Interviews
Mother was ordered to speak English during FBI house search
The third agent went through the house, and took down – he went through the kitchen, and I heard all this rattling. He took down all the dishes, apparently, and was looking through the cupboards in the kitchen, and they took down framed pictures off the wall, and tore open the backs of the frame, you know, like – and they rolled up the rug on the...on the floor. Very thorough, you know, examination of the house – searching the house for whatever. We were puzzled, I think. We were sitting there, you know, just completely dumbfounded, I think, that this was going...“What is it that they want from us?”
And after several hours, they left. And in the meantime, my mother came home from church. And she came in the front door - and she had forgotten her keys, so she rang the doorbell, and she came in and said, “Well what’s going on?” you know, in Japanese. And so the guy said, “Don’t talk in Japanese! Talk in English.” And so...and so she was – of course my mother was monolingual at that point, and so she – then she was ordered to sit down with us, and she did. And we couldn’t – she kept on saying, “What – who are these people?” you know, and “What do they want?” and so forth, and she was talking in Japanese, and it was – she was told to shut up. And, you know, “Don’t talk in Japanese. Talk in English,” and so we didn’t – we sat there very quietly for a long, long time.
Date: August 7, 2018
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Sharon Yamato
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Making craft items from shells found at Tule Lake
(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII
Working at a first aid station on Oahu after December 7
(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i
Under suspicion after Pearl Harbor
(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i
442 soldiers visiting U.S. concentration camps
(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i
Teaching at the military language school during World War II
(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i
Devastation in Tokyo after World War II
(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i
Change in attitudes after World War II
(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i
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.
Conditions aboard U.S. transport ship while being deported from Peru
(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.
Thoughts on the post-9/11 atmosphere in the U.S.
(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.
Ransacking of family home by FBI following the bombing of Pearl Harbor
(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.
Witnessing father's arrest through a child's eyes
(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.
Participating in military drills in school in Japan during the war
(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.
Hearing anti-American war propaganda from a teacher
(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.
The hardships of life in Japan during World War II
(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.