Being an American soldier and an

The Kona Island community Going to Japanese school Starting work at five years old Traveling the world seven times Remembering December 7, 1941 Being an American soldier and an "enemy alien" Volunteering to serve for the U.S. military in Japan Meeting Japanese Americans from the mainland in MIS Awareness of concentration camps as a Japanese American Not relating to Japan Americans' experiences on the mainland Visiting family in Japan Being stationed in Japan during the American occupation Rebuilding Japan Investigating labor movements in Japan Feeling closer to Japan as a Japanese American Serving as a lawyer to Americans in Japan To serve as a lawyer Defining the term Nikkei

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I have no feeling except that my parents of course came from Japan, and I really had no feeling about my “enemy” as it were. But I served in Hawai`i Territorial Guard for about a month or two, and we were called in and they said that all Japanese Americans are being discharged from the territorial guard. And we were considered “enemy aliens.” We were Japanese Americans nevertheless, and they said we were enemy aliens and that’s why we were discharged from the territorial guard.

Date: May 29, 2006
Location: Hawai`i, US
Interviewer: Akemi Kikumura Yano
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

discrimination racism World War II