Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/220/

Influence of veterans

The World War II, I think that made it possible for many of the AJAs in America, in the United States, here in Hawaii…to be able to rise to the cause, that made it possible for them to prove their loyalty to their country. And they did it in very superlative fashion. The way it impacted me was, I was too young to become part of that group. But, I got impacted by what they tried to do when they returned. They not only fought in the battlefield, but they came back and wanted to fight as civilians—wanted to have a better life, a more fair life, for every person in the United States. And as a result, I became part of that group. And I think I was greatly helped by the efforts of those veterans who had come back to want to create a more fair and more just society.


armed forces retired military personnel veterans World War II

Date: December 15, 2003

Location: Hawai`i, US

Interviewer: Art Hansen

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

Interviewee Bio

George Ariyoshi was born in Honolulu in 1926. He overcame a childhood speech defect to enter the Military Intelligence Service language school after World War II and served the United States in Tokyo’s ruins. Returning home from occupied Japan, he moved to Michigan where he received undergraduate and law degrees.

He married Jean Hayashi in Hawai`i and, between 1954 and 1986, held elective offices there as a Democrat. He served three terms as Hawai`i’s governor, the first Japanese American nationwide to govern a state. By his own definition, Governor Ariyoshi was “a social liberal and a fiscal conservative.” The title of his 1997 memoir, With Obligation to All, summed up his personal and political philosophies. (December 2003)

Kosaki,Richard

Under suspicion after Pearl Harbor

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Kosaki,Richard

442 soldiers visiting U.S. concentration camps

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Kosaki,Richard

Teaching at the military language school during World War II

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Kosaki,Richard

Devastation in Tokyo after World War II

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Kosaki,Richard

Change in attitudes after World War II

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i

Shibayama,Art

Family's deportation from Peru to U.S. after the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

Shibayama,Art

Conditions aboard U.S. transport ship while being deported from Peru

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Ransacking of family home by FBI following the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Witnessing father's arrest through a child's eyes

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Participating in military drills in school in Japan during the war

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Hearing anti-American war propaganda from a teacher

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

The hardships of life in Japan during World War II

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kutsukake,Rose

Experiences during World War II

(1918-2004) Interned in Slocan during World War II. Active member of the Japanese Canadian community.

Sasaki,Fred

Anti-Japanese sentiment at the time of World War II

(b. 1918) Issei businessman in Canada

Sasaki,Fred

The impact of Pearl Harbor on his family

(b. 1918) Issei businessman in Canada