Interviews
Post-war experiences in Lima (Spanish)
(Spanish) At that time I was still little, but it’s true that in the countryside you didn’t notice anything unusual. There weren’t those, you know, ugly gestures by Peruvians against Nikkei. But I remember in 1947, after we’d already returned to Lima and it had been two years since the end of the war, still there was a kind of fear in certain people.
I even remember that my family arrived in Lima at a time when high school classes had already started, so that they couldn’t enroll me. And my father said, “You’re not going to spend all this time just doing nothing. Go and learn a little Japanese.” At that time, in 1947, the Japanese and their descendents, we couldn’t meet together freely, so we would go to the little school, which was basically underground.
I remember it was on a street called Corcovado, one block from Giron and Cuzco, it was a long alleyway. On the second floor there was a sensei (teacher) named Hirose. He had a classroom where we’d all go- little kids, young kids and older kids . There he would teach us Japanese, nihongo. To leave, since we couldn’t leave as a group, we would go out in twos. Two of us would go first, after a few minutes passed another two would leave, and so on, as a way of disguising it. Incredible, isn’t it? Incredible. And it had already been two years since the war.
Date: October 7, 2005
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Ann Kaneko
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.
Explore More Videos
First day of school
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Studying in Japan before working in the US
(1940-2016) Issei Landscape Architect
Father as prisoner of war in hospital
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Patriotism versus loyalty
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Experiencing discrimination as a child
Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko
Camp as a positive thing
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
Rounding up Issei and Nikkei
(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.
His parents' experience with Japanese resistance toward intermarriage with Okinawans
(b.1925) Nisei of Okinawan descent. Had a 38-year career in Japan as a baseball player, coach, scout, and manager.
Treatment of Kibei after return to United States
(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.
Getting citizenship back
(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII
Response to loyalty questionnaire
(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII
Difficulties finding apartment in Chicago after leaving Minidoka
(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII
Under suspicion after Pearl Harbor
(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i