Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/347/

Move from Tule Lake to Minidoka

We had the same type of building, and it was just by coincidence that my mother and dad were sharing the apartment with the Uyeji family that we shared with in Pinedale. And I, my son and I were sharing the apartment with a family that we knew from Auburn, and this girl and her husband, and we had a blanket stretched across the middle of the room, separated their section from our section. And then next door, this girl's parents lived next door, on one side, and on the other side was a family that I didn't know, but we got acquainted. But it was the same way; there was about four or five families separated, and we had the potbellied stove and bed, and that was about all the furniture we had.

I had a table that this man, Mr. Tade, had built for me from scrap lumber in Tule Lake. So I disassembled it and brought it to Idaho, and planning to put it together, but then happened to burn up one of the -- [laughs] -- couple of the legs of the table during the time that we had a coal strike.


California concentration camps Idaho imprisonment incarceration Minidoka concentration camp Pinedale temporary detention center temporary detention centers Tule Lake concentration camp United States World War II camps

Date: September 15-17, 2004

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Alice Ito

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Peggie Nishimura Bain was born on March 31, 1909 in Vashon, Washington. Her family was originally from Kumamoto, Japan. She was the second of six children. Married at seventeen, she had two children - a son and a daughter.

At the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she was helping her parents with the three farm properties they owned under her brother's name. She was sent to the Pinedale Assembly Center, before going to Tule Lake, and then eventually Minidoka.

After leaving Minidoka, she relocated with her daughter to Chicago, where she lived for many years working as a full-time colorist in a photography studio, a skill she learned while in camp. She eventually returned to Washington to be near her parents. (September 17, 2004)

 

Frank Yamasaki
en
ja
es
pt
Yamasaki,Frank

Loss of happy-go-lucky adolescence in Puyallup Assembly Center

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

en
ja
es
pt
Frank Yamasaki
en
ja
es
pt
Yamasaki,Frank

Memories of dusty conditions at Minidoka incarceration camp

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

en
ja
es
pt
Frank Yamasaki
en
ja
es
pt
Yamasaki,Frank

Making the decision to resist the draft

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

en
ja
es
pt
Shizuko Kadoguchi
en
ja
es
pt
Kadoguchi,Shizuko

Social activities in Tashme

(b.1920) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Established the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Toronto

en
ja
es
pt
Paul Terasaki
en
ja
es
pt
Terasaki,Paul

Difference between experiences of youth and older people in WWII camps

(b.1929) Pioneer medical researcher in tissue transfer and organ transplantation.

en
ja
es
pt
George Katsumi Yuzawa
en
ja
es
pt
Yuzawa,George Katsumi

Reaction to a 1942 speech by Mike Masaoka, Japanese American Citizen League's National Secretary

(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement

en
ja
es
pt
George Katsumi Yuzawa
en
ja
es
pt
Yuzawa,George Katsumi

Death of sister in October 1942

(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement

en
ja
es
pt
Eric Nakamura
en
ja
es
pt
Nakamura,Eric

Father in camp but learning from history books

Giant Robot co-founder and publisher

en
ja
es
pt
Eric Nakamura
en
ja
es
pt
Nakamura,Eric

Skateboarding at Manzanar

Giant Robot co-founder and publisher

en
ja
es
pt
Mike Shinoda
en
ja
es
pt
Shinoda,Mike

Insights from family on Japanese American internment

(b. 1977) Musician, Producer, Artist

en
ja
es
pt
Mas Kodani
en
ja
es
pt
Kodani,Mas

Fun at concentration camp

Senshin Buddhist Temple minister and co-founder of Kinnara Taiko.

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Initial impact on life at camp

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Mixed blood people at camp from a child's point of view

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Embarrassed to talk about camp

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

The birth of a novel through a conversation with her nephew

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt