(Joseph Yasutake was interviewed together with his sister Mitsuye (Yasutake) Yamada and surviving brother, William Toshio Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. He was also interviewed individually on October 9, 2002.
Before being contacted by Densho, the Yasutake siblings had planned to conduct their own family history interviews. Individually and jointly, they and other family members had written and gathered material documenting their family history. They shared much of this with me to assist with research and preparation for the Densho interview. Mitsuye's daughter Jeni had coordinated much of the family history work. Jeni participated as a secondary interviewer during the group sessions, October 8-9, 2002.The group interview sessions were conducted in Seattle at the home of Tom Ikeda, executive director of Densho. The oldest Yasutake sibling, Reverend Seiichi Michael Yasutake, had passed away less than a year before the Densho interviewing, in December, 2001. The remaining siblings emphasized that his absence left a gap in their discussion of family history. In addition to Jeni Yamada and videographers Dana Hoshide and John Pai, also present during some portions of the group interview were Tom Ikeda, and Mitsuye Yamada's son Kai Yamada.)","extent":"01:20:38","links_children":"ddr-densho-1000-136","creators":[{"role":"narrator","oh_id":130,"namepart":"Joe Yasutake"},{"role":"interviewer","namepart":"Alice Ito"},{"role":"videographer","namepart":"John Pai"}],"format":"vh","language":["eng"],"contributor":"Densho","rights":"cc","genre":"interview","location":"Seattle, Washington","creation":"October 9, 2002","status":"completed","search_hidden":"Joe Yasutake narrator \nAlice Ito interviewer \nJohn Pai videographer","download_large":"denshovh-yjoe-01-a.jpg"},{"id":"ddr-csujad-2-67","model":"entity","index":"1 5876/{'value': 5880, 'relation': 'eq'}","links":{"html":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-2-67/","json":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-csujad-2-67/","img":"https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-csujad-2/ddr-csujad-2-67-mezzanine-8c480b3276-a.jpg","thumb":"http://ddrmedia.local/media/ddr-csujad-2/ddr-csujad-2-67-mezzanine-8c480b3276-a.jpg"},"title":"Tule Lake Camp group photograph","description":"Appears to be group photograph of internal security officers at Tule Lake Camp. Photograph includes Willard Schmidt, Chief of Internal Security at Tule Lake Camp. Includes list of members in photograph. Names from left to right: Seventh Row: Okino, Y., Kato, J., Taniguchi, S., Yoshihara, D., Asada, E., Yamakawa, M., Yoshihara, G., Iwawaki, H., Yokoyama, K., Horimoto, H., Imada, F., Horio, H., Nomura, T., Okabata, K., Fuki, N., Matsunag, H., Uchinaka, K., Tagumi, G., Suyetsugu, T. Sixth Row: Shimamaura, H., Murakami, K., Ono, K., Hatakeyama, F., Maruyama, K., Yoshino, Z., Kozaiku, Okada, N., Maeda, E., Morimoto, S., Tanake, K., Noyori, S., Matsui, H., Nekomoto, T., Yoshida, T., Munemoto, S., Kodamak, K., Nagatsuyu H., Fifth Row: Back of Wiyoshi, S. Kanda, S., Kumasaka, T., Nakahara, B., Yasudia, T., Enomoto, M., Oda, S., Sakata, I., Yunouye, Y., Naito, J., Takeuchi, K., Tsujimoto, T., Mukai, G., Kinoshita, T., Yamamoto, M., Hanagata, K., Fourth Row: Iahihara, T., Shimoji, M., Ikeda, Y., Haruyana, M., Imeda, T., Mihoshi, S., Terada, K., Nekamoto, Itow, G., Fukumitsu, M., Hori, H., Ogata, T., Nagai, T., Mizuhata, T., Yabitsu, Y., Sekiguohi, K., Okato, W., Morita, T., Kotani, G., Tsuda, S. Third Row: Yamashiro, E., Isari, H., Moriya, H., Matsushima, M., Kawahata, G., Takshashi, T., Shimokon, M., Kaneko, C., Nishimura, M., Aoyama, D., Kewahata, S., Yamamoto, S., Uyeno, S., Tekawa, M., Yamada, S., Back of Yamashiro: Hamatani, K., Kusumoto, J., Kataoka, H., Okusako, T. Second Row: Oshimo, J., Takao, Y., Borbeck, E., Tembara, Y., Maeda, H., Schimidt, W., Jacoby, H., Kono, Y., Miyao, M., Cole, D., Tamiyasu, T., Miyamoto, T., Kondo, W., Yasui, Y., Kakugawa, L. First Row: Ono, C., Fujihara, K., Okamoto, H., Takatsuka, Y., Chihara, T., Adachi, S., Masuoka, N., Oda, Y., Kitaguchi, K., Tahara, S., Yamasaki, S., Shigihara, H., Kajikawa, Y., Akiyama, G. