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https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/791/

Proud to be a Japanese desecendant (Spanish)

(Spanish) I left Japan on the Buenos Aires Maru. In practical terms, it [the ship] was built to be a battleship, I don’t know. But the crew, the majority had been to war. And before arriving at Yokohama because first we arrived at Yokohama and then at Kobe, I disembarked at Kobe. But before arriving at Yokohama, everyday, everyday, we did as one says in nihongo (Japanese), “donchan sawagi,” because we were at war, you know, as they celebrated with flags and a bunch of things. When we arrived at Yokohoma there was a big celebration, a welcoming [celebration], because already everything had been prepared. For that [reason] I say that I saw the best part of Nihon (Japan) before, during, and after the war, and over time, like twenty years or more…I saw four faces of Nihon. For that reason, I can say that I am lucky to have seen [every facet] of Japan, the worst, the best, the good and the bad, and much better. I saw it all. I don’t say this to everybody, of course, one has it inside, but it is a pride that I have in the strength of the nihonjin (Japanese). There is much that doesn’t bother them [the Japanese], but I feel it.


Japan World War II

Date: September 18, 2006

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Interviewer: Takeshi Nishimura, Ricardo Hokama

Contributed by: Centro Nikkei Argentino

Interviewee Bio

Luis Yamada is a Nisei born in Buenos Aires in 1929. His parents were immigrants who came from the Fukui province. As a little boy he traveled to Japan where he lived during World War II; afterwards he returned to Argentina. He was able to see Japan before, during, and after the war. Today he is the director of the Instituto Argentino de Paisajismo (Argentine Institute of Landscape Painting), one of the most prestigious institutes of its kind in Argentina. (September 18, 2006)

Fred Y. Hoshiyama
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Fred Y. Hoshiyama

Starting a YMCA program in camp

(1914–2015) Nisei YMCA and Japanese American community leader

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Masato Ninomiya
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Masato Ninomiya

Winners and losers

Professor of Law, University of Sao Paulo, Lawyer, Translator (b. 1948)

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Frank Yamasaki
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Frank Yamasaki

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

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

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Reiko T. Sakata
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Reiko T. Sakata

Adoption Story

(b. 1939) a businesswoman whose family volunterily moved to Salt Lake City in Utah during the war.

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George Katsumi Yuzawa
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George Katsumi Yuzawa

First impression of New York City during war time

(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement

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Venancio Shinki
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Venancio Shinki

Help from fellow Japanese (Spanish)

(b. 1932-2016) Peruvian painter

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Wakako Nakamura Yamauchi
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Wakako Nakamura Yamauchi

Her experience as a Japanese-American schoolchild in Oceanside, California, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(1924-2018) Artist and playwright.

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Frank Yamasaki
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Frank Yamasaki

Making the decision to resist the draft

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

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George Azumano
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George Azumano

Discharged from the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor

(b. 1918) Founder Azumano Travel

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Venancio Shinki
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Venancio Shinki

Closing the Japanese school and deportation (Spanish)

(b. 1932-2016) Peruvian painter

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George Katsumi Yuzawa
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George Katsumi Yuzawa

Death of sister in October 1942

(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement

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Gene Akutsu
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Gene Akutsu

Living conditions in prison while serving time for resisting the draft

(b. 1925) Draft resister

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Gene Akutsu
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Gene Akutsu

Talking to children about decision to resist the draft during World War II

(b. 1925) Draft resister

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Gene Akutsu
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Gene Akutsu

Reflecting on Japanese Americans' response to incarceration

(b. 1925) Draft resister

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George Yamada
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George Yamada

Encountering a train full of Japanese Americans being transported to a concentration camp

(b. 1923) Chick sexer

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