Entrevistas

1. Life in Davao, Philippines

2. Kindergarten in Davao, Philippines

3. Evacuated to the Jungle

4. Captured by Guerillas after bombing of Pearl Harbor

5. Family was shipped back to Japan after the war

6. Attitudes toward Hikiagesha

7. Move to Los Angeles

8. First Impressions of the US

9. Life in the Philippines

10. Unique Identity from Having Multiple Backgrounds

11. On Nikkei Identity

12. Returning to the Philippines

Uchimura,Sawako Ashizawa

(n.1938) Repatriada filipina de nacimiento que luego emigró a los Estados Unidos

Evacuated to the Jungle

The war became much more intense, so we had to escape into the jungle. And the jungle was very dark and – hardly any sun, maybe a spot here and there – so – and mother became very ill with the typhoid and malaria, and then the newborn baby, so I just became seven, and I was the only caregiver to mother and – my brother. So by the – six months, father was working to help the – settle the place, so I don’t know where he was. We – he was not there all the time, and once in a while, he would come and visit like in the middle of the night.

And the jungle life was not very easy – a lot of people died. But we were fortunately – it was all civilians, so the US Army did not attack, they just watched outside of the jungle, and we were lucky to survive. But a lot died of disease and malnourishment during the six months’ time. But, miraculously, my brother was only two months old, but he was able to survive. And we survived as well, so we were very fortunate.

bosques selvas Filipinas Segunda Guerra Mundial

Fecha: July 12, 2017

Zona: California, US

Entrevista: Mitsue Watanabe, Yoko Nishimura, Leighton Okada

País: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Entrevista

Sawako Ashizawa Uchimura nació en Davao, Mindanao, en Filipinas, el 25 de marzo de 1938 como hija primogénita de Katsujiro y Ura “Mie” Ashizawa. Tenía siete años de edad en 1945 cuando su familia tuvo que dejar las Filipinas después de la derrota de Japón en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Su familia vivió en Shizuoka durante los siguientes diez años. Más tarde, la familia obtuvo el permiso de residencia estadounidense y arribó a Los Ángeles en marzo de 1956. Sawako estudió en la Escuela Secundaria de Alhambra y luego en el Colegio Municipal de Pasadena. Eventualmente encontró a un generoso mentor quien la apoyó en su educación mientras estuvo en la Universidad Estatal de San José y se convirtió en terapista profesional. Actualmente, ella sirve como voluntaria en el Sakura Garden (anteriormente la Casa de Retiro Keiro). (Marzo, 2018)