Interviews

1. General reasons why people left Japan for Peru

2. Great grandfather Asato was a sumo wrestler

3. Grandfather loved to tell her stories of her great-grandfather Arakaki

4. Prosecution of Japanese Peruvians during the war

5. Where parents went to school in Peru

6. Parents leaving Peru to move to California

7. Reflections on childhood

8. Okinawan cultural appreciation

9. Prejudice against Okinawans from mainland folks

10. Okinawan Americans

11. Parents identification as Peruvian Okinawan

12. On Nikkei identity

13. Japanese values that she aligns with

14. American values she aligns with

15. Working together in Okinawa using three languages

Michelle Yamashiro

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

Grandfather loved to tell her stories of her great-grandfather Arakaki

So he told me my grandma Arakaki’s side, that’s the grandpa that was college educated, from mainland, at that time, so that’s like in the tens and twenties, nineteen ten, nineteen twenties, and I don’t know if it’s Waseda or Todai, but it was a pretty prominent, big university – still is and because he’s well-educated he of course had different political views than the Japanese government at the time. And so for those reasons he left Japan and went to Peru. And so that’s just a really interesting story and because he was so well-loved by the Peruvian community, and well-loved and well-respected the communities who protected him from getting kidnapped by the Peruvian government to go to…I believe he was supposed to go to Crystal City, as a professor, as an educator in the community and they hid him very well so that he didn’t get taken and he would do some secret night teachings, like Japanese language or even just history and things like that. So I think because that story’s so interesting, my grandpa would always tell me about that.

communities Crystal City internment camp Department of Justice camps families grandfathers grandparents Japanese Peruvians migration Okinawans parents Peru Texas United States universities World War II World War II camps

Date: Aug 30, 2018

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Sharon Yamato

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

Interviewee Bio

Grew up in Gardena, California. Her parents moved to the United States from Lima, Peru where they grew up in the Japanese and Okinawan Peruvian community. Because of this diverse background, she was exposed to a mixing of different cultural traditions. She is involved with the Okinawa Association of America and has visited Okinawa and Peru.

She received her teaching credentials but with an opportunity at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (GVJCI), she turned to non-profit work and is a volunteer at GVJCI and the Okinawa Association of America. (August 2018)

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