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Personal Narratives of the Forced Removal and Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II

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Series I: Formerly Incarcerated People
George Aki Collection
Collection ID: 11135
Digital content available
Aki was incarcerated at Tanforan Assembly Center (Tanforan Racetrack), California, Central Utah Relocation Center (a.k.a. “Topaz”), and Jerome Relocation Center, Arkansas. In 1944, he volunteered to serve as a chaplain in the United States Army and was assigned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He served in Alabama, Mississippi, and Italy.
BOX VHS-147 Video interview with George Aki, December 5, 2003
58 minutes
MV01: Topics covered include: Service as a chaplain; early life and education; thoughts on incarcerated of Japanese Americans; incarcerated at Tanforan Assembly Center (Tanforan Racetrack), California, Central Utah Relocation Center (a.k.a. “Topaz”) and Jerome Relocation Center, Arkansas; reaction to his decision to enlist; goal was to support other Japanese American volunteers; wife and family; fought against prejudice in the Army; thoughts on the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL); thoughts on serving the country that served him; reconciling religious beliefs with war; work for peace; losing soldiers in battle; deployed to Italy near the end of the war; interactions with commanding officers; as a chaplain he could spend time with enlisted men and with officers; division between mainland and Hawaiian soldiers; thoughts on rank structure of the military; unit given particularly dangerous assignments; wife relocated to Missouri after he enlisted; lost a child while incarcerated; reporting officers for taking advantage of their rank; leaving the service; ship broke down on the way home; seeing the Statue of Liberty as ship approached New York; post-war career as a chaplain.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-501/1 Memoirs, undated
1 folder
MS01: Memoirs written by the veteran entitled "My 30 Months (1944-1946)," detailing his experiences as a Japanese American chaplain during World War II. Topics covered include: volunteering for the Army while incarcerated at Jerome Relocation Center, Arkansas; assigned to 442nd Regimental Combat Team; remaining stateside with unit training replacements; officers' attitude toward chaplains; Buddhist services; transfer to Fort McClellan; dissention among enlisted men; discrimination; reporting senior officer for treating enlisted men and junior officers poorly; news from Europe; deploying to Italy; interactions with African-American troops; returning home and seeing the Statue of Liberty.
Kenjiro Akune Collection
Collection ID: 44468
Akune was incarcerated at the Merced Assembly Center and later, Granada Relocation Center, Colorado (a.k.a. "Amache"). In December 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army, and served with the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater. Following his discharge, he worked as a civilian linguist with the occupation forces and provided translation during war crimes trials.
BOX VHS-C Video Interview with Kenjiro Akune, June 6, 2006
65 minutes
MV01: Joint interview with George Y. Fujimori (44387). Topics covered include: early life; impact of Executive Order 9066; people were afraid to interact with Japanese Americans; Fujimori was incarcerated at Manzanar Relocation Center; few people knew their rights; Fujimori volunteered to enlist, leaving his wife and newborn baby at Manzanar; settled in Chicago following the war; family members' thoughts on enlistment, opposition in camp; Akune's life in Japan as a child, impressions of Japanese military and government; Akune's decision to enlist and reactions from those around him, wanted an opportunity to prove his loyalty; living in a dictatorship in Japan meant information was censored; treatment while serving in the Army, learned later that they were ineligible for commission, Caucasian soldiers were trained to monitor for potential spies among the Japanese American soldiers; Akune went to Japan after the war, worked as a civilian linguist with the occupation forces and provided translation during war crimes trials, returned to the United States in 1950; Akune returned to school, saw more opportunities for career advancement for Japanese Americans than before the war; United States mission in Burma; Akune's reaction to racist remarks from another soldier; reasons for joining the Military Intelligence Service (MIS); Akune initially incarcerated in Merced Assembly Center and Granada Relocation Center, Colorado (a.k.a. "Amache"), living conditions were poor, barracks were poorly constructed; translators given travel priority; Akune's thoughts on General Douglas MacArthur's use of intelligence and language expertise among United States soldiers; receiving no medals for service; Fujimori wounded but did not receive a Purple Heart; enemy codes.
George Y. Fujimori Collection
Collection ID: 44387
Digital content available
Fujimori was incarcerated at Manzanar Relocation Center, California. In 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army and after training at Fort Snelling, Minnesota and Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, served with the Military Intelligence Service in the Philippines and Japan. Following his service, he became a carpenter and master cabinet maker.
