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Her grandfather and Dr. Thompson

Oh, yeah. Sure I was happy. Oh, I said, free, free.

So we’re going back to our house. The weeds are up so high. But you know, we took grandpa with us. Grandpa was still living. And you know, so we put him in the back seat and I was taking care of him. And when we get home there was that kind of a beautiful orangey colored roses blooming. So I cut that and put it by his bedside. And he said, "oh, that’s beautiful," he says, "Kirei dane." "Grandfather, what you have planted." And he just nods his head.

And then, in the meantime, Dr. Thompson, who was a wonderful doctor. He was a German doctor. He’s the one that has built this Burbank hospital. It’s a small hospital. And that’s where he kept my grandpa and my grandmother when we went to camp. In the basement. He had them there. He said, I’ll take care of them.

And then somehow the army found out that they were there. They come to Dr. Thompson. They come with the rifles and the guns, just an army of people. “You have enemy aliens down here.” So they come there, and he said, oh, he felt so bad, but then they took them away.

But Dr. Thompson was wonderful. When we came back out from camp and grandpa died at home, he even got everything all prepared with the other mortuary in North Hollywood. He took care of all that funeral for my grandfather. The casket, got us flowers. Everything. So really, really grateful, Dr. Thompson.


discrimination families grandfathers grandparents interpersonal relations parents postwar World War II

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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George Katsumi Yuzawa

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Jean Hayashi Ariyoshi

Possibility of being adopted by aunt

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Henry Shimizu
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Henry Shimizu

No immediate impact after Pearl Harbor

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Kazuo Funai

First work in America (Japanese)

(1900-2005) Issei businessman

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Masako Iino

Interest in Japanese migration studies (Japanese)

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Henry Shimizu
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Henry Shimizu

Treatment of Japanese fishermen in Canada during World War II

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Henry Shimizu
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Henry Shimizu

Japanese Canadians get the right to vote in 1949

(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.

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Henry Shimizu
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Henry Shimizu

Japanese newspaper supported by Canadian government during World War II

(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.

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James Hirabayashi
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James Hirabayashi

Little interaction with parents

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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James Hirabayashi

Gordon's parents' experience in prison

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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Venancio Shinki
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Venancio Shinki

Memories of my infancy: Japanese 1, Japanese 2… (Spanish)

(b. 1932-2016) Peruvian painter

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Venancio Shinki
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Venancio Shinki

Mistreating the Japanese community (Spanish)

(b. 1932-2016) Peruvian painter

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Venancio Shinki
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Venancio Shinki

Prejudice in Japanese school (Spanish)

(b. 1932-2016) Peruvian painter

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Barbara Kawakami
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Barbara Kawakami

Surviving after father's death

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

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Barbara Kawakami
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Barbara Kawakami

Washing for Filipino bachelors

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