Entrevistas

1. Her early memories before the war

2. Learning English

3. Taking her father’s ashes, going back to Japan, learning the koto and culture

4. Sensing the war was coming

5. Coming back to America from Japan before the war

6. Working at the family flower shop, meeting Greta Garbo

7. Her experience of Japanese American Evacuation

8. Memories of Manzanar

9. Working in the camp hospital

10. Wind in camp

11. Her grandfather and Dr. Thompson

12. Her grandmother comes to Manzanar

13. Experiencing prejudice after the war

Kozawa,Sumiko

(1916-2016) Florista

Sensing the war was coming

American consulate said I better get home. I says, “Why?” He says, I better get home. I knew something was happening cause you can tell. Even on the train, these soldiers would come. They were rough, these Japanese soldiers. I mean, they weren’t kind at all. To me, the American soldiers were really nice. But no, not these Japanese soldiers. They were almost frightening…It was 1938, 39. I think…You know, I didn’t sense anything like that but when the American Consulate says, “You better get home,” you kind of feel that. Just lucky I came on the last ship that came in safe in the harbor.

biografias gerações Kibei Nipo-americanos Nisei

Data: May 24, 2011

Localização Geográfica: California, US

Entrevistado: John Esaki

País: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Entrevistados

Sumiko Kozawa nasceu em 1916, em Los Angeles. A mais velha de cinco filhos, Sumi passou três anos no Japão antes da Segunda Guerra Mundial, aprendendo koto, arranjos florais e cerimônia do chá. A loja de flores de sua família, a Tokio Florist em Silver Lake, era popular na comunidade de Hollywood por causa de suas flores frescas e preços razoáveis. Sumi não só ajudou, mas também teve a oportunidade de conhecer muitas pessoas, incluindo a famosa estrela do cinema mudo, Greta Garbo. Quando o Japão bombardeou Pearl Harbor, Sumi e sua família foram enviados para Manzanar. Lá, ela ajudou a cuidar da família, cuidando de seu avô e de sua irmã mais nova. Ela morreu em dezembro de 2016, aos 92 anos de idade. (Dezembro de 2016)