Emiko Tsuchida

emikotsuchida

Emiko Tsuchida is freelance writer and digital marketer living in San Francisco. She has written on the representations of mixed race Asian American women and conducted interviews with some of the top Asian American women chefs. Her work has appeared in the Village Voice, the Center for Asian American Media, and the forthcoming Beiging of America series. She is the creator of Tessaku, a project that collects stories from Japanese Americans who experienced the concentration camps.

Updated December 2016

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Tessaku

Leland Inaba - Part 4

Por Emiko Tsuchida
21 Nov 2021

Read part 3 >> Now, jumping ahead to when the redress happened and the Civil Liberties Act was passed. What do you remember about receiving the apology or what was your reaction to getting the letter and then the redress? I don't think I even read the letter. You didn't read the letter? I don't remember. I don't even remember receiving the money. I guess my parents probably put it in the bank for themselves. That was $20,000 per person that was interned. Were your parents still alive? Oh yeah. So your parents got the apology. [Mark]: Well your dad was not around in '91. Yo…

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Tessaku

Leland Inaba - Part 3

Por Emiko Tsuchida
14 Nov 2021

Read Part 2 >> And I meant to ask you before, was your mother working before you left for camp in Riverside? She was my dad's receptionist at his office because, you know, he couldn't really afford he was just building up his practice. And so she answered the phone, made appointments and stuff like that. So she went to work every day and we had a housekeeper or a maid look after us. [Holly] If you're looking for vivid details, remember when we went to Manzanar you talked about the rations? They would give you so much butter that you would put it in the garden. [Leland] Oh ye…

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Tessaku

Leland Inaba - Part 2

Por Emiko Tsuchida
7 Nov 2021

Read Part 1 >> So do you remember your parents saying anything about this tension or the war that had broken out between the two countries? No, they didn't talk about it. I think it was easier to handle hidden away or pushed to the background than to talk about it, you know because first of all, my dad was taken away right away because he was considered an alien. And so my mom had to take over everything else, including canceling all the appointments. And we were fortunate that the land lady who owned the building where my dad had his office, she was a really rich lady from Pasadena.…

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Tessaku

Leland Inaba - Part 1

Por Emiko Tsuchida
31 Out 2021

“I think the main thing is that they had themselves had nothing to do with the problem between the two countries. There’s nothing you can do to promote or diminish it. It’s out of your hands. It’s almost like God’s will. What can we do?” — Leland Inaba Leland Inaba grew up on a farm in Riverside, California, a city nestled in the larger Southern California area known as the Inland Empire. Before the war, it was humming with Japanese American presence and community, as Issei and Nisei farmers borrowed and bought land to cultivate various crops. L…

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Tessaku

Mary Iwami - Part 3

Por Emiko Tsuchida
7 Mar 2021

Read Part 2 >> What details do you remember from camp when the war ended? When the war ended and Japan surrendered, Tule Lake was filled with sounds of wailing older folks, especially women sitting on the ground, crying and hitting the dirt. I can recall that sadness and felt very sorry for them. Because there were so many pro-Japanese people, I just could not think, because they’re older, how would they get along? In time the fathers were permitted to leave camp to look for jobs. I think they had information that helped them seek their choices. But I’m not sure as I&rsqu…