Hisaye Yamamoto Interview Segment 14

Family background; growing up in Redondo Beach, California (ddr-densho-1002-10-1) - 00:03:38
Description of Japanese farming communities before the war (ddr-densho-1002-10-2) - 00:06:11
Early interest in writing: getting published in the Japanese American press (ddr-densho-1002-10-3) - 00:05:36
Memories of hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor: a question over citizenship (ddr-densho-1002-10-4) - 00:06:11
Description of the Japanese American Citizens League (ddr-densho-1002-10-5) - 00:01:30
Memories of mass removal; first impressions of Parker Dam Assembly Center, Arizona (ddr-densho-1002-10-6) - 00:04:20
Recollections of Poston concentration camp, Arizona: heat, sand, and bad food (ddr-densho-1002-10-7) - 00:02:25
Working for the Poston Chronicle, the camp newspaper (ddr-densho-1002-10-8) - 00:06:21
Writing a serial murder mystery for the camp newspaper (ddr-densho-1002-10-9) - 00:07:02
Feelings of camp residents: discouragement, bitterness, but also memories of fun activities (ddr-densho-1002-10-10) - 00:04:46
Relationship between parents and children in camp (ddr-densho-1002-10-11) - 00:01:58
Thoughts on the registration period in camp; brother volunteered for military, killed in Italy at age nineteen (ddr-densho-1002-10-12) - 00:11:10
Leaving camp and returning to California (ddr-densho-1002-10-13) - 00:04:06
The traumatic effects of the incarceration on the Japanese American community: "we were found guilty without trial" (ddr-densho-1002-10-14) - 00:06:01
Early ambitions to be a writer (ddr-densho-1002-10-15) - 00:02:32
Father's postwar experiences (ddr-densho-1002-10-16) - 00:03:50
Reflections on incarceration experience: feeling angry (ddr-densho-1002-10-17) - 00:03:57
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ddr-densho-1002-10-14 (Legacy UID: denshovh-yhisaye-01-0014)

The traumatic effects of the incarceration on the Japanese American community: "we were found guilty without trial"

This interview was conducted by sisters Emiko and Chizuko Omori for their 1999 documentary, Rabbit in the Moon, about the Japanese American resisters of conscience in the World War II incarceration camps. As a result, the interviews in this collection are typically not life histories, instead primarily focusing on issues surrounding the resistance movement itself.

00:06:01 — Segment 14 of 17

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March 21, 1994

Emiko and Chizuko Omori Collection

Emiko and Chizuko Omori Collection

Courtesy of Emiko and Chizuko Omori

ddr-densho-1002-10

Hisaye Yamamoto

Hisaye Yamamoto Interview

01:21:34 — 17 segments

March 21, 1994

San Francisco, California

Nisei female. Born August 23, 1921, in Redondo Beach, California. Raised in California before mass removal to Parker Dam Assembly Center, Arizona, which was later converted into Poston concentration camp. An aspiring writer, worked for the camp newspaper, the Poston Chronicle, while incarcerated. After leaving camp, returned to California and worked for the Los Angeles Tribune. In 1988, published a book titled Seventeen Syllables and other stories. Hisaye received an American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Before Columbus Foundation, and several of her short stories were adapted into a PBS film, "Hot Summer Winds."

(This interview was conducted by sisters Emiko and Chizuko Omori for their 1999 documentary, Rabbit in the Moon, about the Japanese American resisters of conscience in the World War II incarceration camps. As a result, the interviews in this collection are typically not life histories, instead primarily focusing on issues surrounding the resistance movement itself.)

Chizu Omori, interviewer; Emiko Omori, interviewer; Emiko Omori and Witt Mons, videographer

Emiko and Chizuko Omori Collection

Courtesy of Emiko and Chizuko Omori

API