Nanka Nikkei Voices
Nanka Nikkei Voices (NNV) is a publication of the Japanese American Historical Society of Southern California. Nanka means “Southern California.” Nikkei means Japanese American(s).” The focus of NNV is to record the stories of the Japanese American Community in Southern California through the “voices” of average Japanese Americans and others who have a strong connection to our history and cultural heritage.
This series introduce various stories from the past 4 issues of Nanka Nikkei Voices.
Stories from this series
A Typical Story of Survival & Regrowth After the War
April 16, 2015 • Iku Kiriyama
Takashi and Shizuko (nee: Mori) Kato and their two children, Roy Shigehisa and Ikuko, moved from Inglewood to West Los Angeles just prior to evacuation to Manzanar. They left everything behind with their lost nursery business; the property had been taken over by the U.S. Army apparently because of its proximity to LAX and used to encamp soldiers. That was their first experience with camouflage nets and guns surrounding them—and earned them a picture of their invasion of privacy in …
Coming Back Full Circle
April 10, 2015 • George Kiriyama
When the war came to a close, many of our friends started to leave camp. My brother Yukio just seemed to disappear at the first call—he went to Chicago to make his fortune. He found a job in one of the finer hotels as a busboy and was making a very good salary since that hotel catered to the very wealthy. My brother Taketo left for Los Angeles to make up for lost time and wanted to make as much …
Melodee, Malcolm, and Me
March 31, 2015 • Bill Watanabe
I spent my childhood years during the 1950s in the San Fernando Valley. My parents, like a number of other Nikkei families, were flower growers and we had a farm on which we grew carnations, chrysanthemums, anemones, asters, and other flowers. During the summers, I spent many hours working under the hot Valley sun, and I always became dark and tanned, just like my parents, my brothers, and all the hired help we had on the farm. The elementary schools …
The Fugetsu-do Story
March 23, 2015 • Brian Kito
*Editor's Note: This article was written in 2004 and Fugetsu-do is currently celebrating its 112th anniversary. My grandfather, Seiichi Kito, was born in Gifu, in Central Japan. He came to the United States in May 1903 and went to where other Japanese immigrants were – in the East First Street district of Los Angeles (now known as Little Tokyo). The Japanese population numbered 3,000 and, by November, my grandfather started producing sweets and opened Fugetsu-do with a couple of friends. …
Yearning For Southern California
March 2, 2015 • Lloyd Inui
An elderly black man who daily caught a bus that took him from Watts to his job in Burbank was quoted as saying that he always rushed back to Watts as soon as his work day ended. He just never could relax or feel comfortable until he was back in his own neighborhood. In that winter of 1944, the prospect of leaving behind the mess hall meals, the shivering trips to the latrine, and the cramped barracks life in the …
Saturday School
Feb. 9, 2015 • Bill Watanabe
I thought it was very unfair of my parents to make me go to Saturday School to learn Japanese. All the other kids I knew from public school got to take the whole weekend off, but not me—I had to go to Saturday School from 9 in the morning ‘til 3 in the afternoon to learn what seemed to be the most boring subject in the entire world—Japanese. My Issei parents thought it was important that their American-born children study …