Narrators
Narrators are the interview subjects of oral histories contained in the Densho Digital Repository. Our interviewees, or narrators, share their life histories to preserve history, educate the public, and promote tolerance. We urge our users to approach these materials in the same spirit.
1002 narrators
1002 narrators
James Omura
Nisei male. Born November 27, 1912, on Bainbridge Island, Washington. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, moved to Denver and took a job as English …
Jim Onchi
Nisei male. Born March 26, 1918, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in the Gresham area. During World War II, drafted into the army. After the …
Keith One
Sansei male. Born 1953 in Chicago, Illinois. Parents' families lived in Sacramento, California, prior to World War II. During the war, they were sent to …
Kenji Onishi
Nisei male. Born April 24, 1927, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in the Portland area, where father worked for the railroad. During World War II, …
Muriel Chiyo Tanaka Onishi
Nisei female. Born March 6, 1921, in Hilo, Hawaii. Grew up in Hilo, where parents were Japanese language school teachers. In 1939, moved to Japan …
Richard Onishi
Nisei male. Born October 15, 1931, in Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii. Moved to San Jose, California, from Hawaii in 1936. Grew up in San Jose's Japantown …
Sam H. Ono
Nisei male. Born July 10, 1926, in Sacramento, California. Moved frequently as a child after mother passed away. During World War II, removed to the …
Joanne F. Oppenheim
White female. Born 1934 in Middletown, New York. Grew up in Monticello, New York. Author of several books about the Japanese American experience, including Dear …
Elsie Uyematsu Osajima
Nisei female. Born July 25, 1925, in Pasadena, California. Grew up in Pasadena, where parents ran a small market. Removed to the Tulare Assembly Center, …
Ron Osajima
Nisei-Sansei male. Born July 8, 1935, in Gardena, California. Spent childhood in Gardena, where father had a wholesale produce business. During World War II, removed …
Etsuko Ichikawa Osaki
Nisei female. Born February 19, 1931, in Fresno, California. Family moved to Seattle, Washington, where father became minister of the Seattle Buddhist Temple. During the …
Isao East Oshima
Nisei male. Born April 20, 1921, in Berkeley, California. Family moved frequently as a child, and was living in Oakland, California, when Japan bombed Pearl …
Susumu Oshima
Nisei male. Born August 15, 1926, in Kainaliu-Kona, Hawaii. Grew up in Kona, where parents established a successful dry goods store, barber shop, and taxi …
Grace F. Oshita
Nisei female. Born January 2, 1925, in San Francisco, California. Spent childhood in San Francisco where family operated successful miso factory and grocery store. Father …
Frances Ota
Nisei female. Born January 22, 1923, in Wilsonville, Oregon. Taken to Japan to live with family for a few years before the outbreak of World …
Akira Otani
Nisei male. Born January 26, 1921, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Grew up in Honolulu where father owned a successful fish auction business. After the bombing of …
Kunio Otani
Nisei male. Born July 31, 1921, in Seattle, Washington. Raised in Raymond, Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake concentration camp, California, and Heart Mountain concentration camp, …
Makoto Otsu
Nisei male. Born March 26, 1926, in Steveston, British Columbia, Canada. Grew up in Steveston, where father fished for a cannery. During World War II, …
Julie Otsuka
Sansei female. Born May 15, 1962, in Palo Alto, California. Mother was a Nisei who was incarcerated during World War II, and father was a …
Bennie Ouchida
Nisei male. Born April 10, 1917, in Oregon. Grew up in Gresham, Oregon, where parents ran a farm. Drafted into the army before December 7, …
Eddie Owada
Nisei male. Born December 22, 1925, in Tacoma, Washington. Grew up primarily on Vashon Island, Washington. Removed to the Pinedale Assembly Center and the Tule …
Albert A. Oyama
Nisei male. Born April 10, 1926, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Montavilla, Oregon, where father ran a Japanese-language newspaper. During World War II, removed …
Masuko Oyama
Nisei female. Born February 21, 1927, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Portland where parents ran a hotel business. During World War II, removed with …
Atsumi Ozawa
Nisei female. Born May 25, 1928, in Huancayo, Peru. Grew up in Huancayo, where father ran a successful store. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, …