Search of family home by the FBI following the bombing of Pearl Harbor
But apparently they came very early in the morning and they kind of—my mom went to answer the door and they kind of shoved her aside, not brutally, but shoved her aside, and then they kind of just stormed the house and shook my father, made him get up. When they started going upstairs, my mom shouted upstairs to my sisters who said “Get dressed! Get dressed!” because one of my sisters loved to run around nude. And [Laughs] apparently the men thought that my mom was giving some kind of signal or something 'cause apparently they drew out their guns and rushed upstairs. And then they barged into my sisters' bedroom and asked my sisters if they have ever seen anything like this and showed them the gun. “Does your father have one like this?” And they said only the toy. My other sister remembers the men putting their hands through the sugar bowls and through the rice bowls, and she was thinking, “Oh, that's dirty” and apparently ransacked closets looking for things.
Date: May 27, 1998
Location: Washington, US
Interviewer: Lori Hoshino
Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.
Explore More Videos
Prom during the war
(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i
Influence of veterans
(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.
Brother leaves for war, survival
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Didn't have rights that whites had
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Californians didn't know about evacuation
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
The day Pearl Harbor was bombed
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Father as prisoner of war in hospital
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Patriotism versus loyalty
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Discover Nikkei Updates
See exciting new changes to Discover Nikkei. Find out what’s new and what’s coming soon!
Follow us @discovernikkei for new site content, program announcements, and more!