Narrators

Narrators are the interview subjects of oral histories contained in the Densho Digital Repository. Our interviewees, or narrators, share their life histories to preserve history, educate the public, and promote tolerance. We urge our users to approach these materials in the same spirit.

981 narrators

Susan Hayase

Sansei female. Born May 25, 1956. Member of San Jose Nihonmachi Outreach Committee (NOC) and National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR). Helped recruit individuals to testify …

Fumi Hayashi

Nisei female. Born January 24, 1925, in Los Angeles, California. Grew up in the Los Angeles area, where parents ran a flower business. During World …

Matsuko Hayashi

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 …

Norm Hayashi

Sansei male. Born September 11, 1939, in Oakland, California. Grandfather, father, and other family members established a nursery business in San Francisco, California prior to …

Toshiko Hayashi

Nisei female. Born April 14, 1925, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Beaverton, Oregon, where parents farmed and sold produce at a nearby market. During …

Fumiko Hayashida

Nisei female. Born January 21, 1911, in Winslow, Washington. Grew up in Japan and the Fletcher's Bay area of Bainbridge Island, Washington. Member of the …

Seichi Hayashida

Nisei male. Born May 15, 1919, in Seattle, Washington. Grew up in a Japanese American farming community in Bellevue, Washington. Incarcerated at the Pinedale Assembly …

Elaine Ishikawa Hayes

Nisei female. Born June 30, 1923, in Willows, California. Grew up in Sacramento, California, prior to World War II. During the war, was removed to …

John "Jack" Herzig

White male, born July 30, 1922. Served in the U.S. Army during World War II and worked with Japanese American interpreters during the U.S. occupation …

Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga

Nisei female. Born August 5, 1924, in Sacramento, California. Grew up in Sacramento and Los Angeles. During World War II, removed to the Manzanar concentration …

Jane Hidaka

Nisei female. Born August 18, 1933, in La Jolla, California. During World War II, removed to the Santa Anita Assembly Center, California, and the Jerome …

Richard Iwao Hidaka

Nisei male. Born April 11, 1928, in Modesto, California. Grew up in Modesto, where parents ran a laundry business and then a farm. During World …

May Ota Higa

Nisei female. Born March 14, 1916, in Seattle, Washington. Grew up in Seattle and Ellensburg, Washington, before going to Japan to teach just prior to …

Sumiko Higashi

Sansei female. Born 1941 in Los Angeles, California. During World War II, the family was sent to the Santa Anita assembly center, California, and the …

Hatsuko Mary Higuchi

Nisei female. Born January 31, 1939, in Los Angeles County, California. At a young age, removed to the Poston concentration camp, Arizona, with family. After …

Dan Hinatsu

Nisei male. Born April 3, 1924, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where parents ran a farm. During World War II, removed …

Massie Hinatsu

Nisei female. Born August 16, 1930, in Milwaukie, Oregon. Grew up in Milwaukie, where parents ran a farm. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, removed …

Lily C. Hioki

Nisei female. Born July 3, 1925, in San Jose, California. Moved with family frequently as a child before returning to San Jose for high school. …

Bill Hirabayashi

Nisei male. Born September 12, 1923, in Thomas, Washington. Grew up in small town of Thomas, where family was part of the White River Valley …

Gordon Hirabayashi

Nisei male. Born April 23, 1918, in Seattle, Washington. Spent most of his childhood in Thomas, Washington, where his parents were part of a Christian …

Grant Hirabayashi

Kibei male. Born November 9, 1919, in Thomas, Washington. Went to Japan at age twelve, attended school, and returned to the U.S. as a high …

Hannah Hirabayashi

Nisei-Sansei female. Born 1938 in Seattle, Washington. Grew up in the town of Christopher, now part of Auburn, Washington, where parents ran a grocery store. …

Jim Hirabayashi

Nisei male. Born October 30, 1926, in small town of Thomas, Washington, on family farm. Attended school in Auburn, Washington, before being removed to the …

PJ Hirabayashi

Sansei female. Born May 18, 1950, in San Rafael, California. Grew up in San Rafael, eventually attending California State University, Hayward, and University of California, …

Roy M. Hirabayashi

Sansei male. Born January 1, 1951, in Berkeley, California. Grew up in Oakland, and got involved with music at an early age. Attended Cal State …
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