Marissa Shoji

Marissa

Marissa Shoji is a Girl Scout from south San Jose, who is part of the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin Girl Scouts. She wrote a series of stories on Japanese immigrants detained on Angel Island during World War II as part of her Gold Award project, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. Working in conjunction with Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, her final plan is to create an exhibit dedicated to the Japanese experience on Angel Island during World War Two. She is very interested in spreading knowledge on the Japanese internment to those of the newer generations, so that their pain will never be forgotten, and instead will be built upon to create a better future.

Updated March 2020

war en

Power of Our Stories

Japanese Incarceration: Making a Difference One Person at a Time

By Marissa Shoji
12 Aug 2020

My name is Marissa, and I'm a Girl Scout from South San Jose, California. I love the smell of coffee, a good book, the sea at sunset, a couple of cats, and most of all, keeping history alive. I am currently working on my Gold Award, which is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. It requires over 80 hours of work and leadership on a project that helps the community and has sustainability. I am a fourth generation Japanese American. My maternal family came to America from Japan in 1923, while my paternal family immigrated from Japan to Peru. My dad came to America in 1988 as an engineer, l…

war en

Internment of Japanese Americans on Angel Island during World War II

Father of Seven Taken from His Family

By Marissa Shoji
5 Jun 2020

Hisajiro Inouye was born in Gotsu, Shimane, Japan, on January 8, 1897, to parents Kennosuke and Yome Inouye. He was married to Takeyo Inouye at 18 years of age, and the next year he and his family moved to America. They arrived in 1916, and settled in San Jose, along Gish Road, becoming tenant farmers. The family settled on land owned by John Della Maggiore, an Italian immigrant from Firenza (Florence), Italy, who helped him farm along with several other Japanese American families. Hisajiro was very active in the Japanese community, specifically with the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, o…

war en

Internment of Japanese Americans on Angel Island during World War II

Hikoshichi Higuchi's Wartime Odyssey

By Marissa Shoji
12 May 2020

Hikoshichi Higuchi was born on December 13, 1880, in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. He immigrated to Hawaii on July 1, 1904, just before the Russo-Japanese War would commence, soon followed by his brother, Harunosuke, who lived in Santa Clara. After briefly staying in Hawaii, he eventually traveled to Monterey, California. There, he worked as a fisherman and gardener. Soon, he married Haruyo Ichigi, an Elementary School teacher. Together, they had four children: Yoshi, born in 1914, Sachi, born in 1916, George, born in 1918, and Takashi, born in 1921. He was also an instrumental member in estab…

migration en

Internment of Japanese Americans on Angel Island during World War II

Wakijiro Yuki's Detention Because of Kendo

By Marissa Shoji
21 Apr 2020

Wakijiro Yahiro was born on April 8, 1885, in Kamisaigo-mura, a little fishing and farming village in Fukuoka prefecture, on the northern coast of Kyushu, Japan. He had three brothers and two sisters, who were all farmers. After he finished school, he began working on a small civilian fishing boat, which frequented the waters by their home. One day there was an accident, and the ship sank, making him the only survivor. He was eventually rescued by the Juteopolis, a three masted American ship. For five years, he sailed around the world, visiting nearly every continent, as the ship’s c…

war en

Internment of Japanese Americans on Angel Island during World War II

Making Do: Sukeichi Kameoka in Detention and His Family at Home

By Marissa Shoji
24 Mar 2020

Sukeichi Kameoka was born on April 24, 1888, in Kojiro-mura, Kuga-gun, Yamaguchi-ken, Japan. He had three brothers. In the early 1900s, the 1905 Russo-Japanese War was looming overhead, and in Japan, conscription was mandatory for men of a certain age. Sukeichi left Japan to escape the draft (Interview with Kazuko Tengan, 11/23/19). He was also the second son in his family, so all of their possessions would be left to his older brother, and he would get nothing. So he left for America. Sukeichi arrived in Hawaii in 1904, when he was just sixteen. At first, he was hired as a houseboy for a …

Submit an article

Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Marissa Shoji

Power of Our Stories

Internment of Japanese Americans on Angel Island during World War II

Internment of Japanese Americans on Angel Island during World War II

Internment of Japanese Americans on Angel Island during World War II

Internment of Japanese Americans on Angel Island during World War II

Series this author contributes to

Nikkei Chronicles #3—Nikkei Names: Taro, John, Juan, João?

