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The Emotional Toll of Being Incarcerated in Camp during World War II

When I think about the camp days, I – I’m always grateful to my parents for shielding me. For letting me be a child and run around and have a good time with young people, not to – I don’t forget the barbed wire. I remember the barbed wire. I remember trying to crawl back in the barbed wire. I remember the kind guard, you know, who helped me climb back into camp, telling me not to get caught by the mean guards with the guns pointing at me in camp. It’s – I don’t know how other young people feel about it, but I’m emotional. I don’t talk about it with – I don’t talk about it. My sisters and I never talked about it, we never – never discussed camp once we got out of camp. I never really talked about it with my children. I think I would have a difficult time.


imprisonment incarceration World War II World War II camps

Date: November 8, 2018

Location: California, US

Interviewer: June Berk

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

Interviewee Bio

Takayo Fischer, born in November 1932, is a Nisei American stage, film, and TV actress. During World War II, as a young child, she and her family were forcibly evacuated from the West Coast and spent time in the Fresno Assembly Center before being relocated to Jerome and Rohwer concentration camps. Fischer later lived in Chicago, Illinois, where, as a young adult, she won the crown of “Miss Nisei Queen.” She has appeared in dozens of major Hollywood films, including Moneyball (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). She also appeared in the stage production of The World of Suzie Wong in New York in 1958 and many productions with East West Players in Los Angeles. (June 2018)

Yuki,Tom
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Yuki,Tom

Father's business partner operated their farming business during WWII

(b. 1935) Sansei businessman.

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Yuki,Tom
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Yuki,Tom

Father was convinced the constitution would protect him

(b. 1935) Sansei businessman.

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Wasserman,Fumiko Hachiya
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Wasserman,Fumiko Hachiya

The lack of discussion about family’s incarceration in Amache

Sansei judge for the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

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Sekimachi,Kay
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Sekimachi,Kay

Family that saved her belongings during World War II

(b. 1926) Artist

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Yamada,Mitsuye
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Yamada,Mitsuye

Her brother’s reasons as a No-No Boy

(b. 1923) Japanese American poet, activist

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Fujie,Holly J.
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Fujie,Holly J.

Her grandfather was pressured to teach Japanese

Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

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Fujie,Holly J.
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Fujie,Holly J.

Neighbor took care of her mother after grandfather was taken by FBI

Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

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Kakita,Howard
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Kakita,Howard

Immediately after the bombing

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

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Kakita,Howard
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Kakita,Howard

Other family members not as lucky

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

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Kakita,Howard
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Kakita,Howard

His parents had little hope that he had survived the atomic bomb

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

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Kakita,Howard
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Kakita,Howard

His views on nuclear weapons

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

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Takamoto,Iwao
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Takamoto,Iwao

Loss When Leaving for Manzanar

Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)

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Naganuma,Jimmy
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Naganuma,Jimmy

Forcibly deported to the U.S. from Peru

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

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Teisher,Monica
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Teisher,Monica

Stories of Grandfather at a concentration camp in Fusagasuga

(b.1974) Japanese Colombian who currently resides in the United States

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Teisher,Monica
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Teisher,Monica

Her grandfather in a concentration camp in Fusagasuga (Spanish)

(b.1974) Japanese Colombian who currently resides in the United States

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