Interviews
Helping youth in the community
Well…you know, one reason I look back and when you…you lose your father at 6 years old and you lose your mother when I was 12 and from that day on, I had to be dependent on my relative and uncle, whatever. And I had to learn how to get along. I had to. …taught me. Good thing my uncle – all of them were well to do and…but some uncle – pretty mean. But I was able to get along with all of them. And then I think it goes…I’m getting along with their kids or my cousin or whatever the case may be. It’s a good feeling that you want to keep all the family together, it had a warm feeling. It’s nice. If you like to do more to support them was my family and other people but I look forward to whenever they need help I sure like to do my part and to help them out. So this part…this volunteer work serving the youth in the community I think is…we do these things so that if we could see one kid not going into the gang or to guide him to the right direction, I think it a big plus.
Date: June 17, 2008
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Janice Tanaka
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Father's Sacrifice
(1941-2018) Japanese Canadian photojournalist and activist
Growing Up in Japan
(b. 1930) Half Japanese and grew up in both Japan and the United States.
Fifty Years and Going Strong
(1938-2020) Japanese American attorney and civil rights activist
Pop and Balls
(1938-2020) Japanese American attorney and civil rights activist
Facing discrimination in America (Japanese)
(b. 1936) Shin-issei welding business owner
Parents
(b. 1934) Award-winning Disney animation artist who was incarcerated at Topaz during WWII
My daughter couldn’t fit in Japan, so I decided to go back to America (Japanese)
(b. 1936) Shin-issei welding business owner
His sister Kiyo was like a second mother to him
(b. 1942) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City
How he met his wife
Professor of Law, University of Sao Paulo, Lawyer, Translator (b. 1948)
Parent’s Marriage
(b. 1939) a businesswoman whose family volunterily moved to Salt Lake City in Utah during the war.