Interviews

1. Memories of childhood in Peru

2. Forcibly deported to the U.S. from Peru

3. Food on the ship to the U.S.

4. Family welcomed at Crystal City

5. First meal at Crystal City

6. Enjoying undokai and sports in Crystal City

7. Postwar sponsorship (Inglês)

8. Immersed in Japanese culture and language

9. Proud of his Japanese, American, and Peruvian identity

Jimmy Naganuma

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

Memories of childhood in Peru

I didn't get the chance to attend school at the time, even though I was eight. Uprising against the Peruvian Japanese, animosity against Peruvian Japanese. It was so dangerous for me to go to school. I'm sure the family's business, everybody worked. I remember there must have been about four to six people every day ironing. There was a kitchen that my, one of the nanny would cook, and on weekends, she would make barazushi, Japanese sushi, all the rice and all the ingredients mixed up. And then she would go home for the weekend.

childhood Japanese Peruvians Peru

Date: September 20, 2019

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Tom Ikeda and Yoko Nishimura

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum and Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Jimmy Naganuma was born in Callao, Peru to his Issei parents in 1936. He was eight years old when his family were forced to board a ship, to be incarcerated at Crystal City, Texas, during World War II. They remained there even after the war had ended, without a place to go. They were able to leave via a sponsorship by a reverend in San Francisco, California, where they were able to find jobs and housing. (June 2020)