Tsubota mainly discusses topics and experiences as a member of the Counterintelligence Corps during the Korean War. He talks about conducting investigations with the office of Clandestine Operations in the Army. He also discusses a wide range of…
During this part of the interview Edward Ichiyama discusses his family's emigration to the United States, as well as his familial makeup. He also recalls specific events during his adolescence, such as spending time in his father's barbershop,…
During this part of the interview Edward Ichiyama recalls his time spent in the Army and his experiences during the war. He gives details in regards to witnessing the bombing of Pearl Harbor and his family's experience after the attack. This part of…
Akune begins with describing his childhood and family. He moved to Japan at the age of ten, after his mother passed away. When he turned fifteen, he returned to the United States to help his father.
Akune describes the life-changing death of his mother, resulting in his move to Japan.He describes how difficult it was to adjust to his new life, but he focused all of his time on his studies in school. His father allowed him to move back to…
Matsumoto describes his early life growing up in Los Angeles and later moving to Japan with his grandparents to attend school. Upon returning to the Los Angeles area, Matsumoto settled in Long Beach, graduating from the local high school and worked…
During this portion of the interview, James Mitsumori gives a brief introduction of himself and his familial background. In addition, James recounts growing up in Pasadena, California and he recollects the segregation system that was in place at the…
During this portion of the interview, James Mitsumori recalls details about his adolescence and attending trials at the local courthouse. Moreover, James recounts his educational background and his recollects on his school trip to Japan, China, and…
During this part of the interview, James Mitsumori discusses the discrimination that Japanese Americans faced after the war. In addition, he goes on to recount his parent's evacuation experience, as well as his wife's experiences during the war.…
During this portion of the interview, James Mitsumori recalls his time working as a military citations clerk, as well as the qualifications for earning a Congressional Medal of Honor. Next, recalls meeting his wife and he explains why he felt she…
Robert Iso recalls his time growing up in San Jose, California and talks about attending Buddhist Temple and seeing picture shows near Japan Town. He talks about his mother's jovial personality, playing basketball and playing trumpet in the high…
Paul recollects his forced removal and incarceration experience and details regarding his military embarkation to Europe. Paul discusses his first visit to New York City and military experience as a merchant marine, as well as his experiences during…
Harry Akune describes his childhood, living and going to school in Japan after his mother died. He talks about learning discipline after living with his Grand-Uncle. He describes his experience during the Occupation of Japan, in which he helped…
In this segment, Rose Uriyu talks about her two sons and the great work her husband, George, did in his lifetime. The interviewer and Uriyu recall the memory where Uriyu wore a gas mask during her graduation. Uriyu clarifies details about joining…
In this segment, Matsuji "Mut" Sakumoto begins by discussing his favorite school subjects before elaborating on his interest in history, and specifically military history. He then recalls visiting Gettysburg while stationed on the East coast and how…
In this segment, Matsuji "Mut" Sakumoto discusses a variety of topics, including family, post-war activities, and his career working overseas. Specifically, Sakumoto discusses his feelings on General Dahlquist before concluding on his war…
After moving to East Los Angeles, Toshiko Hattori took care of her mother-in-law, and later, her husband, who had developed lung cancer. Her husband passed away from his illness, leaving her a widow. She developed osteoarthritis which made it…
In this video clip, Toshiko Hattori talks about living a healthy lifestyle, sharing her life experiences with her family, and about her visits to Japan. She talks about how many people do not know about Japanese American women's contribution to the…
Yukio Kawamoto continues to talk about some of his personal photographs. He also describes the first meeting with his uncle in Japan during the occupation. He hopes that future generations will continue to contribute to America's melting pot.
Matsuhara discusses about his experiences in the Philippines. He details about his fear of flying and his experiences in Japan. Matsuhara also discusses about his experiences with discrimination, Pearl Harbor, and its aftermath.
George Matsui grew up in Long Beach, CA, and his parents are farmers. George's father decided to go back to Japan when George was in junior high school. In Japan, George attended Japanese Grade School and learned the Japanese language. When George…
George Matsui was reassigned to MacArthur's Headquarters, Army Intelligence G2, Natural Resources Section after Japan surrendered. He recalls traveling to Fukuoka to see his family for the first time.
Tanakatsubo begins the interview talking about his family background and the origin of his name. Growing up in Sacramento, he was exposed to a very diverse population and made for a pretty happy childhood and schooling, including a well-known glee…
After spending time at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage, Tanakatsubo was sent overseas to begin interrogating in the Aleutian Islands where the Japanese were occupying some islands. It was there at the Battle of Attu…
Mukai talks about his courtship and marriage to Eugenia Sumiye Okoshi. Eugenia Sumiye Okoshi joins the interview. She talks about her birthplace. She describes her father's early life. She describes her family's bicoastal life. She discusses her…
Katagiri discusses life after leaving Tule Lake, including moving to Minnesota and going to college. Katagiri also details about the experiences of being drafted and basic training. Katagiri discusses what it was like being stationed in Japan after…
Taniguchi expresses his feelings about having to take a loyalty questionnaire. He explains the draft and induction process. He briefly talks about volunteering for Army service. He shares his knowledge of the 100th Infantry Battalion. He discusses…
Taniguchi revisits his experiences in the Amache Concentration Camp. He talks about the translation work that he did in Japan. He explains how the younger generation differs from his generation. Taniguchi describes how he met his wife. He talks about…
Fujimori discusses more about his time in the Philippines. He details about his duties while stationed in Japan. Fujimori also discusses his road to being discharged.
Hirose discusses more about his experiences in post-war Japan. He details about facing discrimination and starting a business in Japan. Hirose also discusses his family and Japanese culture.
Naito shares his experience of being denied membership in the VFW organization due to his Japanese descent. He also discusses the benefits of being in a segregated unit. He further shares recollections of his travels to Asia post-war and how Asian…
Ohama discusses his grandfather's life in Japan and his immigration to the United States; as well as his childhood relationship with his grandfather and his grandfather's personality. He then talks about his father including his personality and…
Ohama describes a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR); discusses the duties of an interrogator; talks about the end of the war and getting sent to Japan; and discusses the goals of an interpreter. He then talks about his experiences in Japan including his…
As reading interested Hamashige, he began reading a lot about the racism throughout the United States government which led to a deeper understanding of the modernization of Japan, which eventually turned to the attacks on Pearl Harbor. He speaks…
Following his language school training, Hamashige went to continued his training, going to basic, then to Fort Snelling for interpreting training before being sent out to the Philippines for his first assignment. As the war was coming to an end, the…
Ota discusses his father and grandparents, including talking about his grandfather working on a citrus farm. He then talks about religion and going to temple, and attending Obon Festivals. When Ota was a child, his family moved to Japan and he talks…
In 1940, Sachio Takata graduated high school and went to the Delta Islands to work in the celery field. Sachio wanted to save money to further his education and attend medical school.
After the signing of Executive Order 9066, Sachio and his…
Sachio Takata recollects his time at basic training at Camp Blanding training to be a replacement for the 442nd. He made a few friends in the Army. However, if you were not in the same company or platoon, it was harder to build a relationship. Sachio…
Mori continues his discussion on cave experiences while serving overseas in Okinawa. Following Okinawa, he is moved back to the Philippines until the end of the war. After thinking they would be sent back home after the atomic bombs, they are instead…
Mori recalls a time when he was watching television with his children and saw himself on a Walter Cronkite special. Next, he gives a message for future generations, which includes enduring and persevering in everyday life. After this, he talks about…
Saisho begins the interview speaking about his family background and how his father came over to the United States to attend school, and found his mother while working on a farm. He would grow up in various places in California until the attacks on…
Iwasaki discusses his experiences with post-war discrimination; provides some thoughts regarding racial slurs; and talks about starting his own nursery and garden store. He then talks about sharing some of his war experiences with his wife and…
Ikuta talks about growing up in Colorado including discussing his father's Model T car; going to church; his childhood home and friendships; school; and his father's death. He then talks about moving to Japan with his family as a child, returning to…
Ikuta talks about his siblings in Japan during World War Two; discussing his family who moved to Los Angeles with him post-war; talks about corresponding with his mother while she was in Japan; and discusses getting drafted and sent to Jefferson…
Kimura discusses his brothers that were also serving in the Army, one of which would be wounded at the Lost Battalion campaign. He also talks about correspondence with his family and what it was like to be on the front lines. He talks more about his…
Kimura discusses meeting his wife while living in Japan as a soldier and then marrying her as a civilian. Next, he talks about becoming a civilian translator, working for double the pay after being discharged from the Army. He would return to the…
Hayashi continues his recollection of interpreting assignments in Manila, working at the War Crimes Trials. After this, he was discharged from the Army so that he could continue his college education, but decided to travel the East Coast first. He…
Katsumi Yagura tells his father and mother's immigration stories. He also shares his memories of his parents and their physical descriptions. He briefly talks about his father's farm work in Utah. He talks about his siblings and his religious…
Yagura continues to talk about his experiences while in high school. He describes his experiences with discrimination in California. He discusses his parents decision to return to Japan. He talks about the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the aftermath,…
Yagura talks about the end of World War Two. He briefly talks about the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and enlisting. He discusses his translation work while in Japan. He describes his social activities while stationed overseas. Yagura talks…
Tahara talks about the end of the war, as they were marching through Europe, a plane flew overhead and threw leaflets out to them. He would return to Hawaii, seeing his mother and hearing about the death of his father. He also talks about seeing his…
Inami discusses Japanese Language School and holidays celebrated by his family. When Inami is an adolescent, he goes to Japan with his family to look for a bride for his Uncle. He recalls how his Father purchases the Grocery Store and owning a…
Yano begins the interview talking about being born and raised in California, playing marbles and hanging out with friends and neighbors. His family would come from Hiroshima, Japan and settle in California, his father as a farm laborer and his mother…
Yano talks more about his war experiences, including his involvement in the Lost Battalion and the food that he would enjoy in Europe. He next talks about the end of the war and his plan to go to occupied Japan to see his mother, but upon returning…
Iwamoto discusses his nickname, his parents and the reasons why his father immigrated to the United States; his parents' employment; his parent's personalities; and working at his father's cafe. He then talks about going to church, attending school,…
Yokooji talks about basic training at Camp Shelby; discusses 442nd Regimental Combat Team replacement soldiers; talks about the merging of the 100th and 442nd; and discusses going to Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning. He then talks about…
Yokooji discusses his reasons for volunteering to go to Korea and talks about his assignment during the Korean War interrogating POWs. He then talks about his relationship with a company commander; discusses the end of the Korean War; talks about…
Asahina discusses her father, his family, his immigration to the United States, his employment as a farmer, his physical traits, and his personality. She then talks about her mother's physical traits, employment, hobbies, and personality; and…
Takabayashi discusses being stationed in Seattle before going overseas. He describes his journey to the South Pacific. He talks about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He discusses reconnecting with his relatives who lived in Japan. He…
Takabayashi describes his military service during the Korean War. He explains the legacy of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). He talks about intelligence gathering throughout his military career. He shares his experiences during the Vietnam…
Sato begins the interview talking about being born in Stockton, and then moving to Fresno at the age of three. He would grow up in Fresno on a farm, selling vegetables and fishing occasionally, though he did not enjoy it. Next, he talks about his…
Sakamoto begins the interview talking about his family coming from Japan and settling in Los Angeles, California. There, his father would begin a flower business and collect birds, even joining a club that would trade them. He also talks about his…
Sakamoto talks more about the holidays he grew up celebrating, including New Years, where he would enjoy mochi and specialty Japanese foods. He next remembers time that he spent with his mother and father, including seeing his mother's home in Japan…
Following the end of the war, Sakamoto would get out of the camp and head back to Los Angeles, where he would get a place with his brother in Bunker Hill and start working at Columbia Records, manning the hydraulic press to make the plastic records.…
Suehiro discusses more of his war experiences, including receiving a wound on his leg from shrapnel. He would help get his friends that was also wounded, back to safety and would head to the Red Cross to take care of his own wound, taking many…
Norman Ikari begins the interview talking about growing up in Seattle, Washington where he would fish often, and go to a baseball games with his father. Due to the Great Depression, his family would move down to Los Angeles, facing his first bout of…
Tateishi begins the interview talking about how his family came from Hiroshima in Japan and settled in Hawaii. Growing up in Hawaii, he would attend McKinley High School and pick pineapples in his spare time, before joining the National Guard. He…
Tateishi talks more about what it was like to grow up in Hawaii, including playing marbles and working at a brewery. He also gives more background on his family, such as his six sisters and the family he had that was living in Hiroshima when the…
Murakami discusses his Father, Mother and siblings. Growing up Murakami does not have much communication from his Issei parents about their immigration to the United States. He contributes this upbringing to not facing discrimination or racism.…
Murakami discuesses being discharge and going to the University of Utah. First job as government agency and also helps his family restaurant. Later he goes to Japan and gets employment as a civil service employee. He recalls meeting his wife in Japan…
Murakami talks about his youth in Japan: living with relatives, attending school. He also discusses his experiences in MISLS training and his assignments as a Nisei soldier in ATIS; working as an interpreter for the Australian military officials.
Murakami talks about his observations of Japanese nationals during his participation in Occupied Japan. He talks about cultural nuances in Japan and the politics of Niseis interactions with Japanese citizenry. He also discusses his work after his…
Akira Otani continues to talk about how he ensured that his father safely returned to Hawaii. He also talks about reuniting with his family. He shares his father's feelings toward the United States government after his imprisonment. He discusses his…
Kojimoto continues to talk about his extended family. He describes a trip that he took to Los Angeles, California. He discusses his parent's plans after World War Two. He talks about his involvement in high school sports. He describes his…
Kodama begins the interview talking about his parents and how they came from Japan and settled down in Mountain View, California. They would become farmers, specializing in fruit, and help to run an on-sen as well. He also talks about his sisters and…
Matsuura talks about his parents, going to school in Spokane, being sent to Japan as a child; and returning to the United States and working on a farm. He then talks about attending high school, the Attack on Pearl Harbor, volunteering for the Army,…
Ben Umeda begins the interview talking about his family, his father and mother being from Hiroshima and their journey to get to Selma in California. Next, he talks about growing up in California, picking grapes to make raisins for work and doing…
Umeda continues to talk about his language training at Fort Snelling with the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), talking about the living conditions of the barracks and being classified as a translator. After this, he would be sent overseas, first…
Umeda talks a little bit more about his time in Seoul, translating newspapers during the occupation. He would return to Japan, where they gave him the option of staying in the military or heading home and a friend convinced him to go home and…
Oda discusses growing up in Stockton, California on a farm before moving to Japan with his mother and brother at his mother's behest. While in Japan, Oda recalls experiences in grammar school with bullies for being American; and attending Koto Gakko…
Konno talks about growing up on a citrus ranch in San Dimas, California; and discusses his parents, childhood activities, friendships, and speaking Japanese at home. He also talks about attending high school and Japanese language school; playing…
Shiosaki discusses the [Saito] brothers' military service; talks about a Staff Sergeant; and discusses the end of the war including assisting with processing POWs. He then discusses the Army point system; discusses learning about President Franklin…
Hashimoto talks about his military service while in the United States. He describes the new military training he received. He talks about his retirement and his security work for defense companies. He discusses double agents and his intelligence work…
Mukai talks about his life after high school. He describes his family's relationship with relatives in Japan. He discusses the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the aftermath. He shares his knowledge of the American Concentration Camps. Mukai discuses his…
Kuwabara describes his last assignment before retirement; and moving to Japan and getting a job at a public relations company as a translator. He also talks about the differences between civilian and military employment, his three marriages, and…
Uchida and Kinoshita continue their recollection of joining the Army. At the time, Uchida was working on the railroads in Montana and Kinoshita was at the Minidoka concentration camp. They talk about their individual basic training at Camp Shelby,…
Uchida and Kinoshita discuss their time in Japan and seeing the devastation of Hiroshima and the occupation of Japan. They talk about their experiences talking with civilians and seeing the black market. Next, they talk about their life after…
Ito begins the interview speaking about his family background, including descriptions of his mother, father and the values they taught him growing up. Next, he speaks about school and what it was like to grow up in Hawaii. During this time, Ito…
Mr. Fujimoto discusses about his family message to future generations, and photographs. Mrs. discusses about about her family. She also details about going to Japan and her experiences there.
Yokogawa discusses moving to the mainland from Hawaii as a child and settling in Los Angeles, as well as what life was like after relocating to Japan after high school. He also talks about returning back to the United States, getting drafted, and his…
Shimomura discusses his father including the origin of his name, his fishing hobby, and his immigration from Japan. He then talks about his parents' education and employment in Japan, as well as their disposition and his mother's love for baking.…
Shimomura discusses his family's business in Japan; commuting to school; and talks about his childhood including discussing his neighborhood, friendships, recreational activities, and playing sports. Next, Shimomura talks about speaking both English…
Shimomura talks about joining the Japanese Navy while he was a medical student; and discusses basic training, duties during an air raid in Yokohama, and his assignments in Navy hospitals. He then talks about the end of the war, discusses the bombing…
Shimomura discusses receiving a post-war scholarship from United States Army Government Aid and Relief in Occupied Areas (GARIOA). He then talks about his experiences working in the medical profession including working in hospitals in New York and…
Oka discusses what it was like growing up in Watsonville, California. He details about moving to Japan and his experiences while living there. Oka also discusses what it was like upon returning to the United States.
Ken Nihei was born in 1925 in Sacramento, CA. Ken grew up in Sacramento until he was seven years old and moved to Hayward (Bay Area) during the Great Depression.
Ken's father immigrated to the United States from Fukushima-ken, Japan, to help his…
Wada begins the interview talking about his family coming from Japan and settling in Redlands. He talks about growing up in the Redlands, having picnics, and only being allowed to go swimming after it had been cleaned. He grew up as a Christian and…
Toshio discusses about family and what it was like growing up in California. He details about athletic endeavors and identification. Toshio also discusses going to Japan and his experiences while there.
Toshio discusses about interactions with people of Japanese ancestry. He details more about going to Japan to study Japanese and what it was like being a Nikkei in Japan. Toshio also discusses about establishing American football in Japan, attending…
