Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/660/

Talking to children about decision to resist the draft during World War II

And I just called them together and says, “Well, it's about time I tell you about what had happened, what I have done. You may not have heard about it.” And he says, “Oh yeah, we read about it in the paper, I mean, in the textbook.” I says, “How much did you have in there?” And they says, “Oh, just a little paragraph about the evacuation.” So I says, “Well, I'll tell you what happened and what had happened to me, what I have done.” And so I explained to the kids what I did and so that the kids won't get secondhand news from somebody else and find out that his, his or her dad was a draft resister, I thought I'd better get it straight with him and tell him why I did it and so they realized that. And to this day, I'm glad that I told 'em. I think many of the parents, I think, they held back and lot of the parents didn't know—I mean, the children, didn't know about what had happened to the Niseis and the Issei during the war years. And I think a lot of them, they just couldn't believe that it had actually happened.


discrimination draft resisters interpersonal relations resisters World War II

Date: July 25, 1997

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Larry Hashima, Stephen Fugita

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Nisei male. Born 1925 in Seattle, Washington. Spent prewar childhood in Seattle's Nihonmachi. Incarcerated at Puyallup Assembly Center, Washington, and Minidoka incarceration camp, Idaho. Refused to participate in draft, imprisoned at McNeil Island Penitentiary, Washington, for resisting the draft. Resettled in Seattle. (July 25, 1997)

George Yamada
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Yamada,George

Losing job with railroad because of being Japanese American

(b. 1923) Chick sexer

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George Yamada
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Yamada,George

A racist encounter at a movie theater following the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(b. 1923) Chick sexer

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George Yamada
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Yamada,George

Encountering a train full of Japanese Americans being transported to a concentration camp

(b. 1923) Chick sexer

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Margaret Oda
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Oda,Margaret

Gender discrimination in education field

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

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Margaret Oda
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Oda,Margaret

Father interrogated by FBI, but not taken away

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

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Roberto Hirose
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Hirose,Roberto

The political effects on Nikkei during the war (Spanish)

(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman

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Kazuomi Takagi
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Takagi,Kazuomi

No discrimination in Argentina (Spanish)

(1925-2014) La Plata Hochi, Journalist

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Luis Yamada
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Yamada,Luis

Suffering in World War II (Spanish)

(b. 1929) Nisei Argentinean

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Luis Yamada
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Yamada,Luis

Joined Japanese Imperial Army during the WWII (Spanish)

(b. 1929) Nisei Argentinean

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Luis Yamada
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Yamada,Luis

Proud to be a Japanese desecendant (Spanish)

(b. 1929) Nisei Argentinean

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Margarida Tomi Watanabe
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Watanabe,Margarida Tomi

Relief fund to support Japanese communities (Japanese)

(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration

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Margarida Tomi Watanabe
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Watanabe,Margarida Tomi

Role of Assistancia Social dom Jose Gaspar (Japanese)

(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration

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Margarida Tomi Watanabe
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Watanabe,Margarida Tomi

Interrogation by police (Japanese)

(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration

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Henry Shimizu
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Shimizu,Henry

No immediate impact after Pearl Harbor

(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.

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Henry Shimizu
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Shimizu,Henry

Treatment of Japanese fishermen in Canada during World War II

(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.

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