Tony Koura oral history interview, part 2 of 3, January 17, 2010
Tony Koura goes to Manchuria to observe the mission of the repatriates returning to Japan. Tony says the repatriates are older men, women, and children who are malnourished. However, they are happy to be going to Japan.
Tony arrives back in Kyushu, Japan, after Manchuria. He visits several areas in Japan. He goes to Kyoto to see what Japan would look like pre-war. Kyoto is the only city not bombed during World War Two because there were no war industries, and Kyoto is not a military center.
In May 1946, one of the other interpreters visits his family in Hiroshima, and Tony goes with him. Tony describes the devastation of the atomic bomb. The hills are blackened, and all the buildings are destroyed. Tony says it is a sight you can never forget. Despite the destruction of Hiroshima, the locals are trying to survive. In contrast, Tokyo has a few standing buildings.
Tony is discharged from the Army in December 1946. He attends the University of Washington and joins the reserves to make extra money, and the Korean War starts. However, Tony is not called to active duty due to his classification. Tony graduates college in June and is hired to be an Air Force interrogator in Tokyo, Japan.
Japan has changed drastically change from 1946 to 1951. Almost all the damages from the bombing are repaired. With the Korean War happening, the American Army needs the assistance of Japan. Tony says Japan is a tremendous help with the Korean War. In Japan, Tony's job is to interrogate Japanese soldier prisoners from Siberia. The Japanese prisoners have all of the strategic intel from working in the area. The American air Forces is in dire need of this information because of the Cold War.
Tony is in Japan from 1951 to 1956. Tony is an interrogator until the Peace Treaty is signed. Afterward, he works on special projects such as invasion and escapes studies for aircrews as a Department of Air Force (DAF). Later, he becomes a historian at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces and documents current Air Force History.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Koura%2C+Tony%3A+narrator">Koura, Tony: narrator</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Hawkins%2C+Richard%3A+interviewer">Hawkins, Richard: interviewer</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center%3A+publisher">Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=US+Army+Center+of+Military+History%3A+sponsor">US Army Center of Military History: sponsor</a>
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2010OH0995_02_Koura
Ray Mayeda oral history interview, part 2 of 4, January 7, 2010
In October 1949, Ray Mayeda worked at the Civil Censorship until it was dissolved. Then Ray worked at Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) as a translator. He translated classified documents into English for a year.
After, Ray went to Okinawa to work for the Civil and Information Department in the military government. He was promoted to Visual Presentation Information Specialist. Ray had many Okinawan people working with him to spread propaganda about democracy in Okinawa. Ray screened movies and documentaries around different towns in Okinawa. Afterward, Ray started renting out regular American films, and his job was to control that.
When Ray did not have work, he found time to visit friends and his siblings. Ray has not seen his sisters and younger brother for 11 years. He reunited with his sisters and brother in Kagoshima and helped them come back to the United States. One of Ray's sisters got married there. After the war, Ray's father returned to Japan.
After serving his time in the occupation, Ray was discharged from the Army and censored telegrams in Osaka. Ray met his wife. His wife was working for the CCD in Tokyo and kept in touch. In March 1950, Ray worked in Okinawa and later returned to Tokyo in October 1951 and married his wife in June 1952.
By 1952, Ray was in Japan for five years, and he returned to the United States with his wife. Ray continued his education at the University of Minnesota, majoring in accounting. He later worked for a CPA firm, and then the Air Force Audit Agency hired him. Later Ray and his family moved to Japan, and Ray audited contracts in various places in Asia.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Mayeda%2C+Ray%3A+narrator">Mayeda, Ray: narrator</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Hawkins%2C+Richard%3A+interviewer">Hawkins, Richard: interviewer</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center%3A+publisher">Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=US+Army+Center+of+Military+History%3A+sponsor">US Army Center of Military History: sponsor</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center">Go For Broke National Education Center</a>
video/m4v
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=44&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=eng">eng</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Oral+Histories">Oral Histories</a>
2010OH0988_02_Mayeda
Hal Oishi oral history interview, part 2 of 2, January 18, 2009
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Allied+Occupation+of+Japan">Allied Occupation of Japan</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Japanese+Americans--Post-World+War+II">Japanese Americans--Post-World War II</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Military+service--Veteran+history">Military service--Veteran history</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Japanese+Americans--Post-World+War+II">Japanese Americans--Post-World War II</a>
Oishi continues his recollection of his time arriving in Japan during the military occupation. He would arrive in Yokosuka and head to Camp Zama, where he would see the devastation of Tokyo and the conditions for the Japanese civilians. Next, he talks about his time in occupied Japan, seeing the different parts of the occupation before getting his first assignment in Oji. Next, he speaks about his time in Oji, translating documents for the technical intelligence team and visiting family near Hiroshima. He would finish up his time in Japan and be discharged in Honolulu, where he would pursue his college degree at the University of Hawaii. He would be recalled to the Army after this and spend time as an instructor at the Schofield Barracks before continuing his higher education at Northwestern University. He would begin working at an accounting firm and obtain his CPA, which would lead him through a great accounting career that including stints in Chicago, Hawaii and Japan. He discusses one of his trips back to Japan in the 1970's and the differences he noticed from his time there 20 years prior. Finally, he talks about the Nisei's contributions to the occupation and hopes he has for the future.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Oishi%2C+Hal%3A+narrator">Oishi, Hal: narrator</a>
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<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Hawkins%2C+Richard%3A+interviewer">Hawkins, Richard: interviewer</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center%3A+publisher">Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=US+Army+Center+of+Military+History%3A+sponsor">US Army Center of Military History: sponsor</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center">Go For Broke National Education Center</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=40&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2009+January+18">2009 January 18</a>
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<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Oral+Histories">Oral Histories</a>
2009OH0966_02_Oishi
Robert Satoshi Sato oral history interview, part 3 of 6, July 28, 2002
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=World+War+II--American+Concentration+Camps--Minidoka">World War II--American Concentration Camps--Minidoka</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=World+War+II--Temporary+Detention+Facilities--Puyallup">World War II--Temporary Detention Facilities--Puyallup</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=World+War+II--Military+service--Recruiting+and+enlisting">World War II--Military service--Recruiting and enlisting</a>
Sato and his family would be evacuated from their farm, and moved to a temporary detention center in Puyallup, called Camp Harmony. He talks about the lack of privacy and the barbed wire that surrounded the area. After this, they would be moved again, but this time to a more permanent location at Minidoka Concentration Camp. He talks about the actions that lead to the executive order, including Yellow peril and certain congressmen not getting supported. After this, he talks about being transported by train to Idaho, with the shades drawn, and seeing nothing around at all but mountains. He talks more about the living conditions of the barracks and finding work as a swamper, while attending high school. He would then be drafted into the Army, heading to Fort Douglas for his induction.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Sato%2C+Robert+Satoshi%3A+narrator">Sato, Robert Satoshi: narrator</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Dojiri%2C+Michelle%3A+interviewer">Dojiri, Michelle: interviewer</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center%3A+publisher">Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center">Go For Broke National Education Center</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=40&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2002+July+28">2002 July 28</a>
video/m4v
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=44&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=eng">eng</a>
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2002OH0298_03_Sato
Tommy Mayekawa oral history interview, part 2 of 3, February 11, 2012
Tommy Mayekawa and his family evacuate to Santa Anita Assembly Center after receiving the evacuation orders. He describes the living conditions and life in the camp. Tommy and his family live in a horse stable, and his parents accepted the situation with the attitude of shikata ga nai.
Tommy and his family are at Santa Anita for a few months before going to Rohwer Relocation Center. At Rohwer, there are armed guards in guard towers. Tommy tries to try to occupy his time in camp with work. He finds a job driving a truck and chopping wood.
In March 1944, Tommy leaves Rohwer for employment opportunities in Detroit, MI. Shortly after, Tommy receives his draft notice and reports to Fort Sheridan. Tommy discusses the irony of being an American citizen going to camp and now being drafted into service.
At Camp Blanding, Tommy is part of a segregated unit. Many guys from his Company go overseas to Europe, but Tommy goes to language school at Fort Snelling. Tommy's training is short because the war has ended, and they are needed overseas.
In August 1945, he travels to the Philippine Islands and works at a POW camp. Later, Tommy goes to Japan for occupation. He is stationed in downtown Yokohama and is attached to the Third Military Railway Service Headquarters. His assignment is to be an interpreter with the local rail operators.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Mayekawa%2C+Tommy%3A+narrator">Mayekawa, Tommy: narrator</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Horsting%2C+Robert%3A+interviewer">Horsting, Robert: interviewer</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center%3A+publisher">Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center">Go For Broke National Education Center</a>
2012OH1054_02_Mayekawa
Hiroshi Tanaka oral history interview, part 2 of 5, September 27, 2005
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=World+War+II--Pearl+Harbor+and+aftermath">World War II--Pearl Harbor and aftermath</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Law+and+legislation--Executive+Order+9066">Law and legislation--Executive Order 9066</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=World+War+II--American+Concentration+Camps--Poston+%28Colorado+River%29">World War II--American Concentration Camps--Poston (Colorado River)</a>
Tanaka would grow up in southern California, helping his family work on the vegetable farm and playing with friends. During this time, the Great Depression occurred and he talks briefly about that. Next, he talks about his whereabouts during the attacks on Pearl Harbor. During this time, he saw family members taken in by the FBI and moved to immigration camps, eventually landing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Soon after, the President would sign executive order 9066, which would evacuate all the Japanese living on the west coast. Tanaka and his family would be moved to Poston concentration camp in Arizona, having to sell all his personal belongings along the way. He talks about what life was like in the camps, including getting work as a sign painter and a dish washer.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Tanaka%2C+Hiroshi%3A+narrator">Tanaka, Hiroshi: narrator</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Garvey%2C+John%3A+interviewer">Garvey, John: interviewer</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center%3A+publisher">Go For Broke National Education Center: publisher</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=48&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Go+For+Broke+National+Education+Center">Go For Broke National Education Center</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=40&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2005+September+27+">2005 September 27 </a>
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<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=44&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=eng">eng</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Oral+Histories">Oral Histories</a>
2005OH0608_02_Tanaka