Interviews

1. His father, the pioneer of acupuncture in Argentina (Spanish)

2. Decision to settle in Argentina after WWII (Spanish)

3. Suffering in World War II (Spanish)

4. Joined Japanese Imperial Army during the WWII (Spanish)

5. Returning Argentina after the war (Spanish)

6. Proud to be a Japanese desecendant (Spanish)

7. A lucky man (Spanish)

Yamada,Luis

(b. 1929) Nisei Argentinean

Joined Japanese Imperial Army during the WWII (Spanish)

(Spanish) The majority of high school or college students had the tendency to want to be naval pilots. I was one of those students. We enlisted but it wasn’t easy. Despite the people, the Argentines, or those who did not know really what it was like [back then], who say that “it was easy for them to enter [the navy].” No! It was difficult, the exam was tough. There was a friend of mine who did not get in [the navy]; twice he took the exam and could not pass. The third time he cut his finger and placed his name, “why can’t I die?” He cut his finger so he could not enter [the navy]. Thus it was difficult. Another who wanted to die [because] he also could not [join the navy]. Do you see? In seven or eight months, practically, I was ready to go to the front. At that time everything was accelerated. But it seemed an illusion for a sixteen-year old boy to have this [self-confidence in terms of] capacity [to serve]. Today, even with all the advanced science, one cannot imagine how we were back then.

armed forces Imperial Japanese Navy military U.S. Navy World War II

Date: September 18, 2006

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Interviewer: Takeshi Nishimura, Ricardo Hokama

Contributed by: Centro Nikkei Argentino

Interviewee Bio

Luis Yamada is a Nisei born in Buenos Aires in 1929. His parents were immigrants who came from the Fukui province. As a little boy he traveled to Japan where he lived during World War II; afterwards he returned to Argentina. He was able to see Japan before, during, and after the war. Today he is the director of the Instituto Argentino de Paisajismo (Argentine Institute of Landscape Painting), one of the most prestigious institutes of its kind in Argentina. (September 18, 2006)