Interviews

1. Encountering racial discrimination at a public swimming pool

2. Loss of happy-go-lucky adolescence in Puyallup Assembly Center

3. Memories of dusty conditions at Minidoka incarceration camp

4. Making the decision to resist the draft

5. Thoughts on redress

6. Starting over after the war: denial of all things Japanese

7. Have compassion for all of humanity

8. Thoughts on post-9/11 atmosphere: what it means to be American

Yamasaki,Frank

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

Starting over after the war: denial of all things Japanese

One of the notable things was after the war, many Japanese, I think Issei and Nisei both, there was a period of denial. They refrained from starting up activities that were culturally Japanese. They even refrained from talking about eating Japanese food. I was very angry about that. Again, it was almost as if it was a shame to be Japanese, of Japanese heritage. But at the same time, the climate was such that there was no alternative. To be Americanism was the fad. And there was only one way you were supposed to be Americans and that is to salute the flag and recite the preamble and that constitutes being good Americans.

culture identity patriotism postwar World War II

Date: August 18, 1997

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Lori Hoshino, Stephen Fugita

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Nisei male. Born 1923 in Seattle, Washington. Spent prewar childhood in South Park and Belltown areas of Seattle. Incarcerated at Puyallup Assembly Center, Washington, and Minidoka incarceration camp, Idaho. Refused to participate in draft, imprisoned at McNeil Island Penitentiary, Washington, for resisting the draft. Resettled in Seattle.

*The full interview is available Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.