BOX miniDV Video Interview with George Y. Fujimori, June 6, 2006
60 minutes
MV01: Joint interview with Kenjiro Akune (44468). Topics covered include: early life; impact of Executive Order 9066; people were afraid to interact with Japanese Americans; Fujimori was incarcerated at Manzanar Relocation Center; few people knew their rights; Fujimori volunteered to enlist, leaving his wife and newborn baby at Manzanar; settled in Chicago following the war; family members' thoughts on enlistment, opposition in camp; Akune's life in Japan as a child, impressions of Japanese military and government; Akune's decision to enlist and reactions from those around him, wanted an opportunity to prove his loyalty; living in a dictatorship in Japan meant information was censored; treatment while serving in the Army, learned later that they were ineligible for commission, Caucasian soldiers were trained to monitor for potential spies among the Japanese American soldiers; Akune went to Japan after the war, worked as a civilian linguist with the occupation forces and provided translation during war crimes trials, returned to the United States in 1950; Akune returned to school, saw more opportunities for career advancement for Japanese Americans than before the war; United States mission in Burma; Akune's reaction to racist remarks from another soldier; reasons for joining the Military Intelligence Service (MIS); Akune initially incarcerated in Merced Assembly Center and Granada Relocation Center, Colorado (a.k.a. "Amache"), living conditions were poor, barracks were poorly constructed; translators given travel priority; Akune's thoughts on General Douglas MacArthur's use of intelligence and language expertise among United States soldiers; receiving no medals for service; Fujimori wounded but did not receive a Purple Heart; enemy codes.
Isao Fujimoto Collection
Collection ID: 8357
Digital content available
Fujimoto was incarcerated at Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Wyoming, and Tule Lake Relocation Center, California, as a child. Following their release in 1945, Fujimoto's family settled in California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, served in the United States Army in Korea, and eventually pursued a career in community development.
Audio Interview with Isao Fujimoto, February 26,2003
63 minutes
SR01: Topics covered include: background and current occupation; different camps Fujimoto was relocated to; wanted his family to stay together; items allowed in the camp; father's arrest prior to war; memorable moments in camp; typical daily life in camp; support system; romantic relationships in camps; length of time held in camps; how formerly incarcerated people were informed about events outside the camp; feelings upon release; length of time to settle down to a normal life; life in Berkeley; current occupation and war's impact on it; how life would be different if he had not been interred; why he chose Davis, California; father as role model; and closeness to his family.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-425/1 Transcript, February 26,2003
23 pages
MS01: Transcript of SR01.
Harry K. Fukuhara Collection
Collection ID: 52989
Digital content available
Fukuhara was incarcerated at Poston Relocation Center, Arizona, before enlisting in the United States Army. During World War II he served with the Military Intelligence Service in New Britain Island (Bismarck Archipelago), New Guinea, Dutch New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan. He retired in 1971 with the rank of Colonel.
BOX miniDV Video Interview with Harry K. Fukuhara, September 26, 2005
105 minutes
MV01-MV02: Topics covered include: Early life; father's motivation to come to America from Hiroshima; going to Japan, 1933; treatment by Japanese students as outsider; conditions in Japan; state of war; attempts to brainwash Japanese American students; return to United States; attack on Pearl Harbor; difficult position of being a Japanese American who had lived and studied in Japan; shipped to Poston Relocation Center, Arizona; volunteered for the Army and was shipped to Australia without physical; shipped to Rabual, New Britain; use of Niseis; working with locals; issued weapon and not trained on it; Caucasian bodyguard; distinction between attached and assigned units; meeting a prisoner of war (POW) who was his neighbor in Hiroshima; possibility of fighting against his own brother; atomic bomb; brother dies as result of atomic bomb; promoted to rank of master sergeant; job is to demobilize Japanese military; political unrest in Osaka on part of Korean nationals; award from the Emperor of Japan.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-1495/1 Biographical information, undated
1 folder
MS01: Outline of formal education, military history, major military and civilian assignments.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-1495/2 Memoirs, undated
1 folder
MS02: "My Story -- 50 Years Later..." An account by Fukuhara of his experiences during World War II and of the contribution to the United States war effort by Japanese Americans.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-1495/3 Printed Matter, undated
1 folder
MS03: "America's Secret Weapon in World War II." A brief history of the contributions made by Japanese Americans to the United States war effort during World War II.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-1495/4 Photographs, 2005
1 folder
PH01: Fukuhara accepting award from Congressman Mike Honda, on behalf of Nisei in MIS (Military Intelligence Service), Washington, DC (2005).
Ronnie Masaui Fukuoka Collection
Collection ID: 82573
Digital content available
Fukuoka was incarcerated at Sacramento Assembly Center (a.k.a. Walerga Assembly Center), California, and Tule Lake Relocation Center, California, as a child. He went on to serve in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War.
