Prewar community activities: picnics, theater, baseball
This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.
Being reclassified as an 'enemy alien' by the army: "I really felt betrayed"
This interview was conducted as part of a project to capture stories of the Japanese American community of Spokane, Washington. Densho worked in collaboration with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.
Hearing of the loss of a childhood friend who was killed in action overseas
This interview was conducted as part of a project to capture stories of the Japanese American community of Spokane, Washington. Densho worked in collaboration with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.
Returning to Spokane postwar: thoughts on changes in community, "new" Japanese Americans arriving
This interview was conducted as part of a project to capture stories of the Japanese American community of Spokane, Washington. Densho worked in collaboration with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.
Encountering a train full of Japanese Americans being transported to an concentration camp
This interview was conducted as part of a project to capture stories of the Japanese American community of Spokane, Washington. Densho worked in collaboration with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.
Reaction to bombing of Pearl Harbor: a racist encounter at a movie theater
This interview was conducted as part of a project to capture stories of the Japanese American community of Spokane, Washington. Densho worked in collaboration with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.
The Tsubota collection consists of photographs from the personal family collection of Minoru "Min" Tsubota, who was interviewed by Densho in 2003. The photographs document Minoru's life growing up in Kent, Washington, through his incarceration at Tule Lake concentration camp, and finally through his military service.
The Ito collection, 1940s, features photographs of WRA camp inmates working on farms in Utah and Montana under the seasonal leave program. Also included are photographs of a family that relocated to Spokane, Washington, after World War II. Densho interviewed collection donor Toshio Ito in 1998.
A collaboration of VC and National Coalition for Redress and Reparations (now Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress), funded by grants from the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund and the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, this narrative drama and accompanying curriculum guide were produced following more than 5 years of extensive research and interviews with …
Short film that makes the case for renaming Fletcher Bowron Square in downtown Los Angeles, named after the wartime mayor of Los Angeles who agitated for the removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. Eschewing narration, the film uses Bowron's wartime radio addresses (voiced by Maciek Kolodziejeczak) as evidence of his anti-Japanese and pro-exclusion stance, juxtaposed with …
Documentary film on Tanforan , a former horse racing track that became the site of a wartime " assembly center " for incarcerated Japanese Americans during World War II. The film includes interviews with many former inmates of Tanforan, some of whom lived in what were once horse stalls, including Maya Nagata Aikawa, George and Michiko …
The Uyeda Groves collection, 1900s-1950s, features photographs of the Uyeda family, who resided in Hiroshima, Japan, Rock Springs, Wyoming and Seattle, Washington. The collection also includes photographs of Minidoka concentration camp and Seattle's postwar Issei community. The collection donor, Fumiko Uyeda Groves, was interviewed by Densho in 1998.
Staying in New York City after the war, meeting future wife, and passing civil service exam
William Toshio Yasutake was interviewed together with his sister Mitsuye (Yasutake) Yamada and surviving brother, Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. He was interviewed individually on November 14, 2002.
Before being contacted by Densho, the Yasutake siblings …
Deciding to volunteer for the army in hopes that father would be released; feeling conflicted upon being placed in a segregated unit
William Toshio Yasutake was interviewed together with his sister Mitsuye (Yasutake) Yamada and surviving brother, Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. He was interviewed individually on November 14, 2002.
Discovering that family home in Seattle had been donated to a museum in Japan, and physically relocated there
William Toshio Yasutake was interviewed together with his sister Mitsuye (Yasutake) Yamada and surviving brother, Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. He was interviewed individually on November 14, 2002.
Landing in Europe; setting up headquarters station and aid stations as moved from place to place
William Toshio Yasutake was interviewed together with his sister Mitsuye (Yasutake) Yamada and surviving brother, Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. He was interviewed individually on November 14, 2002.
Before being contacted by Densho, the Yasutake siblings …
In retrospect, feeling more positive about the fact that the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was a segregated unit
William Toshio Yasutake was interviewed together with his sister Mitsuye (Yasutake) Yamada and surviving brother, Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. He was interviewed individually on November 14, 2002.
Volunteering to move early to Minidoka to help prepare the camp for the other Japanese Americans
William Toshio Yasutake was interviewed together with his sister Mitsuye (Yasutake) Yamada and surviving brother, Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. He was interviewed individually on November 14, 2002.
Before being contacted by Densho, the Yasutake siblings …
Arranging a trip out of camp to visit father in Lordsburg, New Mexico before induction into the army
William Toshio Yasutake was interviewed together with his sister Mitsuye (Yasutake) Yamada and surviving brother, Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. He was interviewed individually on November 14, 2002.
Reuniting with family in Chicago, Illinois after deciding to attend graduate school at the University of Chicago
Mitsuye Yamada was interviewed together with her two surviving brothers, William Toshio Yasutake and Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. She was interviewed individually on October 9-10, 2002.
Before being contacted by Densho, the Yasutake siblings …
Renewed hope after discovering illness was misdiagnosed: "I just decided that I would do something with my life"
Mitsuye Yamada was interviewed together with her two surviving brothers, William Toshio Yasutake and Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. She was interviewed individually on October 9-10, 2002.
Dealing with the stresses of father's passing, studying for master's comprehensive exams, and moving around the country for husband's job
Mitsuye Yamada was interviewed together with her two surviving brothers, William Toshio Yasutake and Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. She was interviewed individually on October 9-10, 2002.
Self-publishing an anthology with a group of Orange County poets; influence of father's senryu poetry
Mitsuye Yamada was interviewed together with her two surviving brothers, William Toshio Yasutake and Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. She was interviewed individually on October 9-10, 2002.
Before being contacted by Densho, the Yasutake siblings had planned …
Living and working in an American Friends' hostel in Cincinnati after leaving Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho
Mitsuye Yamada was interviewed together with her two surviving brothers, William Toshio Yasutake and Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. She was interviewed individually on October 9-10, 2002.
Before being contacted by Densho, the Yasutake siblings had …
Parallels between experiences of Japanese Americans and Arab Americans following September 11, 2001: call for political action
Mitsuye Yamada was interviewed together with her two surviving brothers, William Toshio Yasutake and Joseph Yasutake, in group sessions on October 8-9, 2002. She was interviewed individually on October 9-10, 2002.
Before being contacted by Densho, the Yasutake siblings …