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Food on the ship to the U.S.

We had only cookies, I believe, a can like so big, I don't know how we brought that, but that was something to eat for me and the family. Besides that, I remember I would, at that age, you wander, like you wander around the ship, somehow, I did, with my sister. We looked around and wanted to see what's going on. And my sister opened up this door, and it was a mess hall. And she opened it up and you could smell some of the food. So there were people eating there, and we sat down at a table, and I guess we didn't think about people that were there, and we were kind of hungry, too, at the same time we were sick. And we were fed. They gave us two plates, and it was sauerkraut and sausage. Oh, when you're sick, you don't want smell the sauerkraut, and I still remember, we didn't get to eat sauerkraut, we munched on the sausage and we left right away and went back to our room.


food Japanese Peruvians ships

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)

Jane Aiko Yamano
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New Year's food

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

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Wayne Shigeto Yokoyama
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Food growing up

(b.1948) Nikkei from Southern California living in Japan.

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Peggie Nishimura Bain
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Learning American cooking

(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII

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Vince Ota
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Little contact with Asians growing up on the east coast

Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan

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Margaret Oda
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Memories of family dinners

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

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Margaret Oda
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Symbolic New Year’s foods prepared from scratch

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

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Luis Yamada
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Suffering in World War II (Spanish)

(b. 1929) Nisei Argentinean

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Peter Mizuki
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Appreciation of Japanese food

Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner

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William Marutani
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Childhood shame for being Nikkei in Enumclaw, Washington

Judge, only Japanese American to serve on CWRIC.

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Toshiro Konishi
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What Makes Japanese Cooking In Peru Interesting (Japanese)

(b. 1962) Japanese restaurant owner and chef in Peru

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Toshiro Konishi
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Peru Representative vs. Japan Representative (Japanese)

(b. 1962) Japanese restaurant owner and chef in Peru

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Toshiro Konishi
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What’s Next as a Chef (Japanese)

(b. 1962) Japanese restaurant owner and chef in Peru

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Toshiro Konishi
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Japanese-Peruvian Cuisine (Japanese)

(b. 1962) Japanese restaurant owner and chef in Peru

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Toshiro Konishi
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World-Renowned Peruvian Cuisine (Japanese)

(b. 1962) Japanese restaurant owner and chef in Peru

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Toshiro Konishi
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Fusion Cuisine (Japanese)

(b. 1962) Japanese restaurant owner and chef in Peru

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