Interviews
Discharged from the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor
I was in the service of the United States Army on December 7 that was the station on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. And the …but in February, actually on February 14, 1942, I was discharged. I was transferred to the reserve court because I was Japanese. And I had a letter to that effect from the commanding officer, saying that army let Japanese back in together. He would be glad to take me back in. I was very disappointed to be released. Very much so. Some of the Niseis were transferred to inland posts if you remember, but others were released. I was the one among those that were released.
I*: When you released, then where did you go?
Came home.
I: Came home.
Yes.
I: And what was it like when you got home?
My father had just been taken by FBI that day. The very morning that I came home, he was taken by FBI. One of the…what do you call it…enemy alien. Enemy alien status. Taken to the…eventually taken to Missoula, Montana.
I: Was your mother frightened?
Oh, yes. Oh yes. She was pretty much upset. And we had the store still open, even though I wasn’t doing much business. Store was open. I came home to that situation and eventually we sold the store.
* “I” indicates an interviewer (Akemi Kikumura Yano).
Date: December 5, 2005
Location: Oregon, US
Interviewer: Akemi Kikumura Yano, Sojin Kim
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.
Explore More Videos
Lack of political power led to camps
(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist
Different tension between East Coast and Los Angeles
Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan
His experiences in Chicago after WWII
(b.1929) Pioneer medical researcher in tissue transfer and organ transplantation.
Less information about Hawai‘i in mainland
(b.1944) Founder of Kobayashi Group, LLC
A teenager's memories of how a local newspaper misrepresented Japanese Americans
(b. 1925) Draft resister
Reaction of Japanese American community toward draft resistance stance
(b. 1925) Draft resister
The role of the media in influencing people's opinions
(b. 1925) Draft resister
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
Deciding whether to answer "yes-yes" on the loyalty questionnaire in order to leave camp
(b. 1925) Draft resister
First learning about the incarceration experience in college
(b. 1955) Lawyer