Densho Digital Repository - Tom Ikeda Interview (Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-484-21)

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BY: So you now -- I just wanted to check this, and I think you answered it -- but you would consider yourself by occupation a historian now, correct?

TI: Uh-huh.

BY: So did you ever think, in the 1990s, when you're starting Densho, that its legacy would be to -- back then, I mean, I think you're all about preserving this history before it disappears -- but did you ever think the legacy would be to try and ensure that another U.S. president doesn't exclude or imprison people because of their religion or heritage?

TI: Frankly, I didn't think we'd have, we'd be in that position. I just think of my life up to the '90s, and I felt that there was this gradual progression of things advancing in ways that, equity and issues like that, would continue. And that, yeah, there would be ups and downs, but the thinking would be we would never be talking about large populations being placed in camps because of, primarily because of who they are rather than what they did. And so I am, today, sort of dismayed and disappointed. I mean, I did not think we would be in this position at all, and it is profoundly sad. And I think of, going back to my parents and talking to them, and for them to see what's happening in our country today... they, one, they're not necessarily surprised, but you see, you talked about how many Japanese Americans are maybe, not bitter about the experience, but when they see what's happening in the country today, there is anger about it. Because they know what is happening to families today that they experienced and they just think that is so wrong. So there is profound sadness that we are where we are today as a country.

BY: Do you see Densho existing in perpetuity? Why or why not?

TI: Yeah, I do. I do think so. That's something that I am focused on now in terms of setting up a structure and a foundation in terms of fundraising and finances and management and policies that can really propel Densho into the future. I think that's something that's really important. Because the community trusted in us to collect these stories, and for us to now put this effort, to keep our promise that this will be around forever, would be a failure. And so that's what I'm really focused on. And it's trickier, in many ways, in the digital world, so we have to kind of think this through clearly in terms of different scenarios that could happen. So even if we lose electricity, we still need to have these stories in a format that can survive and to think about all those issues.

BY: And so are there more interviews to be done?

TI: Yeah, we're still doing interviews.

BY: Still doing Nisei?

TI: We are. The story has shifted, we're doing what we call younger Niseis. They may have been, like, eight, nine, ten. But then they have those powerful stories of what it was like coming back with their Issei parents to places like Seattle. Niseis who were more my parents' age, oftentimes they went off to the military or jobs and left the family, and so we're getting these interesting stories of, in many cases, the hardships of the Isseis through these younger Niseis.