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Oral
History H-I
YONEKO
HAMAMOTO
Older Nisei
woman (84) with limited schooling (due to necessity of helping
parents with strawberries and grapes) was interviewed by Jim
Carlson of
American
River
College
. The pre-war and post-war setting is the Taishoku rural area,
and Yoneko currently resides with yougest sonís family. She
recalls the Poston Relocation campís ěhot weather and not very
good food..î Hamamoto and ten families returned to
Florin
by train and many were helped by Caucasian friends with the
struggle of resettlement.
TOSHIO
HAMATAKA
Toshio is a
Florin Nisei with 60% disability as war veteran. He served in
many military installations and was involved with 442nd Japanese
American unit in
France
and
Italy
sustaining severe injuries and received two Purple Hearts and
Cluster. Wife, Sue, and other family were in
Amache
,
Colorado
camp. After just two years at
Elk
Grove
High School
, he went to work to help support the family and ran an auto
repair business after the war. Despite health problems for both,
the parents raised four children and the grandchildren of eldest
daughter are twins.
YAEKO HATANO
Book
consists of Oral History of Yaeko, Issei widow (35 pages) and
family history album of 24 pages of Hatano, Fujimoto and
Miyazaki
families compiled after their 1993
Honolulu
Reunion
. Yaeko was interviewed by son Mas and daughter Gerry. She was
born in
Kumamoto
,
Japan
; educated there through high school, married there and migrated
to Isleton and
Newcastle
in
Northern California
. World War II was spent in
Tule
Lake
aware of the pro and anti-Japan factions around them and
managing not to get too involved. Then the family resettled in
Loomis and finally in the
Sacramento
area. This Hatano family lived in many places and did many kinds
of work to survive and is grateful that the childlren obtained
American college education, found steady government employment
and finally, enjoying retirement.
MINAYO AND
SUMAKO IMADA
Oral
histories of Minayo, in her early 90's (in Japanese) and Sumako
(daughter) age 76, and autobiography (11 pages) by
great-grandson Stephen, age 19. Minayo came to
America
as teenage picture bride, to "make money," worked in
the fields for $1 a day, had two children, seven grandchildren
and 11 great-grandchildren and died at age 98. Sumako tells of
many hardships living in
America
and
Japan
, in Jerome camp, divorcing husband, getting her children into
college. Though born and residing in
Piedmont
,
CA
, Stephen Egawa reminisces about visits to his great-grandmother
and other relatives in the Taisho area of
East Sacramento
.
FRANK
IRITANI
As with most
Americans, Frank (76) is a child of immigrants. His parents came
from
Okayama
,
Japan
, seeking a better life. His education is rather broad--two
years at Nichibei Gakuin, Tokyo, as a young teenager, two years
in U. S. military with the Military Intelligence Service, a
couple of pre-war years at Colorado School of Mines, a couple of
post WWII years at University of Minnesota, and three years at
Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley. Born in
Denver
,
Colorado
, he was not forced into a relocation center but, nevertheless,
was subjected to discrimination. He is married to Joanne (Ono,
Poston internee), and they visited all ten relocation campsites
which resulted in the small book Ten Visits: Brief Accounts of
Visits to All Relocation Centers, 1995.
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