Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1701/

Camp stories impact on her career

When I was growing up I never heard about it. Back in the 50s and 60s it was something to be ashamed of. And, but it’s interesting because in church all the other Nisei who had been in camp, they would do like skits and things where they would have ‘Topaz’ on the back and they really made it sound to to the children that it really was not a bad thing. And, we were just fine, and we were with our friends there, and it was okay and it wasn’t until really much later that my parents opened up and talked about what a horrible experience it was.

So, even though we didn’t hear about it when I was really little, as we got got older and especially as the Asian American awareness movement started, and then we started to hear about the experience and it was just amazing, to me, as a young woman to think about having my parents just told you’re leaving, you can carry a duffle bag with your things in it, and you’re gonna go to some godforsaken place in the desert. And it has sort of a affected the way that I look at life, the way I look at government, and the way that I look at the law and how it is as a judge, now, being a Japanese American judge, to me means this will never happen again to our people, and it should mean that it won’t happen to anybody else either. I gotta-- wipe that [tear] away…


emotions governments shame World War II World War II camps

Date: July 11, 2019

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Kayla Tanaka

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

Interviewee Bio

Judge Holly J. Fujie is a Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California since 2012. She grew up in West Oakland, California in a diverse neighborhood. Both of her parents were incarcerated as children during World War II, but did not share their experiences with her until she was an adult. This affected her view on laws and government and led her to pursue a career as an attorney and later as a judge.

As a lawyer, she became involved with various minority bar association, including the Japanese American Bar Association, and mentorship programs. She became the first Asian American President of the State Bar of California in 2008. (July 2019)

*This is one of the main projects completed by The Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern each summer, which the Japanese American Bar Association and the Japanese American National Museum have co-hosted.

Yamasaki,Frank

Memories of dusty conditions at Minidoka incarceration camp

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Ransacking of family home by FBI following the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Witnessing father's arrest through a child's eyes

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Participating in military drills in school in Japan during the war

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Hearing anti-American war propaganda from a teacher

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

The hardships of life in Japan during World War II

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kansuma,Fujima

Neighbor took care of hotel business during the World War II

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

Sasaki,Fred

Anti-Japanese sentiment at the time of World War II

(b. 1918) Issei businessman in Canada

Kodama,Ryoichi

Affect of the World War II (Japanese)

Kasato-maru immigrants

Adachi,Pat

Family life in a Japanese Canadian internment camp in Slocan

(b. 1920) Incarcerated during World War II. Active member of the Japanese Canadian community

Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Lack of political power led to camps

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

Kadoguchi,Shizuko

Choice to move east or go to Japan

(b.1920) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Established the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Toronto

Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Feeling imprisoned at camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Institutionalization as a bad aspect of camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

State Department records show concern for treatment of Japanese American internees

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist