Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/692/

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

And then one time—this was very hush-hush—but a train stopped late one afternoon. I presume it came from the coast somewhere, and I serviced it with water, ice, and there was a guard on each end with the shades all drawn. I had to go inside to service the water. When I went in, that's all I saw: Japanese. All Isseis and Niseis, and I don't know about Sanseis, but all Japanese. I thought, “Holy crow! Holy mackerel!” Then it dawned on me, I inquired. They weren't supposed to talk, they weren't supposed to show their face, I wasn't supposed to do anything, but they were headed for Heart Mountain. And I says, “Oh.” I serviced them, and that was the last I saw of them. They went to Heart Mountain, Wyoming. And at a different time, another train came through during my shift that had nothing but evacuees on it, going to Heart Mountain.


imprisonment incarceration railroads World War II World War II camps

Date: March 15 & 16, 2006

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Megan Asaka

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Nisei male. Born 1923 in Spokane, Washington. Spent childhood in downtown Spokane where parents ran the World Hotel. Father also worked as a mail handler for the Great Northern Railroad. Attended Lewis and Clark High School and Washington State University. During the war remembers seeing train cars pass through Spokane with Japanese Americans headed to Heart Mountain incarceration camp, Wyoming. Drafted into the army in 1944 and served at the Military Intelligence Service Language School in Fort Snelling, Minnesota and Presidio, California. After World War II, worked as a chick sexer in upstate New York and surrounding region for thirty years. Returned to Spokane in the mid-1970s and pursued a career in real estate. Currently lives with wife, Susie, in Spokane and is an active fly fisherman. (March 16, 2006 )

Hohri,William
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Hohri,William

Outhouses and showers at camp

(1927-2010) Political Activist

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Hohri,William
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Hohri,William

Interned at age fifteen, I saw camp as an adventure

(1927-2010) Political Activist

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Kozawa,Sumiko
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Kozawa,Sumiko

Coming back to America from Japan before the war

(1916-2016) Florist

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Murakami,Jimmy
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Murakami,Jimmy

Paintings reflecting on camp

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

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Kozawa,Sumiko
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Kozawa,Sumiko

Her experience of Japanese American Evacuation

(1916-2016) Florist

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Kozawa,Sumiko
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Kozawa,Sumiko

Working in the camp hospital

(1916-2016) Florist

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Kozawa,Sumiko
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Kozawa,Sumiko

Experiencing prejudice after the war

(1916-2016) Florist

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Janzen,Terry
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Janzen,Terry

Memories of Poston

(b. 1930) Half Japanese and grew up in both Japan and the United States.

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Janzen,Terry
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Janzen,Terry

Arriving at Poston

(b. 1930) Half Japanese and grew up in both Japan and the United States.

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Ochi,Rose
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Ochi,Rose

Incarceration, Deportation, and Lawyers

(1938-2020) Japanese American attorney and civil rights activist

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Ochi,Rose
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Ochi,Rose

“A Low Tolerance For Injustice…”

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Murakami,Jimmy
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Murakami,Jimmy

Leaving Tule Lake

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

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Murakami,Jimmy
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Murakami,Jimmy

Introduction to Film

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

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Murakami,Jimmy
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Murakami,Jimmy

Seagulls

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Murakami,Jimmy
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Murakami,Jimmy

Reparations

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

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