Discover Nikkei

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Mother in Camp

One of my best friends, growing up in San Francisco, used to come over. Used to say, “You know, your mom is like the typical all-American mother.” Always groomed, wearing a white apron. Always looking nice and groomed, like one of those classic ‘60s television show mothers. Because I remember growing up, just to go downtown, to Market Street. She would dress me up. I would have to be all dressed up. She herself would dress up. Wear a hat, a coat, high heels. And we would take the trolley to Market Street. But then, in San Francisco, that’s the way you went.

So here we are in camp, and it’s all dusty and the roads weren’t paved yet. They were still in the process of black topping and everything. We’d go for a walk, and I remember the guys that were working on the road would wolf whistle my mother. And as a kid, I’d get kind of angry or embarrassed or whatever. Because she was all dressed up in high heels and everything, in camp. So that’s the way I always remember her in her younger days.


concentration camps mothers Topaz concentration camp United States Utah World War II World War II camps

Date: August 26, 2015

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Willie Ito was born July 17, 1934 in San Francisco, California to nisei parents. Seeing Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the age of five inspired a lifelong love of animation. After his family's incarceration in Topaz, Utah during World War II, Willie returned to California to pursue an art career, attending the Walt Disney favorite Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (which later became CalArts). Under the mentorship of legendary animator Iwao Takamoto, Willie's passion blossomed into a long career in the animation world through golden ages at Disney, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. His credits span from The Lady and the Tramp and What's Opera Doc? to The Flinstones and the Yogi Bear Show. 

Willie continues drawing to this day, including illustration work on multiple children's books about the Japanese American World War II experience. You can also find him signing sketches and greeting fans at San Diego Comic-con. (September 2016)

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