Interviews
Celebrating his birthday on December 7, 1941
Well I will never forget the time that I heard about December 7th, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I remember running home from a movie, and it was all kind of clamor out in the streets. It’s something that hits you and yet you are not sure what the future is going to hold, so you don’t know. But you know that something important had happened, something that is going to change your life happened. You didn’t know what is going to happen, but you knew something happened. And that was my feeling.
I always kind of kid about it, and I say, yeah I was celebrating my birthday with a bang. But it was our first pre-emptive strike by Japan to our own nation, to our own land. That had kind of a scary feeling for me, also, a kind of unknown future. You just had to wait and see.
Date: March 4, 2005
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Florence Ochi, Art Hansen, Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Reflecting on Japanese Americans' response to incarceration
(b. 1925) Draft resister
Japanese American railroad workers are fired following the bombing of Pearl Harbor
(b. 1923) Chick sexer
A racist encounter at a movie theater following the bombing of Pearl Harbor
(b. 1923) Chick sexer
Encountering a train full of Japanese Americans being transported to a concentration camp
(b. 1923) Chick sexer
Joined Japanese Imperial Army during the WWII (Spanish)
(b. 1929) Nisei Argentinean
Relief fund to support Japanese communities (Japanese)
(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration
Role of Assistancia Social dom Jose Gaspar (Japanese)
(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration
Interrogation by police (Japanese)
(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration
No immediate impact after Pearl Harbor
(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.
Treatment of Japanese fishermen in Canada during World War II
(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.
Government's permission to publish Japanese newspaper in Canada during World War II
(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.
Japanese newspaper supported by Canadian government during World War II
(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.
Sneaking out of the Hastings Park camp during World War II
(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.
Discover Nikkei Updates
November 12
5pm PDT | 7pm PET
Featured Nima:
Graciela Nakachi
Guest Host:
Enrique Higa
Presented in Spanish
Follow us @discovernikkei for new site content, program announcements, and more!