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Interviews

Sumiko Kozawa

(1916-2016) Florist
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Sensing the war was coming

American consulate said I better get home. I says, “Why?” He says, I better get home. I knew something was happening cause you can tell. Even on the train, these soldiers would come. They were rough, these Japanese soldiers. I mean, they weren’t kind at all. To me, the American soldiers were really nice. But no, not these Japanese soldiers. They were almost frightening…It was 1938, 39. I think…You know, I didn’t sense anything like that but when the American Consulate says, “You better get home,” you kind of feel that. Just lucky I came on the last ship that came in safe in the harbor.

generations Japanese Americans Kibei Nisei

Date: May 24, 2011

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki

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

Interviewee Bio

Sumiko Kozawa was born in 1916 in Los Angeles. The oldest of five children, Sumi spent three years in Japan before World War II, learning koto, flower arranging, and tea ceremony. Her family’s flower shop, Tokio Florist in Silver Lake, was popular with the Hollywood community because of its fresh flowers and reasonable prices. Sumi not only helped out, but also had the opportunity to meet many people, including famous silent movie star, Greta Garbo. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Sumi and her family were sent to Manzanar. There she helped care for the family, taking care of her grandfather and younger sister. She passed away on December 2016, at age 100. (December 2016)

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