Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1813/

Return to Los Angeles

Here I was in this camp and the news came out that they were reopening the west coast. Anyone that wanted to go back would be allowed to. There was a great deal of reticence on the part of the majority of people who were interned. They were cursed on, cursed at, yanked out of their homes, ripped off of their possessions and thrown into this place with barbed wire. It wasn’t that easy of a decision for them to say OK we’re going back to this place where all that happened.

I was young enough, naive enough to decide “I’m going back.” that’s where Jefferson High School comes back into play because I figured if anything happened and things became unpleasant I’d go run and hide into one of those areas like that. I’d probably still maintained a few high school friends, at least that was my thinking. Came out and settled into a hostel that existed in Boyle heights. I think it was on Evergreen. I have an idea that was where I made phone calls to Disney studios.


California concentration camps Los Angeles Manzanar concentration camp postwar United States World War II World War II camps

Date: August 6, 1998

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Janice Tanaka

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio
Iwao Takamoto (April 29, 1925 – January 8, 2007) was a legendary animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera, most famously designing Scooby Doo in the late sixties. Incarcerated at Manzanar after graduating high school, Iwao leveraged his art skills into a job at Disney upon returning to Los Angeles, working on classic animated films like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. He would go on to mentor other Japanese American animators such as Willie Ito, who worked with him on Lady and the Tramp. After leaving Disney for Hanna-Barbera in 1962, Iwao continued animating, as well as producing and directing films like Charlotte's Web (1973) until his retirement. (June 2021)
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Traveling to Manzanar

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Margaret Oda
en
ja
es
pt
Oda,Margaret

Victory Corps Work during World War II

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Jobs in Manzanar

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
George Yoshida
en
ja
es
pt
Yoshida,George

We’re Still Japanese

(b. 1922) Musician

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Sugar beet and potato farming in Idaho

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
William Marutani
en
ja
es
pt
Marutani,William

Recalling Pinedale and Tule Lake concentration camps

Judge, only Japanese American to serve on CWRIC.

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Being called out of Reserves

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Fort Snelling

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Jimmy Ko Fukuhara
en
ja
es
pt
Fukuhara,Jimmy Ko

Traveling from Manila to Tokyo

(b. 1921) Nisei veteran who served in the occupation of Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Holly J. Fujie
en
ja
es
pt
Fujie,Holly J.

Camp stories impact on her career

Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

en
ja
es
pt
Yumi Matsubara
en
ja
es
pt
Matsubara,Yumi

Concentration camp from a Japanese mother’s point of view (Japanese)

Shin-Issei from Gifu. Recently received U.S. citizenship

en
ja
es
pt
Frank Emi
en
ja
es
pt
Emi,Frank

Arrested in camp for trying to leave

(1916-2010) draft resister, helped form the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee

en
ja
es
pt
Willie Ito
en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Willie

Dusty Weather at Topaz, Utah

(b. 1934) Award-winning Disney animation artist who was incarcerated at Topaz during WWII

en
ja
es
pt
Willie Ito
en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Willie

Mother in Camp

(b. 1934) Award-winning Disney animation artist who was incarcerated at Topaz during WWII

en
ja
es
pt
Masao Kinoshita
en
ja
es
pt
Kinoshita,Masao

Makegumi - Movement to regognize the defeat of Japan (Japanese)

A central figure for the “Makegumi” (defeatists)

en
ja
es
pt