Seattle 1920. Here she was, sitting on the train from Seattle to Portland, several seats behind the man that was to become her husband. During the trip, he passed an orange back to her. She would recall it as the most delicious orange she had… Read More »

It is my parents, Rev. Giichi and Yukiko Miyano whom I wish to honor in this tribute. They came to the USA in 1928 and 1934 as missionaries of the Tenrikyo Church. They lived in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, with 4 children when December 7, 1941,… Read More »

My parents were a farming couple. Their farm was located next to the beach hamlet of San Onofre, CA; on a low mesa that extended out to a cliff where it dropped to a sandy beach of the Pacific Ocean. Papa took advantage of the moist ocean breeze… Read More »

They may not have known one another when they lived just a mere block away from each other in Hiroshima as children, but Yoshito and Takayo would come together to build a life and family in America. Yoshito Okada was just 14 when he immigrated to… Read More »

My mother’s birthday was December 7th, 1921. As you can imagine, it was not a joyful way to celebrate her special day ever since the fateful Pearl Harbor devastation occurred. My mother’s father (my grandpa) Mataemon Fukuda came to the… Read More »

This tribute is in memory of my dad, Isao Shimoyama (1925–2009), who was incarcerated in the Heart Mountain, WY, camp with his family and then served in the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Service. He was a proud veteran, and respected what it… Read More »

In 1942, Tomoko Ikeda, her parents, Masako and Masao Ikeda, her sisters, Motoko and Nobuko and her brother, Moss, lived in East LA on Gleason Avenue between 1st and 2nd Streets. Tomoko was 16 years old and a junior at Roosevelt High School. Her… Read More »

Although my father was only a toddler when he was interned, I see him as a survivor. I cannot imagine what it was like or how scared he could have been leaving the only home he knew for a strange place thousands of miles away. I would like to… Read More »

When my Grandma, Irene Tanji, was my age, she was in Manzanar. Instead of staying in her own room, in her own home and with her own toys, she was in a dusty, cramped, dirty, cold and undesirable barrack. Going through this experience might make a… Read More »

My maternal grandfather, Kiro Nagano, was born in Sapporo on Hokkaido in June, 1896. He was the second son of Tokuma and Tokue Nagano. His father owned a successful wholesale paper company in Sapporo. As is the fate of second sons, Kiro was free… Read More »