Nisei female. Born December 30, 1927, in Seattle, Washington. Lived in Japan for fifteen months as a child, before returning to Seattle to attend junior high school. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, father was picked up by the FBI and taken to the Department of Justice camp at Missoula, Montana. Removed to the Puyallup Assembly …

Keiko Shinmoto's father migrated from Hiroshima to Portland, Oregon, where his brother was an owner of a grocery store. After returning to Hiroshima to see his ailing father, Keiko's father found it impossible to return to America as his mother hid his passport to keep him in Japan. Shortly, Keiko's mother joined him in Hiroshima, also …

Nisei male. Born in Seattle on January 30, 1915, and attended Washington grade school, Garfield High School and the University of Washington. He grew up as a typical Nisei, working summers in Alaska salmon canneries and Western Avenue produce brokerages to pay for his education. He became interested in writing at Garfield where he was sports …

Nisei male. Born July 10, 1925, in Seattle, Washington. Grew up in the Thomas-Auburn area of Washington. Following Executive Order 9066, family was removed to the Pinedale Assembly Center, then to Tule Lake concentration camp in California. Later transferred to Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. Volunteered as a replacement for the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team and trained …

Nisei female. Born April 17, 1917, in Moneta, California. Grew up working on family's strawberry farm. Attended Japanese language school where she learned Japanese dancing and singing. Was popular and excelled in high school, but was prevented by the Parent Teacher Association from giving the commencement address because of her ethnicity. Attended dress design school, and …

Ni-ten-gosei (Nisei/Sansei) male. Born April 16, 1936, in Tacoma, Washington. During World War II, was incarcerated with his family at the Tule Lake concentration camp, California. After the war, resettled in Seattle's Nihonmachi, where his father reestablished the family business, Uwajimaya, selling Japanese foodstuff and other items. Worked at Uwajimaya throughout his childhood -- along with …

Nisei male. Born January 30, 1919, in Oakland, California. Mr. Korematsu was working as a welder in San Francisco when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After Executive Order 9066 was issued in 1942, he decided to resist the evacuation orders, and was not removed with his family. He was arrested in May of …

Nisei male. Born April 9, 1922, in Seattle, Washington. Parents immigrated from Japan in the early 1900s. Attended Bailey Gatzert Elementary School and Washington Middle School in Seattle before his family moved to East Los Angeles in 1936. Incarcerated in Poston Detention Camp #1, Arizona, in April 1942. While in camp, helped organize the "Music Makers," …

Nisei female. Born September 5, 1928, in Tacoma, Washington, moved with her family to Seattle at age four. At age six, began singing, taking voice lessons and performing on stage for Japanese American community events. In 1942, was incarcerated with her family at Puyallup Assembly Center and Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho, where she continued to sing …

Nisei male. Born July 4, 1920, in Delta, Colorado. Grew up in small mining and farming towns in Colorado, Utah and Arizona, until his family moved to Boyle Heights in the Los Angeles, California area. After graduating from high school, he tested discrimination and employment practices and eventually succeeded in obtaining a job at a bank. …

Nisei male. Born April 23, 1918, in Seattle, Washington. Spent most of his childhood in Thomas, Washington, where his parents were part of a Christian farming co-op. Attended the University of Washington where he was active in the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), the conscientious objector movement, and became a Quaker. At the outbreak of World …

Female, child of Issei parents. Born July 5, 1923, in Fukuoka, Japan while her mother and two older Nisei brothers visited relatives. Named Mitsuye Mei Yasutake at birth. From age 3, grew up in Seattle, WA. Father employed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service as interpreter for twenty years, until separated from family on December …

Nisei male. Born May 25, 1932, in Seattle, Washington. Father employed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service as interpreter for twenty years, until separated from family on December 7, 1941 and interned as an enemy alien. Removed from Seattle with mother, sister and two brothers in 1942. Attended school (fifth through sixth grades) while incarcerated …

Nisei male. Born June 10, 1922, in Seattle, WA. Father was employed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service as interpreter for twenty years, until he was separated from family on December 7, 1941, and interned as an enemy alien. Graduated 1941, Cleveland High School, and attended University of Washington before being removed from Seattle with …

Nisei female. Born September 21, 1911, in Seattle, Washington. Had a younger sister and three younger brothers. Father, Riichiro Fukano, employed by Oriental Trading Company as a bookkeeper in Seattle, before operating a dry cleaning business. Mother, Kiyono (Miyama) Fukano, a seamstress. Learned dressmaking from mother, and helped in the shop. Family lived upstairs above the …