Interviews

1. Japanese Language School

2. Mentality of Issei and Nisei

3. Treatment by Chinese students

4. Attempts to sign up for military service

5. Recruited for the National JACL Redress Committee

6. Criteria for who gets redress

7. Changing "reparations" to "redress"

8. Appointing John Tateishi as National JACL Redress Chair

9. Inouye’s strategy for educating the American public

10. JACL reaction to the idea of a commission

11. Redress clash between Senators Inouye and Hayakawa

12. Recalling President Carter’s signing of the Commission bill

13. Poignant story from the CWRIC hearing in San Francisco

14. John Tateishi plays a role in changing people's minds

15. The unheralded help from beyond the community

16. Legacy of redress

17. Different races have to live together and interact

(1917 - 2004) Political activist

Inouye’s strategy for educating the American public

I remember Senator Inouye would put his arm around Matsunaga’s shoulder and said, you know, if we introduce this thing now, I don’t think Bob [Matsui] is going to be here next time. He said I could introduce this bill into Congress next week if you want me to, but I could also tell you one other thing, it would never pass. And he said, how many congressmen really know about the Japanese American incarceration experience? He said, very few. And most of the congressmen are very young now, and they were not around during the Second World War. He thought that what we need to do more than anything else is to educate the American public and to educate the American public, he said, one of the most effective ways would be to hold—have a presidential commission forum, that would go around the country and have at least a minimum of ten hearings. He said, this would generate a tremendous amount of publicity, and also would inform the public, and this is what we need to do.

Daniel K. Inouye governments politics Redress movement U.S. Senate

Date: July 1-2, 1998

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Mitchell Maki, Darcie Iki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Clifford Uyeda was born on January 14, 1917, into a family of oyster farmers in Olympia, Washington. Uyeda studied at the University of Wisconsin and from 1941 to 1945 attended Tulane University Medical School in New Orleans, LA. Uyeda went on to become a medical doctor in San Francisco, CA.

Uyeda became involved in the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) in 1960 when he served as San Francisco Chapter chair of the Issei Oral History Project. He helped in establishing the School of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and played an important role in restoring the U.S. citizenship and presidential pardon of Iva Toguri, also known as “Tokyo Rose.”

After retiring from medicine in 1975, Uyeda became a full-time activist. In 1977, Uyeda served as National JACL chair of the Japanese American Incarceration for Redress committee. He was elected to serve as president of National JACL from 1978 to 1980. Uyeda continued to serve the community in various roles until his death from cancer in 2004 at the age of 87. (April 11, 2008)

Explore More Videos

Interviewee

Tag

Keywords

Being fair

(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i

Role of Hawaii internationally

(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i

Tree planting

Former First Lady of Hawai'i

Relationship with S.I. Hayakawa

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

Past ties to present situation in Middle East

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

Importance of education in achieving redress for incarceration

(1919-2014) Activist for civil rights and redress for World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans.

Getting citizenship back

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

Denied redress as a Japanese Peruvian

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

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

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

Thoughts on redress

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

Redress Movement in Canada

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

Lack of political power led to camps

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

Positive experiences with Asian Americans for Action

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

Redress payments to Issei who did not enter camps

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

Waiting for the right time to start Redress Movement

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

Discover Nikkei Updates

NIKKEI CHRONICLES #14

Nikkei Family 2: Remembering Roots, Leaving Legacies
Baachan, grandpa, tía, irmão… what does Nikkei family mean to you? Submit your story!

SUPPORT THE PROJECT

Discover Nikkei’s 20 for 20 campaign celebrates our first 20 years and jumpstarts our next 20. Learn more and donate!

SHARE YOUR MEMORIES

We are collecting our community’s reflections on the first 20 years of Discover Nikkei. Check out this month’s prompt and send us your response!

Interviews

Watch more clips

Inouye’s strategy for educating the American public

Explore More Videos

Discover Nikkei Updates