Interviews
Stories of Grandfather at a concentration camp in Fusagasuga
Thankfully for us, they treated them well. There's a story that he was given something that he would…I don't remember exactly what they were given good that he would collect, and trade for booze, because he wanted to have some drink, and they weren't allowed to have all those things. So he collected, and traded them. Maybe they had some limited outings, or something.
And there's also a thing that he says that if they were well behaved, they took them out for field trips. So he had gone to a park, or something that he had been impressed by the beauty of the place that they had visited.
And there's also stories that my grandmother had written in Japanese to my grandfather saying, like prearranging that, there were like a lot of faked illnesses in my family, and they would write the notes in Spanish. So the guards would understand that they were telling him that my mom, for example, my mom was very, very sick that what should we do or whatever, so they allowed him time off, and gave him permission to come visit. And he would visit for 15 days, and go back. So they were, I guess every so often, they would fake some illness, or some major event, only so he would be allowed to come visit them.
Date: September 22, 2019
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Prom during the war
(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i
Life in camp as teenager
(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline
Being ordered to keep a diary that was later confiscated, ostensibly by the FBI
Hawaiian Nisei who served in World War II with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Helping soldiers
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Fun at concentration camp
Senshin Buddhist Temple minister and co-founder of Kinnara Taiko.
Father as prisoner of war in hospital
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Patriotism versus loyalty
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Postcards to Nisei soldiers
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Hiding what happened in camp
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Camp as a positive thing
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Rounding up Issei and Nikkei
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
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!