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Title: Ayame Tsutakawa - Mayumi Tsutakawa - Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn - Yayoi Tsutakawa-Chinn Interview
Narrator: Ayame Tsutakawa, Mayumi Tsutakawa, Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn, Yayoi Tsutakawa-Chinn
Interviewer: Tracy Lai
Location: Klamath Falls, Oregon
Date: July 3, 1998
Densho ID: denshovh-tayame_g-01-0007

<Begin Segment 7>

TL: I think a lot of scholars writing about the camps are still pondering what's the effect on the various generations. How has being interned been reflected in, like your experience Mayumi, in the way that you're raised, the way that you see yourself, and how then might that be reflected in Kenzan and Yayoi's experience? And I mean it's an open question, but one that we're interested in what you think about.

MT: Well, they say that because of historical and governmental acts, that Japanese Americans have very defined characteristics in each generation: the first, the second, and third. But I think that my father defied that thinking, and he felt that he was a person of the world, and a real humanitarian and a scholar. And he had real deep spiritual feelings based on different cultures of the world. So I think that it's up to individuals. Like you hear that families were not close during the camps, and then you hear about other families that were very close. Like I think my mom's family was very close, because they took the time to build a little kitchen, and so they ate together every night, and so on. So it's really, it really comes down to the individuals involved and the particular family story. And I think it's hard to generalize about cultural characteristics of a race or a generation.

TL: Any other comments on this? How this affects generations, or not?

KT: Well, it'll affect generations as long as it's remembered. That's given. And I think that... I mean while I keep saying that it's not my history, personally, that it is, it is family history. And I do, I do think about it from time to time. And I do understand that it was... well, the obvious fact that my grandparents met at the camp, I mean that's one thing. But also the fact that they went through hardship, I mean a lot of hardship. And it really defined their character and probably defined how they raised their kids, and therefore, how their kids raised their kids, and on and on down the line. And I think it kind of gives reason or method to the madness, if you want to, just because it was... it was such a... probably a short time, and as these people get older, the time gets, the section of their, the percentage of their life gets shorter, but it really... probably they remembered a lot more in this time frame than a lot, a lot of time.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.