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)

 

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Documenting family history for future generations

(b. 1934) Writer

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Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Not a "camp story" but a human story

(b. 1934) Writer

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Fujima Kansuma
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Kansuma,Fujima

Neighbor took care of hotel business during the World War II

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

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Fujima Kansuma
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Kansuma,Fujima

Different learning style in Japan and the United States

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Family separated in the camps

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Feeling imprisoned at camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Institutionalization as a bad aspect of camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
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Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Political motivation to keep the camps open until end of 1944 election

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

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Dale Minami
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Minami,Dale

An emotional response from mother upon talking about incarceration experience

(b. 1946) Lawyer

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Dale Minami
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Minami,Dale

Role of the redress movement in helping Nisei to open up about their wartime experiences

(b. 1946) Lawyer

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Mako Nakagawa
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Nakagawa,Mako

Not recognizing father after reunion at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

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Mako Nakagawa
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Nakagawa,Mako

Living conditions at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

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Mako Nakagawa
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Nakagawa,Mako

A child's memories of activities at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

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Mako Nakagawa
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Nakagawa,Mako

Thoughts on relationship between Japanese Peruvians and Japanese Americans at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

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George Yamada
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Yamada,George

Encountering a train full of Japanese Americans being transported to a concentration camp

(b. 1923) Chick sexer

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