Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/929/

Interviews

Kinoshita,Cherry

(1923–2008) One of the leaders behind the redress movement.

Erasing the Bitterness

But as to whether it accomplished what we were looking for, I think it did in the sense -- as we said in talking about this -- how it brought out the feelings. How it finally...people were able to, I think, put closure to the whole thing. I mean, it keeps going on. I mean, like these things, it keeps coming up, but I think it puts closure to the emotional part of any bitterness that at least the government apologized. At least there was admission by vast numbers of people that it was wrong. That you know, there wasn't disloyalty. I mean, being incarcerated, the implication that there was something that we had to be incarcerated for. You wiped that out.

And so I think, I think that yes, it did. There might be, there might have been some other things that could have been better maybe. But I think essentially our goals will be met and this is ongoing, too. I mean, we're still talking about it so you know, there is no point at which we say until we're gone I guess.

And maybe it'll take historians many more years to... that's, that's a question I have: will this be forgotten, or will this remain in history? Will it be said that in 1942 there were 120,000 people sent to concentration camps? But along with it, will it be said that through the efforts of this small minority, the government did apologize. I think that's an important part of history.


imprisonment incarceration Redress movement

Date: September 26, 1997

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Becky Fukuda, Tracy Lai

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Cherry Kinoshita was born in 1923 in Seattle, WA. As a teen she was incarcerated at Puyallup Assembly Center in Washington and later Minidoka in Idaho. During her two and a half years behind barbed wire, she wrote for the camp newspaper, The Minidoka Irrigator.

In the ’70s she became active in the Seattle JACL movement for redress. One of Kinoshita’s many contributions was a grassroots lobbying effort to inform Washington State lawmakers on the injustice suffered by Japanese Americans during World War II. In dealing with politicians, Kinoshita’s secret weapons were persistence and patience. Notably, a congressman from the State of Washington introduced the first redress bill in 1979.

Kinoshita also organized a coalition of 16 major Japanese American organizations as redress supporters. At 60, in the midst of campaigning for redress, Kinoshita earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in sociology from the University of Washington. (April 15, 2008)

Bain,Peggie Nishimura

Making craft items from shells found at Tule Lake

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

Bain,Peggie Nishimura

Response to loyalty questionnaire

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

Bain,Peggie Nishimura

Move from Tule Lake to Minidoka

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

Bain,Peggie Nishimura

Apprehension about leaving camp

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

Kosaki,Richard

442 soldiers visiting U.S. concentration camps

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Shibayama,Art

Denied redress as a Japanese Peruvian

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

Shimomura,Roger

Receiving a negative reaction from father upon asking about World War II experience

(b. 1939) Japanese American painter, printmaker & professor

Yamasaki,Frank

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

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

Yamasaki,Frank

Memories of dusty conditions at Minidoka incarceration camp

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

Yamasaki,Frank

Making the decision to resist the draft

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

Yamasaki,Frank

Thoughts on redress

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

Ito,Mitsuo

Redress Movement in Canada

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

Kadoguchi,Shizuko

Social activities in Tashme

(b.1920) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Established the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Toronto

Terasaki,Paul

Difference between experiences of youth and older people in WWII camps

(b.1929) Pioneer medical researcher in tissue transfer and organ transplantation.

Yuzawa,George Katsumi

Reaction to a 1942 speech by Mike Masaoka, Japanese American Citizen League's National Secretary

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