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Japanese American Family History in Seattle

May 28, 2018 - Dec. 26, 2018

This series explores the family histories of Japanese Americans living in Seattle. Two Seattle University students, Minami Hasegawa and Sharon Ideguchi, conducted interviews and compiled their stories together.

Here we introduce a Japanese family history by Hasegawa-san. Please see the English family history by Sharon Ideguchi in another series .

*This series was published in the North American Post to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Japanese immigration.

Stories from this series

Toshi Tokunaga, a second-generation Japanese-American veteran: My wartime experience fighting in the U.S. military

Dec. 26, 2018 • Minami Hasegawa

"Are you guys listening to something from 70 years ago?" Toshi's first response was with a laugh. Could this really be the man who fought in the fierce battles of Europe as a US soldier 70 years ago? It was hard to imagine, judging from his smile. Toshi Tokunaga (93), who lived in the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho during World War II and later enlisted in the U.S. Army and went to the European front, now lives quietly with …

442nd Regimental Combat Team armed forces generations Nisei retired military personnel Tosh Tokunaga United States Army veterans

Learning about wartime experiences across the ocean in Seattle - The Fujii Family

June 15, 2018 • Minami Hasegawa

Aiko Fujii was born in Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and experienced the war from age 6 to 10 before moving to Seattle when she got married. A member of the Seattle branch of the American Calligraphy Study Group and the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Church, she has been active in the Japanese community in Seattle through calligraphy, flower arrangement, and tea ceremony. We spoke to her about her life in Japan from the war until she moved to the United States, …

Aiko Fujii atomic bomb survivors generations hibakusha Hiroshima (city) Hiroshima Prefecture immigrants immigration Issei Japan Japanese Americans Kibei migration Minoru Fujii Nisei postwar Seattle Shin-Issei United States Washington World War II

Learning about Japanese immigration history for the first time: The Ideguchi family

May 28, 2018 • Minami Hasegawa

In September 2017, I came to Seattle for a one-year exchange program. Having been born in Tokyo and living with my family for 21 years, I was more anxious than excited about living abroad for a long time. I was depressed every day because I couldn't understand the content of my university classes or speak up in discussions. I felt that all Americans were friendly, but it took me a while to make friends who I could casually go out …

family histories genealogy generations hapa Hawaii immigrants immigration Issei Japan migration postwar racially mixed people Shin-Issei United States World War II Yonsei

Author in This Series

Minami Hasegawa

Intern reporter for North American News Agency (as of 2018). Currently studying journalism at Sophia University's Faculty of Letters, Department of Journalism. She is studying journalism at Seattle University as an exchange student for one year. During her time abroad, she became interested in the history of Japanese immigrants, and is in charge of the serialization of "Nikkei Family History" in North American News Agency commemorating the 150th anniversary of Japanese immigration. She aims to conduct reporting that will reach a wide audience of both Japanese Americans and Japanese people. She is originally from Nerima Ward, Tokyo.

(Updated May 2018)