Video Interview Archives – First-Hand Accounts of the Internment Experience
The interviews posted below will build on the work and legacy of the late Mary Tsukamoto, who devoted her life to promoting social justice for all, regardless of race, creed, or ethnicity. Thanks to the commitment of her daughter Marielle to continue her mother’s work, the support of the Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) to produce high-quality interview clips, and funding through EGUSD’s Teaching American History Grant, students and teachers across the state and nation can learn about the internment experience through first-hand accounts.
Note: Funding for the editing of the interviews was initially provided by a grant from the California State Library through the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP) and is now funded through the Elk Grove Unified School District in partnership with the Sacramento Education Cable Consortium (SECC).
For information and the location of the “War Relocation Authority” camps referenced in each interview, visit the Japanese American National Museum’s Concentration Camps page.
Interviewees
Bob Uyeyama
Born in Sheldon, California; incarcerated in Manzanar.
Charles Kobayashi
Born in California; incarcerated in Lone Pine and Tule Lake.
Christine Umeda
Born in Sacramento, California; incarcerated in Tule Lake and Heart Mountain.
Doris Kobayashi
Shares story of her father, a lawyer; incarcerated in Tule Lake.
Flora Ida Ortiz
As a child growing up in New Mexico, was a pen-pal to Reiko Nagumo.
Frank Kageta
Born in Florin, California; incarcerated in Tule Lake and Heart Mountain.
Fumi Shimada
Born in Nevada; as non-West Coast Japanese-Americans, family excluded from War Authority camps.
Gary Shiota
Born in Huntington Beach, California; incarcerated in Rohwer.
Gladys Okino
Born in Sacramento, California; incarcerated in Posten, Arizona.
Heidi Sakazaki
Born in Clarksburg, California; incarcerated in Tule Lake.
Jack Dairiki
Born in Sacramento, California; witnessed bombing of Hiroshima.
Jack Uyeyama
Born in Sheldon, California; incarcerated in Jerome and Rohwer.
Jerry Enomoto
Born in San Francisco, California; incarcerated in Tule Lake.
Jim Tanaka
Born in Sacramento, California; incarcerated in Tule Lake and Topaz.
Jim Tanimoto
Born in Gridley, California; incarcerated in Tule Lake.
Joanne Iritani
Born in Bakersfield, California; incarcerated in Posten.
Joyce Takahashi
Born in Berkeley, California; incarcerated in Topaz.
Ken Ouchida
Born in Sacramento, California; incarcerated on the Gila Indian Reservation.
Kiyo Sato
Born in Sacramento, California; incarcerated in Heart Mountain.
Lester Ouchida
Born in Florin, California; incarcerated in Jerome.
Marielle Tsukamoto
Born in Florin, California; incarcerated in Jerome.
Marion Kanemoto
Born in Seattle, Washington; incarcerated in Minidoka; “repatriated” to Japan.
Molly Kimura
Born in Marysville, California; incarcerated in Tule Lake.
Reiko Nagumo
Born in Hollywood, California; incarcerated in Heart Mountain.
Robert Combs
Volunteered to teach at Minidoka.
Roy Sato
Born in Stockton, California; incarcerated in Jerome.
Sachiko Louie
Born in Sacramento, California; incarcerated in Tule Lake and Amanche.
Stan Umeda
Born in Florin, California; incarcerated in Jerome.
Susumu Yenokida
Born in California; initially incarcerated in Amanche; took stand as a “resister.”
Toru Saito
Born in San Francisco, California; incarcerated in Topaz.
Toshiye Kawamura
Born in Marysville, California; incarcerated in Tule Lake.
Vi Hatano
Born in Salinas, California; incarcerated in Poston.