BOX CD/DVD-258 Video Interview with Ronnie Masaui Fukuoka, February 14, 2012
81 minutes
MV01: Topics covered include: family background and childhood; raised by mother and grandmother; sent to Walerga Assembly Center; Tule Lake; loyalty questionnaire; security and electric fence; no supervision as children; farms outside for food; "some resentment" among elders; schools were in English; incarcerated from 1942-1945, ages eight to eleven; Hunt Point in San Francisco; difficulty in school; Sacramento for high school graduation; joined the United States Marine Corps; mother resisted; wanted to be in the Airborne because it was "exciting"; had been in Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) which helped; boot camp in San Diego; three days of testing; yelling and orders from drill instructor; puppy on base; "feather merchants"; "had to work harder as shorter men"; bayonet practice every night; radio in field; Naval recruit rowing; getting into trouble; not homesick; enjoyed Marine chow; first sergeant Pickle Meadows; Korean occupation in Japan; Inchon harbor; assigned to Battery headquarters; transferred because he was mistaken for the enemy; annual reunions; visited Army hospital with wounded warriors; re-entered service; Baker Company; artillery support; "used math to use guns"; Bunker Hill; green flare; Chinese in skirmish; 50% causalities; mistaken for Korean; explanation of Bronze Star medal; patrolling Midway Islands; returned home; El Toro, California; required to go to Hawaii; located fellow soldiers on the internet; readjustments to civilian life; met wife; children and grandchildren; positive experience; commentary on Korea; "tried to do best in all endeavors".
Sam S. Furakawa Collection
Collection ID: 68800
Digital content available
Furakawa was incarcerated at Gila River Relocation Center, Arizona. In 1944, he was drafted into the United States Army, and served with Company B, 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, in France and Italy.
BOX VHS-567 Video Interview with Sam S. Furakawa, October 8, 2009
31 minutes
MV01: Topics covered include: detention center, Gila River, Arizona; 442nd Regimental Combat Team and history, composition; Executive Order 9066; prejudice; General John DeWitt and prejudice; family; brother killed in action; lost battalion; brother got the Bronze Star; Bronze Star citation; oak leaf cluster; each battle gives you a Bronze Star; battle field promotion; 14 Germans surrendering; photo of receiving the Bronze Star; Queen Mary, Japanese sent below decks; Po Valley, Italy; 34th Infantry Division; France; end of the war; occupation; monuments to veteran's regiment in Honolulu, Hawaii, Los Angeles, California, and on the USS Hornet; good luck from mother; after the service; discharge; officer in Europe; golf; hearing loss.
Asa Hanamoto Collection
Collection ID: 85552
Hanamoto was incarcerated at Tule Lake Relocation Center, California. In 1944, he was drafted into the United States Army and completed training at the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He later served as a linguist with the 187th Infantry Regiment at Fort Blanding, Florida, and in Manila, Philippines, Tokyo, Japan, and Ota, Japan. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of Technician Three and went on to a civilian career as a landscape architect.
BOX miniDV Video Interview with Asa Hanamoto, July 12, 2012
126 minutes
MV01-MV02: Topics covered include: Family members in the military; activities leading up to World War II; forced removal to Tule Lake Relocation Center, California, 5/1942; knowledge of family's forced removal to detention center; Japanese immigrant parents and their naturalization; feelings about detention center; living conditions at Tule Lake; how he coped with time in detention center; work opportunities outside of Tule Lake; education and other work at Tule Lake; release from camp; drafted into Army; parents' release from detention centers; return to family ranch; education prior to service; reason for joining military; family's reaction to being drafted; coping during basic training; better treatment in basic training than in detention center; Fort Blanding, Florida; treatment as a Japanese American during basic training; Military Intelligence Service Language School, Fort Snelling, Minnesota; living conditions and food at basic training; morale and thoughts about World War II; feelings about end of war in Europe and Japan; part of holding unit in Manila, Philippines; duties in Manila; specialization as a linguist; rank of technical sergeant; treatment by locals in Manila; no apprehension as a Japanese American serving in the Pacific; brief assignment in Tokyo, Japan; treatment in Tokyo by locals; assignment in Ota, Japan; attachment to 187th Regiment as interpreter; mission of military intelligence in Ota; duties as interpreter; no segregation in unit as Japanese American; challenges of service in Ota; discharge, 1946; awards; final rank of Technician Third Grade; Congressional Gold Medal, 11/2011; biggest challenge of being a Japanese American soldier during World War II; education after active duty; career as landscape architect; retirement in 1974; career awards; Military Intelligence Service reunions; most difficult part of service; scariest moment in service; justifications of sacrifice during World War II; impact of service on outlook; need to remember World War II; advice for those entering military today; advice for future generations.
Carl Hayano Collection
Collection ID: 92795
Hayano was incarcerated at Poston Relocation Center, Arizona, from 1942 to 1944.
