Sansei male. Born January 25, 1947, in Tsuyama, Okayama, Japan. Moved to the U.S. with family at age nine and grew up in Los Angeles, California. Graduated from UCLA and was involved in a number of civil rights movements and organizations. One of the founders of Gidra, the groundbreaking Asian American publication. Worked for both of …
English translations of handwritten annotations from "George Naohara photo album" (csudh_nao_0001), page 4: [Left] Several meetings were held in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California, prior to moving to the Manzanar incarceration camp in California. I attended those meetings. What was announced was that all Japanese Americans residing in California and the West Coast should move to …
Nisei male. Born November 8, 1922, in Sacramento, California. Spent childhood and adolescence in Loomis, California, before spending senior year in high school in Los Angeles, California. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, removed to Marysville Assembly Center, California, and then to Tule Lake concentration camp, California. Resisted the draft and renounced U.S. citizenship, remaining with …
Sansei female. Born 1955 in Los Angeles, California. Grew up in Gardena, California, surrounded by a large Japanese American community. Influenced by father's role in community and politics, and mother's emphasis on education. Attended University of California, Santa Barbara where she became increasingly aware of Japanese American history, issues of ethnic identity and racial inequality. Attended …
Sansei female. Born December 4, 1935, in Sawtelle, California. Grew up in Huntington Beach, California, where father worked as a chauffeur. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, father was picked up by the FBI and taken to the Tuna Canyon Detention Station. He rejoined the family at the Merced Assembly Center, California, and the family was …
Nisei female. Born June 23, 1936, in Hilo, Hawaii. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, father was picked up by the FBI and detained at Sand Island internment camp, Hawaii. The rest of the family was removed to the Jerome concentration camp, Arkansas, to be reunited with him. After Jerome closed, transferred to …
An interview with Margaret Masuoka, a volunteer at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), conducted for the Japanese American Project at California State Fullerton's Center for Oral and Public History. Specifically, this interview provides insight to Masuoka's personal history dealing with the prejudice that she and her family faced due their Japanese ancestry; her family's settlement …
Sansei male. Born December 3, 1948, in Los Angeles, California. During World War II, parents had been incarcerated at the Tule Lake concentration camp, California. Father signed 'no-no' on the so-called 'loyalty questionnaire', renounced U.S. citizenship, and was sent to the Department of Justice camp at Bismarck, North Dakota. Family did not end up expatriating to …
Geri Handa was born in San Jose, California, in 1948, and studied in the early 1970s at the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Los Angeles, with a focus on community organizing and social services for seniors. She joined Asians for Community Actions in San Jose and worked at Keiro Nursing Home in …
Nisei male. Born March 1, 1915, in Los Angeles, California. Spent prewar childhood in Long Beach, California, but attended grade school and junior high in Japan. Returned to the United States to attend high school. In 1941, was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Camp Roberts, San Luis Obispo, California for basic training. Was …
Nisei-han male. Born January 2, 1936, in Portland, Oregon, where father worked for the railroad. During World War II, removed to the Portland Assembly Center, Oregon, and the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. After leaving camp, family moved to a small community outside of Spokane, Washington, to farm. Went to UC Berkeley and Caltech, then taught at …
Nisei female. Born March 29, 1918, in Seattle, Washington, and spent childhood in Medina and Bellevue, Washington. While in high school was a member of the Bellevue Strawberry Festival's Queen's Court. In 1939 married Kenji Ito, a prominent Japanese American lawyer who practiced in Seattle. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, recounts her experiences as her …
Caption by Ike Hatchimonji: "Wedding photo Kumezo Hatchimonji and Nobue Komuro Los Angeles, Calif. April 1927. Rev. Kameji Komuro is shown third from left. Mrs. Komuro is shown to his left. Komuro family members are shown mostly on the left. Friends are on the right."
Caption by Ike Hatchimonji: "Family photo Kameji Komuro - Los Angeles probably around 1925-26. Front l to r: daus. Sachiko, Shizuko, mother/wife Katsu, son Joseph, Rev. Komuro, dau. Mitsuko. Rear: dau. Miwaki Marion, brother of Kameji name unknown, dau. Nobue, and dau. Aimee."
Caption by Ike Hatchimonji: "Mrs. Chiyo Nagamine, friend of Hatchimonji. Her and her husband helped to establish the Japanese orphanage in Los Angeles."
(Left to right) Ted Kaisaki and Fred Wataru Taniguchi. Caption on Post-it: "Fred Wataru and Ted Kaisaki met on a ship returning to Japan in 1936 - came back to US together. Taken in LA."