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Don’t Make Waves

Well, I think I, actually I think it did a great deal for me. I mean, as I mentioned before, I was reluctant, I wanted to be all-American and you know, I just wanted to be a part of a society where I wasn't different or whatever. I mean, actually, we were kind of -- the WRA when we left camp, told us we should be unobtrusive. Don't make waves and all of this -- we were told this -- and don't congregate, so we, most of us, we were very quiet. And then we, well, like me, I was going to college and I tried to just keep my nose in the books and you know. So when I started to get involved and accept what had happened to me during the war, I became much more outspoken.


identity World War II camps

Date: September 11, 1997

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Becky Fukuda

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Chiye Tomihiro was born and raised in Portland, OR. She was 16 years old when World War II broke out. The FBI detained her father shortly thereafter because he was a former president of the Japanese American Chamber of Commerce. Tomihiro was first held at the Portland Assembly Center and later incarcerated at Minidoka in Idaho. Her father meanwhile, was placed in a jail camp in New Mexico for the next three years.

After the war, her family was reunited and resettled first in Denver, CO and later in Chicago, IL. Tomihiro became an active member of the Chicago chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. In 1981, Chicago was one of the sites for federal hearings by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. Chairing the Chapter’s Redress Committee, Chiye Tomihiro mobilized local volunteers to speak about their experiences. In 1983, the CWRIC concluded that the incarceration of Japanese Americans had not been justified by military necessity, but instead was based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership." (April 15, 2008)

James Hirabayashi
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Nickname

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Not bringing shame to family

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Life in camp as teenager

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Context affects meaning

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Testing assumptions of Japanese scholars

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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Steve Kaji
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FOB's

Hawaii born Nikkei living in Japan. English Teacher at YMCA.

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Yuri Kochiyama
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Hiding what happened in camp

(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.

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Yuri Kochiyama
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Camp as a positive thing

(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.

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Archie Miyatake
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His father describes the importance of photographing camp life

(1924-2016) Photographer and businessman.

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Eric Morton
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Addressing multiracial identity can be difficult

Starred at wide receiver for Dartmouth College, now a patent attorney. Brother of Johnnie and Chad Morton.

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Ann K. Nakamura
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Image of Americans

Sansei from Hawaii living in Japan. Teacher and businesswoman.

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Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi Okasaki
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Grandmother's influence on decision to go to Japan

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

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Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi Okasaki
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Band-Aid realization

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

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Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi Okasaki
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Japanese influence growing up

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

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Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi Okasaki
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Looking at your country from the outside

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

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