BOX VHS-578 Video Interview with Carl Hayano, July 18, 1986
11 minutes
MV01: Topics covered include: feelings about being incarcerated as a child; memory of the attack on Pearl Harbor; changes in attitudes of his friends immediately after the outbreak of war; social and political motivations for incarceration; spared immediate forced removal from Los Angeles and allowed to move to Fresno because his father was an important citizen; furniture and other possessions sold off quickly. Note: recording is incomplete, ends abruptly after 11 minutes.
Alan Yoshiaki Hayashi Collection
Collection ID: 49510
Digital content available
Hayashi was born in Poston Relocation Center, Arizona, in 1945. Following their release in September 1945, his family settled in San Diego, California. Hayashi attended San Diego State University before being drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War.
BOX miniDV Video Interview with Alan Yoshiaki Hayashi, March 27, 2007
1 miniDV
MV01: Topics covered include: introduction; born April 1945 in Poston Relocation Center, Arizona; family released in September 1945; moved to San Diego, California, very hostile area for Japanese Americans, because WWII soldiers were returning to port; ten years later sister and brother born; graduated from San Diego State; married; drafted in 1969; boot camp at Fort Ord, California; assigned to 101st Airborne Division in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) of Vietnam; monsoon; fire base, artillery support; Hawaii for leave; home flight; discharged in 1971; 1989 got married again.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-1393/1 Biographical information, March 27, 2007
1 folder
MS01: Topics covered include: Brief overview of early life; college; draft; boot camp and training at Fort Ord, California; Vietnam protests; plane to Fort Lewis, Washington, then on to Anchorage, Alaska; from there to Vietnam with 101st Airborne Division, Light Weapons Infantry; Assistant Gunner for an M60 machine gun and light weapon was an M-16; discharged in March 1971.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-1393/2 Military papers, 1971
1 folder
MS02: Report of discharge.
Yukio A. Hibino Collection
Collection ID: 44211
Digital content available
Hibino was incarcerated at Central Utah Relocation Center (a.k.a. “Topaz”). In August 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army and served with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion in the European Theater.
Video Interview with Interview with Yakio A. Hibino, June 8, 2006
37 minutes
Topics covered include: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; World War II, Italy; segregation; mission of his unit; after the war; money; Texas regiment; reason for joining the Army.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-1260 Digital Print, June 8, 2006
1 folder
PH01: Contemporary photo of Hibino.
BOX CDDVD-51 Computer Files, June 8, 2006
1 optical disc
CF01: Interview in AVI format and Photograph (PH01) in JPEG format.
Masana Jack Hirose Collection
Collection ID: 27146
Digital content available
Hirose was incarcerated at Manzanar Relocation Center, California, until he was drafted into the United States Army in September 1945. He was discharged in 1946, and went on to a civilian career in advertising.
BOX miniDV Video Interview with Masana Jack Hirose, February 7, 2004
60 minutes
MV01: Topics covered include: Mason and Shriner; parents from Yamanashi Prefecture; settled in Sacramento; father opened restaurant; stock market crash 1929, closed restaurant; moved to Santa Monica; opened another restaurant; life in Santa Monica in the 1960s; Masaoka family; organized the Washington, DC chapter of Japanese American Citizens League (JACL); life at Manzanar Relocation Center; opened a sign shop; entertainment at Manzanar; Army asked him to volunteer, he refused to fight Japan; job with the Washington Post advertising department; drafted in 9/1945; served for five months; discharged in early 1946; formed his own advertising firm in 1951; consulted for the Pentagon at the Industrial College and Fort McNair; real estate on Chincoteague.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-888/1 Memoirs, 1995-2003
1 folder
MS01: Hirose's typewritten autobiography with handwritten notes (1/1995); Handwritten notes about incarceration experiences and military career (4/2003).
BOX-FOLDER MSS-888/2 Military papers, October 4, 1945
1 folder
MS02: DD-214; Discharge Certificate.
BOX-FOLDER MSS-888/3 Photographs, 1935-1945
1 folder
PH01: Digital print of Army portrait of Private First Class Hirose on his 27th birthday, Washington, DC (6/6/1945).
PH02: Digital print of Hirose and his brother, Toro, in uniform, Riverdale, Maryland (1945).
PH03: Digital print of Toro Hirose, Mrs. Hirose (mother), Kinu Hirose (wife) holding baby and Jack, Riverdale, Maryland (1945).
PH04: Digital print of Hirose planting wild seeds with Mickey Rooney, California (1935).
Michael Honda Collection
Collection ID: 30550
Digital content available
Honda was incarcerated at the Granada Relocation Center, Colorado (a.k.a. "Amache"), as a child. He went on to serve in the Peace Corps in El Salvador, followed by a career in education and politics, including serving in Congress from 2001 to 2017.
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