Tom Akashi

Nisei male. Born June 7, 1929, in Merced, California. Grew up in Mount Eden, California, and was removed to the Tanforan Assembly Center, California, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Incarcerated at the Topaz concentration camp in Utah, then moved to Tule Lake concentration camp after family volunteered to move to Japan. While at Tule Lake, joined a pro-Japan organization created by father, the Sokoku Kenkyu Seinen Dan, (Young Men's Association for the Study of the Motherland). Renounced U.S. citizenship and expatriated to Japan with parents and siblings in 1945. Lived and worked in Japan until 1948, when returned to the United States. Author of Betrayed Trust: The Story of a Deported Issei and His American-Born Family During WWII, published in 2004.

Interviews

Tom Akashi Interview — ddr-densho-1000-164
July 3, 2004. Klamath Falls, Oregon.
04:13:27 — 58 segments.
Tom Akashi
API