States

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Naganuma
en
ja
es
pt
Naganuma,Jimmy

Family welcomed at Crystal City

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

en
ja
es
pt