The Child of a Thousand Generations

Postwar Japanese Emigration to the Dominican Republic — Part 1: A Tragic Tale

Nikkei Chronicles #5—Nikkei-go: The Language of Family, Community, and Culture

The Chuo Gakuen School: The Seeds of Prestige for the Japanese Community in Mexico

Tad Nakamura’s Art and Activism

Uka Sake: Closing the Circle on a Trans-Pacific Rice-Growing Legacy

A Sansei Selective Service Story

日本時間 ～日本語ラジオ放送史～ 《ロサンゼルス編》

第10回 尾座本導のサンデー毎日放送とラジオ小東京

10th Annual Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest

The Last Days of The Dandy Lion

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #Size 42-44: "Casual Commentary..."

書評：和泉真澄『日系カナダ人の移動と運動―知られざる日本人の越境生活史』

1992年渡米、目標は「アカデミー賞」— 俳優の井上英治さん

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tiempos pandémicos: teletrabajo y koden digital

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 e os heróis anônimos

香川県海外移民の父：今雪真一の情熱と功績

第３部：金子正則知事の南米訪問とその主な見解

NIMA VOICES

We Need Your Help!

Help us expand translations on Discover Nikkei.

Get updates

Support this project

A project of the

Major support by

Uka Sake: Closing the Circle on a Trans-Pacific Rice-Growing Legacy

A Sansei Selective Service Story

The Last Days of The Dandy Lion

Journal Entry #Size 42-44: "Casual Commentary..."

Chapter 2—Role Reversal

Mom Was Young Once, Too!

Color

Experience Okinawa!

Big Band Music is My Jam

One Thousand Cranes

Journal Entry #Even Just 1 Would Help: "Save Us!..."

Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest – Voice Actor Mayumi Saco Reads Aloud a Winning Story

Another Willard Scott Moment

Bertram Akira Tsunematsu

Paul Takagi: A Centenary Remembrance

Journal Entry #7 Whackadoodles: "Snow's Posse..."

Tad Nakamura’s Art and Activism

Life Lessons of Mottainai

Part 4: World War I - Japanese Loyalty to the US

Making History: Remembering Nikkei Legacy

Journal Entry #First Coined in '56: "We Need Asimov's 3 Laws..."

History Lessons with Professor Masumi Izumi — Part 1: Family Background

Want to make authentic Japanese food? Just One Cookbook's Nami Chen is here for you

I Am a Rainbow! - Part 2

Excerpt form Atomweight — Prologue

On “Authenticity” in Japanese food

An excerpt from Unforgotten Voices from Heart Mountain: As American As Apple Pie—Yellowstone - Part 2

Chapter 1—Passing Time

Sakura of Wahiawā

Surrender — Part 2

Journal Entry #Lesson 6,141: "I've Got a Million of These..."

History Lessons with Professor Masumi Izumi — Part 2: Japanese American vs Japanese Canadian Internment/Incarceration

Chef Akira Hirose Feeds a Community with Food Fit for an Emperor

80 Years of the 442nd

Surrender — Part 3

I Am a Rainbow! - Part 1

Interview with Emi Sasagawa, Author of Atomweight

Journal Entry #More than 100,000: "50-100 Fall Out Per Day..."

An excerpt from Unforgotten Voices from Heart Mountain: As American As Apple Pie—Yellowstone - Part 1

Chapter 12 (Part 2): Nisei Education in Japanese Schools

Part 5: New Japanese Women as Comrades — Fujinkai

The legacy of Toyo Takata, Who Captured the Voice of Japanese Canadians

日本時間～日本語ラジオ放送史～《ロサンゼルス編》

第10回尾座本導のサンデー毎日放送とラジオ小東京