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

Forcibly deported to the U.S. from Peru

We were given a room, one room for all our brothers and sisters. We took our belongs, whatever we could carry, some were confiscated, they took it away from us. Like my sister would…she hid some money in her shoes and they took that away. No one told us anything. Even my mother and father, didn’t know where we were going. We just went along, whenever they went, we went. It took us about three weeks. So we landed in New Orleans, Louisiana, we got off and right away they DDT fumigated everybody.

Japanese Peruvians Peru ships World War II

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)