Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1779/

Relating to Hispanic immigrant families at detention center in Laredo, TX

But this Laredo trip was the closest I felt that I could feel what my mom, my sisters went through. Just hearing their voices in Spanish, there was an interpreter there. They were saying, oh my god, their story is nothing compared to ours. We were, they were detained for six months to a year, we were there for three and a half years, they don't think there's any comparison.

But for them to tell their story in Spanish, I could see my sister in particular, Kiyo is the second oldest now, my oldest sister married right out of camp, so she went to Los Angeles. So my older sister was kind of in charge, and she did a lot. And she only spoke Spanish and Japanese, so her English was this heavy accent, Spanish accent. We always had fun with her because of that. But when I heard the ladies speaking, one lady from Guatemala talked about her four kids, and the oldest was eighteen and her daughter was eighteen, and they took her away. This is now happening today, and she couldn't figure out why, and later they told her, "Well, she's eighteen so she can take care of herself." There's no law that does that. Everything's, they're breaking the law regularly, no different than what they did with us. And when they were telling their story they were breaking down and crying, the interpreter was crying, and it was a moment that I could feel a little bit of what my parents and my sister went through.

I was really torn. That's when I said, oh god, that speaking, hearing the Spanish, you just, right away, I could sense what my sister or my mom went through, because that's all they spoke, or Japanese.


collective behavior crowds demonstrations (political) immigrants immigration Japanese Peruvians Latin Americans migration people protests public meetings Spaniards World War II

Date: September 20, 2019

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Tom Ikeda and Yoko Nishimura

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum and Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Kazumu Julio Cesar Naganuma was born in Lima, Peru to his Issei parents on July 28, 1942. Before World War II, his parents ran a laundry business and father was a prominent community leader. When the war started, the FBI arrested his father and sent the entire family to the Department of Justice camp at Crystal City, Texas. They remained there even after the war had ended, without a place to go, becuase the family was not allowed to return to Peru. They were able to leave the camp with a sponsporship of Seabrook Farm in New Jersey, and later with the help and sponsorship of a Shinto church reverend in San Francisco, California, where they were able to find jobs and housing. Kazumu established successful design firm. (June 2020)

Tom Yuki
en
ja
es
pt
Yuki,Tom

Father was convinced the constitution would protect him

(b. 1935) Sansei businessman.

en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro
en
ja
es
pt
Yamashiro,Michelle

General reasons why people left Japan for Peru

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro
en
ja
es
pt
Yamashiro,Michelle

Working together in Okinawa using three languages

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

en
ja
es
pt
Fumiko Hachiya Wasserman
en
ja
es
pt
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

en
ja
es
pt
Kay Sekimachi
en
ja
es
pt
Sekimachi,Kay

Family that saved her belongings during World War II

(b. 1926) Artist

en
ja
es
pt
Mitsuye Yamada
en
ja
es
pt
Yamada,Mitsuye

Her brother’s reasons as a No-No Boy

(b. 1923) Japanese American poet, activist

en
ja
es
pt
Holly J. Fujie
en
ja
es
pt
Fujie,Holly J.

Her grandfather was pressured to teach Japanese

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

en
ja
es
pt
Holly J. Fujie
en
ja
es
pt
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

en
ja
es
pt
Howard Kakita
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

Immediately after the bombing

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

en
ja
es
pt
Howard Kakita
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

Other family members not as lucky

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

en
ja
es
pt
Howard Kakita
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

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

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

en
ja
es
pt
Howard Kakita
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

His views on nuclear weapons

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

en
ja
es
pt
Iwao Takamoto
en
ja
es
pt
Takamoto,Iwao

Loss When Leaving for Manzanar

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

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Naganuma
en
ja
es
pt
Naganuma,Jimmy

Forcibly deported to the U.S. from Peru

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

en
ja
es
pt
Monica Teisher
en
ja
es
pt
Teisher,Monica

Stories of Grandfather at a concentration camp in Fusagasuga

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

en
ja
es
pt