Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: George Yoshida Interview
Narrator: George Yoshida
Interviewers: Alice Ito (primary), John Pai (secondary)
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: February 18, 2002
Densho ID: denshovh-ygeorge-01-0019

<Begin Segment 19>

AI: Now, in 1941, did you have any sense or any idea that the U.S. might be entering World War II or that -- and might end up fighting against Japan? Did that, did you have some awareness of that?

GY: Well, yeah, in the latter part of the '30s, there was a lot of activity in the Far East as far as Japan was concerned, but I was not too sensitive about it except that they were going into China, and I wasn't quite sure, it meant -- moving to China, that meant. Those forces were going to China, but I didn't realize that they were really starting to expand their own boundaries, that there was a great need for space. The population was, was... what's the word I want? Creating a problem in terms of availability of food and so forth. Overpopulation, I guess. So the Japanese population, in order to relieve this overpopulation, was encouraged to move elsewhere. And the authorities in Japan had their eyes on China and Manchuria, Northern China. And they were offering X numbers of yen to move and migrate to, to Manchuria. They were provided with, with land and money to establish families there. And there was a colonization of, of China. And I didn't realize that they were doing something to the people who lived there. Have Manchuria kind of thing because...

AI: At that time, you really weren't aware?

GY: No, no, what was actually happening. You're right.

AI: And, and so when, as the, 1941 went on and we come up to December and, of course, the bombing of Pearl Harbor --

GY: Yeah. But at that time when Japan was expanding to Manchuria, I learned that my cousins in Tokyo also was part of that movement, and they did go to Manchuria. Another thing, too: there were Niseis, musicians, vocalists, who went to Japan in the '30s because of the lack of opportunities here. They went to Japan and became a part of their, the show business over there. And during this expansion, many of them performed in Manchuria to entertain troops and civilians there. So I was aware of that. I wouldn't say aware of it because I learned of this many years after. So there was that going on, and there was some, a movement on the part of local Japanese here in the United States to help the cause, expansion. They didn't call it that, but to help the country. And, and we were told to collect tin foil and materials like that, save that material and -- to be sent to Japan. They sent other things, too. And so there was, that was a part of the, effort on the part of the Japanese community to do that. So we were aware of that, but I wasn't too sens -- sensitive to that in terms of its colonization.

And because of that, that they were (imposing) upon British and American interests in China, there must have been a beginning of anti-Asian, anti-Japanese -- I guess it would be propaganda in American papers, slowly, little bits of things there against it and so forth. I think -- I started to begin to sense that, too, the "yellow peril" kind of thing, the revival of that, which must have, was part of the early Chinese experience here. And I don't know when the demonization of Japanese became part of the everyday practice here and experience, but when Pearl Harbor was bombed and war was declared on December 7th, 1941, I don't know if we expected or not, but we were certainly surprised, I think, because imagine Japan having the -- what's the word I want to... I don't know what the word is... the assumption that they could do something to our country and to do it. It was just so far out of sight, yeah.

And immediately when that happened, thought, God, what's going to happen to us? We didn't think about being thrown into camps, certainly, but we still -- we had the, "We are Japanese." We're not, we're not Japanese Americans, we were still a Japanese kind of thing. Although we danced jitterbug and listened to swing music, we're still Japanese. And yet we couldn't relate to the Japanese in Japan, so there was really a conflict there. Who are we? Again, identity was big problem for me. And I didn't want to be a part of that stuff at all. And yet, golly, I look in the mirror, and I'm Japanese. So this was a major identity problem. And so there was a feeling of guilt, too, being Japanese. Japanese name. Eating gohan. And yet I didn't feel a part of that scene over there because I had not been to Japan at that time, no contact with any of my relatives over there. So internally, it was a terrible time. On the other hand, in the community still, I was not part of the mainstream community. I was still in the Japanese community. And all my friends were Niseis. So we were all somewhat confused, yeah.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2002 Densho. All Rights Reserved.