PARTNER

INTERVIEW ID

ddr-densho-1000-96

NARRATOR

Ayame Tsutakawa
Mayumi Tsutakawa
Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn
Yayoi Tsutakawa-Chinn

INTERVIEW TITLE

Ayame Tsutakawa - Mayumi Tsutakawa - Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn - Yayoi Tsutakawa-Chinn

00:32:42 — 9 segments

DESCRIPTION

This is an intergenerational, group interview of members of the Tsutakawa family. Ayame Tsutakawa is a Kibei female born 1924 in Hollywood, California, then sent to Japan to live with relatives when thirteen months old. She returned to the United States at the age of twelve. During WWII, she was incarcerated in the Sacramento Assembly Center and Tule Lake concentration camp. While in camp she met George Tsutakawa, (world reknowned artist, 1910-1997) whom she married. The Tsutakawas had four children: Gerard, Mayumi, Deems, and Marcus. Ayame's daughter, Mayumi, and Mayumi's two children: Kenzan and Yayoi, also participated in this interview. Mayumi was born in 1949, Kenzan was born in 1980, and Yayoi was born in 1986. This family interview focuses on the lessons and impacts of the incarceration as seen by different generations within the same family.

(The Tsutakawas were interviewed at the former site of the Tule Lake incarceration camp, in the context of a larger Tule Lake reunion, called the "Tule Lake Pilgrimage, Journey of Remembrance and Discovery," organized by the Tule Lake Committee. This Pilgrimage was attended by people from up and down the West Coast, and included a narrated walking tour of the campsite, panel lectures, intergenerational discussion groups, cultural performances, and an interfaith religious ceremony.)

PRODUCTION

Tracy Lai, interviewer; Steve Hamada, videographer

PERSONS/ORGANIZATIONS

• Iwasa, Ayame

CONTRIBUTOR

Densho

PREFERRED CITATION

Courtesy of Densho

RIGHTS