Densho Digital Archive - Jim Tsujimura Interview (denshovh-tjim

<Begin Segment 13>

MR: And when you, when the bill signed, where were you?

JT: We were having our national convention in Seattle, Washington, right in the middle of it. They called us that President Reagan was going to sign. So they had made a list of all those who could attend that could fly to Washington, D.C. Now, I also knew that it was limited to only so many, and I knew that there were many, many others who had given their time, their efforts; therefore, I decided not to go. I went up to the committee and told them to please take me off. There was one other that did the same. Later, I heard many attendees at the convention, well, they were disappointed, some more than disappointed that they weren't listed, but I felt that possibly if they saw me and the other colleague, that they wouldn't take it as bad. But that's the reason why I asked to be taken off.

MR: And what were you thinking when they finally signed that, or when the President signed that bill?

JT: Oh, it was such a joy, a relief, something that you never dream would occur did come about. But I still feel it would be only in the United States that it could have happened.

MR: So you had worked on redress for how many years?

JT: Since, actually 1970 to '88 when it passed.

MR: Doing the math, that's eighteen years.

JT: And all that time, I was in practice.

MR: So here you had been pretty involved for all those years in passing this. What did it feel like when the work was done?

JT: Well, it was like taking a heavy, heavy load off your shoulders, more than that, something one couldn't really describe. But my one regret is that those who really deserved it were already gone.

MR: What did some of the people, what were some of the uses that the money was put to?

JT: Some donated some of the fund to JACL. I don't really know what the others did, but they must have had some reason to spend it where they did. Some really needed the money, so it was up to them. It was their money.

MR: And since then, how did you keep busy? What activities, have you stayed active in the JACL and have some of those activities led, has your, let me start this again. Sorry. Since the redress was signed, have you stayed active in JACL?

JT: Yes. Not only at the chapter and district level, but at the national level. I was a member of the nominations committee in the year 2000 and chair of the committee 2003. And according to our bylaws, national bylaws, any national president, past national president would automatically be an honorary member of the national board which would attend and also a member of the past national president's committee, so, which means that goes on forever.

MR: So it's your choice?

JT: Yes.

MR: How have you chosen to stay active?

JT: Practically all the presidents, whenever they would use us, and I don't think they use us enough, we still have a number of past national presidents who are still living, who are still very, very active. On the chapter level, I served on almost every position. As a consultant, and I wrote up the most recent constitutional bylaws, that was in the year 2000. So I still try to help any way I can.

MR: During redress, JACL was active in seeking that. During evacuation, they encouraged a more, should I say passive approach, and what do you think about that? How do you feel about that?

JT: Well, even at eleven years old, when you have a gun, a rifle pointing at your back, you don't have a great deal to say or you can't say much, and that's exactly what was happening. Now understand that they already had picked up our leaders, so the only ones left were the younger folks or teenagers who were leading JACL, and they didn't have any choice, not with the soldiers and guns at our back. So that's how I felt and feel what occurred.