Byrnes Yamashita
Byrnes Yamashita is the Vice President of the Nisei Veterans Legacy, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to keeping the legacy of the Nisei soldiers of World War II alive for younger generations.
Updated December 2022
Stories from This Author
Nikkei Incarceration
Aug. 20, 2023 • Byrnes Yamashita
Writer’s note: This is part of a series of articles in The Hawai‘i Herald on Hawai‘i families that were impacted by the incarceration of Nikkei during World War II. Robert “Bob” and Vickie Hayakawa are the nexus of two families that experienced the incarceration: Bob’s family on the continental U.S. and Vickie’s family in Hawai‘i. These are their stories. The Harada Family Experience Vickie Hayakawa’s paternal grandfather, Tsunetaro Harada, was born in Saga Prefecture, Japan, and immigrated to Hawai‘i in …
MIS Veteran From Maui: Gulstan Napoleon Toshisuke Enomoto
June 21, 2023 • Byrnes Yamashita
In the buildup to World War II, followed by Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Nikkei community came under suspicion by the United States government amidst concerns that elements of the local population would be loyal to Japan if it attempted a land invasion. Young Nisei (second generation) Japanese Americans were classified as “enemy aliens,” category 4C, for draft purposes and were prohibited from joining the military. However, many had already been drafted into the Hawai‘i National …
Seiichi Higashide — A Man With Three Homelands
March 7, 2023 • Byrnes Yamashita
In my efforts to learn about Nisei soldier history, I inevitably began to learn more about the incarceration of the Mainland Nikkei during World War II. As we know, every Nikkei was forcibly evacuated from the West Coast states and put into camps. Exploring their story, I learned about the over 2,000 Japanese Latin Americans (JLA), mostly from Peru, who were rounded up by their own governments, transferred to the U.S. and put into camps. A remarkable part of this …
Veteran History – Earl Terao: Kotonk in Paradise
Dec. 29, 2022 • Byrnes Yamashita
“Kotonk” A Japanese American from the continental United States vis-à-vis a Japanese American from Hawai‘i. Originating from World War II-era conflict between Hawai‘i-born and U.S. mainland-born Japanese Americans in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Initially a pejorative term, “kotonk” is still used occasionally in Hawai‘i today. – Densho Encyclopedia Writer’s note: Personally, I have tried to erase the term “kotonk” from my vocabulary. It is a term of my father’s generation and was often used in a negative connotation. I …
An Unlikely Friendship: Italian American Nicholas Iosue Mistaken for AJA Leads to Lifelong Friendships
Feb. 21, 2022 • Byrnes Yamashita
Former President Trump’s rants against the “Kung Flu” or “Chinese Flu” contributed to a rash of anti-Asian hate crimes across the country recently, which has distressed and greatly affected the Asian American community. Unfortunately, this is not a new set of circumstances. Anti-Asian sentiment and laws have existed for over a hundred years in America. Sometimes it is difficult to understand where this enmity against Asian people comes from, especially for those living in Hawai‘i, where different ethnic groups live …
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