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: sjs_sch_0067","extent":"1 photograph, black and white, 8 x 10 in.; 1 page, typescript","links_children":"ddr-csujad-2-67","topics":[{"term":"World War II -- Concentration camps -- Work and jobs","id":"76"},{"term":"World War II -- Concentration camps -- Security","id":"535"}],"format":"img","language":["eng"],"contributor":"San Jose State University Department of Special Collections and Archives","rights":"pcc","genre":"photograph","location":"Newell, California","facility":[{"term":"Tule Lake","id":"10"}],"creation":"8/30/1943","status":"completed","search_hidden":"","download_large":"ddr-csujad-2-67-mezzanine-8c480b3276-a.jpg"},{"id":"ddr-csujad-38-4","model":"entity","index":"2 5877/{'value': 5880, 'relation': 'eq'}","links":{"html":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-38-4/","json":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-csujad-38-4/","img":"https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-csujad-38/ddr-csujad-38-4-mezzanine-16f2815bfa-a.jpg","thumb":"http://ddrmedia.local/media/ddr-csujad-38/ddr-csujad-38-4-mezzanine-16f2815bfa-a.jpg"},"title":"George Naohara's handwritten annotations","description":"English translations of handwritten annotations from \"George Naohara photo album\" (csudh_nao_0001), page 6: [Right top] I (George Naohara) and Keny Kuwahara [Kenneth Kenji Kuwahara], who had been drafted but was discharged. He was fluent in Japanese and English. Immediately after arriving at the C.C.C. Camp, an announcement of the U.S. government order was made in English. Keny kindly explained to everyone at the Camp what the announcement was in Japanese. He spoke both languages very well. Our group members included: Mr. Hashimoto [Testuo L. Hashimoto], Keny Kuwahara, Mr. Seki, Tadashi Sakaida, and Jimmy Oda. The sugar beets farm was stretching far as if it went beyond the horizon. A long ridge laid and it took us a whole day to take ___. Finally, I had to buy a pair of farm boots. [Right bottom] In Utah, Mr. Mimura ___. When I was working in Utah, Mr. Mimura passed away. At the Utah Bukkyokai, I made a memorial address, representing friends who respected Mr. Mimura. Mr. Mimura contributed to the Japanese American community. Become a good citizen” was his advice to me. When making a memorial address at the Buddhist temple, I stated that I would express my prayer loudly, and I continued: Your whole sprit and soul will rerun to your home country. The Buddhist minister listened to it at the temple and praised me about it. [Left] My magnificent memory ____ When I was working in a hotel in Utah, I made a memorial address at a Buddhist temple. I received a praise from Hoko Terakawa, a minister of the Buddhist Church of America. It has passed decades since then. I was a barber in Los Angeles and Gardena, and am now 91 years old. But I still now remember it and won't forget it. That was when I was only about age 20. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nao_01_006","extent":"1 page, 8 x 8.75 inches, handwritten; black and white","links_children":"ddr-csujad-38-4","creators":[{"role":"author","namepart":"Naohara, George, 1919-2014"}],"topics":[{"term":"Identity and values -- Kibei","id":"45"},{"term":"World War II -- Leaving camp -- Work leave","id":"103"},{"term":"Religion and churches -- Buddhism","id":"395"}],"format":"doc","language":["jpn"],"contributor":"CSU Dominguez Hills Department of Archives and Special Collections","rights":"nocc","genre":"misc_document","status":"completed","search_hidden":"Naohara, George, 1919-2014 author","download_large":"ddr-csujad-38-4-mezzanine-16f2815bfa-a.jpg"},{"id":"ddr-csujad-48-8","model":"entity","index":"3 5878/{'value': 5880, 'relation': 'eq'}","links":{"html":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-48-8/","json":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-csujad-48-8/","img":"https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-csujad-48/ddr-csujad-48-8-mezzanine-f7fa85e213-a.jpg","thumb":"http://ddrmedia.local/media/ddr-csujad-48/ddr-csujad-48-8-mezzanine-f7fa85e213-a.jpg"},"title":"Looking ahead","description":"Term paper by Betty Hashimoto for period III Social Problems class taught by Mr. Harry Bentley Wells, a teacher at Manzanar High School. Before being sent to Manzanar, Betty had planned to attend Woodbury Business College and then get a job as a receptionist with solid accounting skills. Betty briefly mentions a need for the Nisei community to prove their loyalty to the \"motherland,\" America. She hopes to move to Chicago soon to work as a stenographer and to attend school to improve her accounting skills. Betty's mentions her proposed future husband was working as a doctor in New York and looking to volunteer for the Army. She proposed to delay plans for a family and then dives into a discussion on growing up with much older siblings and making friends with people older than herself. Finally, Betty discusses the useful information she learned in her Social Problems course. She will not go into the world ignorant, for ignorant people cannot hope to be successful. Betty concludes with the idea that her immediate future is in the hands of the War Relocation Authority. Transcription is found in item: ecm_wells_9008. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_wells_0008","extent":"5 pages, 10 x 8 inches, handwritten","links_children":"ddr-csujad-48-8","creators":[{"role":"author","namepart":"Hashimoto, Betty"}],"topics":[{"term":"World War II -- Concentration camps -- Education","id":"73"},{"term":"Education -- Secondary education","id":"335"},{"term":"World War II -- Concentration camps -- Impact of incarceration","id":"78"}],"format":"doc","language":["eng"],"contributor":"Eastern California Museum","rights":"nocc","genre":"misc_document","location":"Manzanar, California","facility":[{"term":"Manzanar","id":"7"}],"creation":"3/1/1943","status":"completed","search_hidden":"Hashimoto, Betty author","download_large":"ddr-csujad-48-8-mezzanine-f7fa85e213-a.jpg"},{"id":"ddr-densho-1021-4","model":"entity","index":"4 5879/{'value': 5880, 'relation': 'eq'}","links":{"html":"https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1021-4/","json":"https://ddr.densho.org/api/0.2/ddr-densho-1021-4/","img":"https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-densho-1021/ddr-densho-1021-4-1-mezzanine-b8f1186525-a.jpg","thumb":"http://ddrmedia.local/media/ddr-densho-1021/ddr-densho-1021-4-1-mezzanine-b8f1186525-a.jpg"},"title":"Matsuko Hayashi Interview","description":"Born in 1921 in Parlier in Fresno County, California, Matsuko Hayashi (pseudonym) grew up as the second oldest of the eight children of a first-generation immigrant who had come to the United States as a sixteen years old, and his wife who had come as a \"picture bride.\" They raised grapes on three farms that Matsuko's father and his brother had bought. She remembers her father's affection for the family and his dedication to Buddhism, and how busy her mother was raising children. They hired Mexican laborers and operated their business successfully, winning many blue ribbons for their products at state fairs. Matsuko recalls how the family enjoyed going to camping at Yosemite, and how she went to a Japanese school on Saturdays and Sundays, which she found not effective in teaching her Japanese. As for the American school that she attended on weekdays, she recalls how her teachers were prejudiced against the Japanese. When she went to Japan in 1940, she felt her Japanese classmates were biased against Americans like herself. She and other Nisei at her school in Hiroshima spoke in English, making their Japanese classmate believe that the American students were bad-mouthing their Japanese peers. On August 8, 1945, she was injured and lost consciousness after the bombing, but she survived with the help of her Nisei friend that she knew from a sewing school she had attended in Hiroshima. She lost one of her sisters to the bombing, whom her family was able to identify only because of the white nametag she wore. After losing her Japanese husband to the war, Matsuko came back to the United States in 1947, went to a drapery school and worked in Hollywood as a dressmaker, and was remarried to a Nisei who had been a \"no-no-boy\" in Tule Lake and expressed no concern about the fact that Matsuko is a survivor. As a dedicated Buddhist, Matsuko spent her married life focusing on raising family and working at a nursery, and interacted with other US survivors only occasionally. She feels that being attacked by the bomb was like being hit by tsunami; it was shikata ga nai (It couldn't be helped).","extent":"1:23:29","links_children":"ddr-densho-1021-4","creators":[{"role":"narrator","oh_id":966,"namepart":"Matsuko Hayashi"},{"role":"interviewer","namepart":"Naoko Wake"}],"format":"vh","language":["eng"],"contributor":"Densho","rights":"cc","genre":"interview","location":"San Jose, California","creation":"3-Jun-12","status":"completed","search_hidden":"Matsuko Hayashi narrator \nNaoko Wake interviewer","download_large":"ddr-densho-1021-4-1-mezzanine-b8f1186525-a.jpg"}],"query":{"query":{"query_string":{"query":"State of California","fields":["id","model","links_html","links_json","links_img","links_thumb","links_children","status","public","title","description","contributor","creators","creators.namepart","facility","format","genre","geography","label","language","creation","location","persons","rights","topics","image_url","display_name","bio","extent","search_hidden"],"analyze_wildcard":false,"allow_leading_wildcard":false,"default_operator":"AND"}},"aggs":{"facility":{"nested":{"path":"facility"},"aggs":{"facility_ids":{"terms":{"field":"facility.id","size":1000}}}},"format":{"terms":{"field":"format"}},"genre":{"terms":{"field":"genre"}},"rights":{"terms":{"field":"rights"}},"topics":{"nested":{"path":"topics"},"aggs":{"topics_ids":{"terms":{"field":"topics.id","size":1000}}}}},"_source":["id","model","links_html","links_json","links_img","links_thumb","links_children","status","public","title","description","contributor","creators","creators.namepart","facility","format","genre","geography","label","language","creation","location","persons","rights","topics","image_url","display_name","bio","extent","search_hidden"]}}