Interviews

1. Memories of childhood in Peru

2. Forcibly deported to the U.S. from Peru

3. Food on the ship to the U.S.

4. Family welcomed at Crystal City

5. First meal at Crystal City

6. Enjoying undokai and sports in Crystal City

7. Postwar sponsorship (Inglês)

8. Immersed in Japanese culture and language

9. Proud of his Japanese, American, and Peruvian identity

Naganuma,Jimmy

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

Immersed in Japanese culture and language

My older brothers and sister, they also liked the culture. They would buy magazines, records, they would enjoy listening, and at the same time, I would look at the magazine and enjoy listening to music. They were showing Japanese movie two different places in San Francisco, and I'd go every Friday and Saturday. One Friday I'll go this theater, Saturday I'm going to go to the other theater. It was very much Japanese-y, more than being American. Because my father and mother at home would speak Japanese. My father said, "You have a Japanese face? You learn to speak Japanese." Still up here in my mind.

culture languages movies

Date: September 20, 2019

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Tom Ikeda and Yoko Nishimura

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum and Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Jimmy Naganuma was born in Callao, Peru to his Issei parents in 1936. He was eight years old when his family were forced to board a ship, to be incarcerated at Crystal City, Texas, during World War II. They remained there even after the war had ended, without a place to go. They were able to leave via a sponsorship by a reverend in San Francisco, California, where they were able to find jobs and housing. (June 2020)