Pearl Harbor and aftermath

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, stunned the Japanese American community as much as the rest of the country. Many Issei (first generation) had been receiving news from their families in Japan and were aware of the growing tension between the two countries, but few thought that Japan would provoke the United States into war. Japanese Americans would again be shocked when immediately following the bombing, the FBI began going door to door making arrests. Any issei who was at all prominent was considered a potential spy, including Japanese association officers, language-school principals, and Buddhist priests. Without any meaningful due process, these men -- mostly heads of families -- were summarily separated from their wives and children and incarcerated.

World War II (283)
Pearl Harbor and aftermath (299)

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299 items

img Pearl Harbor bombing (ddr-densho-1007-330)

Taken from Aeia [sic] Heights. Caption on back.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-330/

av Interview with Yukio Kawamoto, part 1 of 8 (ddr-densho-1007-1545)

Kawamoto discusses his childhood in Berkeley, his high school colleauges, Pearl Harbor, being drafted, and trying to get a job pre-war. Video starts at 1:01. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: 47, II NY #29, 6-85, Kawamoto. Interview continues at ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1546/

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1545/

av Interview with Henry (Hank) Gosho, part 1 of 3 (ddr-densho-1007-1768)

Gosho discusses returning to Seattle from Japan before the war, his brothers being conscripted into the Japanese army, Pearl Harbor, his father's arrest by the FBI, assuming the Nisei wouldn't be evacuated, being relocated to Puyallup/Camp Harmony, realizing that he was a prisoner, his time at Minidoka, deciding early on to join the military, and the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1768/

doc Testimony of Kiku Hori Funabiki (ddr-densho-1007-1843)

Kiku Funabiki's testimony and related supplemental material describing her family's incarceration at Heart Mountain, Wyoming and its lasting impact.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1843/

av Interview with John Aiso, part 2 of 5 (ddr-densho-1007-1575)

Aiso discusses his feelings about serving the US in WWII, his community's reaction to Pearl Harbor, his high school years, his time as academic director of the MISLS, and the difficulties of living at Camp Savage. Video starts at 0:26. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: 72, II LA #2, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1575/

av Roger Daniels interviewed by Kent Hori, part 2 of 4 (ddr-densho-1007-1757)

Daniels discusses the reaction to Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese sentiment and hysteria, the decision to incarcerate, reactions to EO 9066, James Omura's testimony against internment (and reads a letter Omura wrote), the treatment of German and Italian Americans during the war, the process of evacuation, and resistance to evacuation. Part 1 of this interview is not in …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1757/

av Conversation between John Burden and Shig Kihara, part 3 of 3 (ddr-densho-1007-1785)

Conversation continued from ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1654/. Burden and Kihara discuss Burden and his wife predicting that Japan would fight the US before Pearl Harbor, the story of Admiral Chester Nimitz, and the founding of the Military Intelligence Service Language School. Around 6 minutes, tape shifts to b-roll shots of the two walking around and their surroundings. Video …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1785/

av Interview with Ray Aka, part 2 of 6 (ddr-densho-1007-1686)

Aka discusses being drafted in San Francisco, his reaction to Pearl Harbor (which happened two months after he was drafted), being relieved from duties after Pearl Harbor, his prospects as a Nisei growing up in Hawaii, his father's arrest in Hawaii and incarceration in mainland US. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions in the background. …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1686/

av Interview with Clarence Matsumura, part 2 of 5 (ddr-densho-1007-1609)

Matsumura discusses growing up in Wyoming, his mother's cooking, moving to Los Angeles in 1936, getting his radio license, Pearl Harbor, evacuation to Pomona and Heart Mountain, his attempts to join the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines, being drafted, his basic training in Fort Hood, TX, his deployment in Europe, and the Hollywood store …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1609/

av Interview with Harry Fukuhara, part 1 of 6 (ddr-densho-1007-1632)

Fukuhara discusses growing up in Seattle and Auburn, WA, the time he spent in Hiroshima as a child, his time working before college, studying at Woodbury College in LA, his reaction to Pearl Harbor, evacuation, and entering the Tulare assembly center with his sister. Video starts at 0:50. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1632/

av Kanegai family dinner and Moose (John) Fujikawa interview, part 1 of 4 (ddr-densho-1007-1582)

Footage of the Kanegai family eating in their backyard. Unscripted. The younger mustached man is Bruce Kanegai; the older man to his right is his father George. Video starts at 0:29. Interview with Fujikawa starts at 10:44. Fujikawa talks about his childhood in LA, his decision not to go to college, his reaction to Pearl Harbor, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1582/

doc Receipt for seized property from Kaneji Domoto (ddr-densho-329-975)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-329-975/

doc Report to Social Services (ddr-densho-356-754)

Unemployment and aid request made to social services.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-356-754/

doc Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on January 6, 1942 (ddr-densho-356-761)

Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on January 6, 1942. Topics covered in the meeting include: reading of correspondence regarding Issei being detained by authorities, relief funds frozen as some of the account holders were Issei, Japanese American Citizens' League seeking advise, and violence by Filipino Americans against Japanese Americans.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-356-761/

doc Report to Social Services (ddr-densho-356-756)

Unemployment report and aid request made to social services.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-356-756/

doc Reports by Japanese American to Social Services (ddr-densho-356-747)

Two reports filed by Japanese Americans in the weeks following Pearl Harbor. First report is regarding federal officers confiscating property. The second report is regarding lease status of service station.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-356-747/