Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/404/

Hearing anti-American war propaganda from a teacher

And another time, I think when things were really getting worse, he, another one I remember so vividly is the one he said -- well, of course, the Japanese navy was so popular and strong. So he would say, well, when they look over the Pacific, the dark-eyed Japanese, the eyeballs are brown, and so they can absorb the light much more than the blue, light blue eyes and so they can see so much more over the Pacific. And he said, The Amerikajins (Americans) are kinpatsu (blond hair), you know, the golden hair and the blue eyes and they're blinded by the sun so they can't see far away. And so, you see the advantage we have.

And here, inside, you keep asking me how I felt. I thought, How stupid. And I couldn't even tell any of my friends this. So it's a very private thought that I thought. How sad. Does he expect people to believe that? I mean, I certainly didn't believe it. I knew enough science or whatever to -- that it just -- you know, something that I just personally could not accept. And I thought, gee, how ugly this must be, truly a desperate wartime situation.


Japan propaganda racism World War II

Date: August 3 & 4, 2003

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Alice Ito

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Nisei female. Born December 30, 1927 in Seattle, Washington. Lived in Japan for fifteen months as a child, before returning to Seattle to attend junior high school. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, father was picked up by the FBI and taken to the Department of Justice camp at Missoula, Montana. Removed to the Puyallup Assembly Center, Washington, before being reunited with father at the Minidoka incarceration camp, Idaho. Family volunteered to leave for Japan in 1943 on the U.S. government's exchange ship, the USS Gripsholm. Attended high school in Japan, and participated in military and air raid drills. During the U.S.'s postwar occupation of Japan, attended Doshisha University and worked for a U.S. army station hospital library. Returned to the U.S. and enrolled at St. Mary's teaching hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. Denied redress because of expatriation to Japan, but succeeded in obtaining redress in 1996 after filing a class-action lawsuit.

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

Dale Minami
en
ja
es
pt
Minami,Dale

Reasons for conformity and competitiveness in Gardena, California

(b. 1946) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Mako Nakagawa
en
ja
es
pt
Nakagawa,Mako

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

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

en
ja
es
pt
Dale Minami
en
ja
es
pt
Minami,Dale

Reflections on the importance of history

(b. 1946) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Mako Nakagawa
en
ja
es
pt
Nakagawa,Mako

Not recognizing father after reunion at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

en
ja
es
pt
Mako Nakagawa
en
ja
es
pt
Nakagawa,Mako

A child's memories of activities at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Hearing about Pearl Harbor

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
George Yamada
en
ja
es
pt
Yamada,George

Japanese American railroad workers are fired following the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(b. 1923) Chick sexer

en
ja
es
pt
George Yamada
en
ja
es
pt
Yamada,George

A racist encounter at a movie theater following the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(b. 1923) Chick sexer

en
ja
es
pt
George Yamada
en
ja
es
pt
Yamada,George

Losing job with railroad because of being Japanese American

(b. 1923) Chick sexer

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Traveling to Manzanar

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Margaret Oda
en
ja
es
pt
Oda,Margaret

Victory Corps Work during World War II

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Jobs in Manzanar

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Sugar beet and potato farming in Idaho

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
William Marutani
en
ja
es
pt
Marutani,William

Recalling Pinedale and Tule Lake concentration camps

Judge, only Japanese American to serve on CWRIC.

en
ja
es
pt
William Marutani
en
ja
es
pt
Marutani,William

Impressions of student relocation in South Dakota

Judge, only Japanese American to serve on CWRIC.

en
ja
es
pt