Tessaku
Tessaku was the name of a short-lived magazine published at the Tule Lake concentration camp during World War II. It also means “barbed wire.” This series brings to light stories of the Japanese American internment, illuminating those that haven’t been told with intimate and honest conversation. Tessaku brings the consequences of racial hysteria to the foreground, as we enter into a cultural and political era where lessons of the past must be remembered.
Stories from this series
Rose Tsunekawa - Part 1
Jan. 8, 2020 • Emiko Tsuchida
“I think that Nikkeis were quite lucky in that sense, because we always worked so hard and our parents always taught us never say or do anything that is troublesome or bothers other people — have good respect for people and manners.” — Rose Tsunekawa Along California’s Central Coast in the farming town of Salinas, Rose Tsunekawa grew up as the eldest daughter of an Issei father, Yasuichi Ito, and a Kibei mother, Kikuyo Yonemoto Ito. Despite the fact that …
Santo Market Owners: Helen Santo
Dec. 9, 2019 • Emiko Tsuchida
Read an interview with Earl Santo >> Helen, could you introduce yourself with your full name, your birthday, and where you were born? Helen Hiroko Kodama, now Santo. I was born October 26th, 1935. So I must have been seven when the war broke out. And I always thought I was born in Los Angeles but someone stole our box with all our birth certificates. And all the local ones you could get one in San Jose. But I was …
Santo Market Owners: Earl Santo - Part 2
Dec. 3, 2019 • Emiko Tsuchida
Read Part 1 >> So coming back to San Jose, you resettled back here? Yes. Was the reason because your parents were already familiar with it or did they just feel like it would be better to come back? Or do you know why they chose — I think they were familiar with it and we had farm equipment that was being held by a very good family that helped us. It’s not that they didn’t use it, so they …
Santo Market Owners: Earl Santo - Part 1
Dec. 2, 2019 • Emiko Tsuchida
Any visit to the quaint neighborhood of San Jose’s Japantown often necessitates that you visit at least one of three institutions: the manju shop Shuei-Do, family favorite restaurant Gombei, and Santo Market. Serving the community since 1946, Santo Market is a haven of fresh poke, Asian produce and meats, and their legendary (and quickly sold out) strawberry mochi, where they nestle one huge, ripe strawberry in the middle of sweet red bean. Behind the store’s longstanding legacy are Earl and …
Lawson Sakai - Part 3
June 24, 2019 • Emiko Tsuchida
Read Part 2 >> What are some vivid memories you have of basic training, being at Camp Shelby, and getting to know your fellow soldiers? Camp Shelby is very interesting. I was assigned to E Company, infantry. Pretty much a foreign type of thing because most of us had been pretty sheltered at home. The boys in Hawaii lived very close together, and participated in sports and school and so forth. In the mainland we weren’t that close but we …
Lawson Sakai - Part 2
June 17, 2019 • Emiko Tsuchida
Read Part 1 >> Can you describe what happened when your parents found the Colorado church and were able to avoid camp? When the evacuation order came out, Governor Ralph Carr in Colorado made a statement saying, “If Governor Warren doesn’t want you in California, you are welcome to come to my state of Colorado.” And many Japanese did. But only those who could afford to go or who weren’t afraid. Here, most of them had never left their area …
