Q: Where are you from?
A: I was born in Seattle, but I'm from the Los Angeles area.

Q: If you could classify yourself would you say that you are Japanese, Japanese American, or American?
A: Japanese American.

Q: Wait, aren't you half-Puerto Rican though?
A: Yes.

Q: Where did you go to school? The US or Japan?
A: US.

Q: Do you know anything about the Japanese internment in WW II?
A: Yes, I do.

Q: Where did you first learn about internment and what were your reactions?
A: I've been hearing about it since I was little cause my grandparents were both interned, my dad's parents, and whenever we went to visit them it was just like twice a year, I'd get to hear about it. And my reactions to it, I didn't really know what to think at first. As I've gotten older, I know more about it and it sort of upsets me the way they act, but what do you expect? I mean, I wasn't there. I can't, I can't blame them for their reactions that they impose upon me.

Q: So when did your grandparents get to the States? Are your grandparents first-generation Americans?
A: No.

Q: They're second generation?
A: Okay.

Q: Oh, so they were born here then?
A: Mmhm.

Q: Oh wow. So what do they specifically say about internment?
A: That it was horrible and that it was just as bad as the Jews were in Germany. And I don't really understand that very much because my grandparents actually both got out of the camps after they'd been there for not very long. My grandfather enlisted in the 446nd Regiment and my grandmother got out shortly after she was there to go to nursing school or college, I forget which. She was, I think, about 15 years old when she first got there and wasn't there for very long.

Q: Did they suffer at all? Did they talk about being malnourished?
A: [shakes her head no].

Q: No, so they're just like, in general, "It sucked."
A: Yeah.

Q: Are they angry at Americans?
A: Yes, very much so.

Q: Well, specifically, like the government or?
A: Yes, I think it was the government they were really angry at. They still hold very racist?they still have very racist views about a lot of things and feel like they are still mistreated even though I don't think that really an issue, especially with the large Asian population in Seattle.

Q: Do your parents, I mean, your grandparents, ever talk about--Wait, never mind, scratch that. So what do your parents think about internment?
A: My parents?

Q: Like your dad's Japanese, so?
A: Yeah. I don't think he specifically thinks anything about it. I know he used to hear about while growing up and probably was quite an issue in his household, but it's really not something we talk about. He just tells me to listen to [my grandparents] when they start talking about it, be respectful, and I am because I have to be. But it's not really an issue in our household. I mean, it happened. There's nothing really that my dad or my mom could do anything about it. I mean, my mom's dad was in the army as well and so was her brother during the war so they had their own issues with that.

Q: Do your parents or elders ever talk about like, the other side of World War II? Japanese crimes against the Chinese such as the Rape of Nanjing or Comfort Women?
A: Never.

Q: Okay. Have you experienced any like, anti-Japanese sentiment from like Americans, Koreans, or Chinese?
A: Never. Like, one of my best friends in elementary school or I guess middle school was Korean so it wasn't an issue at all.

Q: Well, how about your parents or grandparents? Have they experienced any anti-Japanese sentiment?
A: Besides the war, I don't really think so. I think they think a lot of things are because they're Japanese, but I don't really think that's the reason. I mean they might say yada, yada, yada, whatever because I'm Japanese, but I really don't think that's the case. I think it's more a mental thing.

Q: Well, can you cite a specific example?
A: No, you know, I really can't. It might have been mentioned in passing when I was visiting, but I don't visit often enough to know a specific example of that.

Q: I just wanted to know, do your grandparents usually hang out with other Japanese Americans?
A: Yeah, that's all they hang out with. That's all the social things they do, with Japanese people.

Q: Do you think something like the internment of Japanese Americans could happen again?
A: I certainly hope not. But with this whole racial profiling deal that's going on like airports and stuff, you know, I don't think it's completely unfeasible. I would be very, very sad to see that happen.

Q: Thank you.


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Natsuko Fujimaki
Natsuko Fujimaki is a Japanese exchange student from Japan Women?s University. This past year she has lived, studied, and worked with the students of Wellesley College. Previously, while in high school, she has been an exchange student in West Virginia. Natsuko is a Women Studies major and will return to Japan next year to finish her degree.

Q: How old are you?
A: 22.

Q: Where are you from?
A: Japan, near Tokyo.

Q: If you could classify yourself would you say that you are Japanese, Japanese American, or American?
A: Japanese.

Q: What is your background? Were you born and raised in Japan? Or how much time have spent in the United States?
A: This is my second time, spending my time in the States. I'm Japanese and I was raised in Japan. I'm not Japanese American or anything; I'm native Japanese.

Q: Do you know anything about the Japanese internment in World War II?
A: Yes.

Q: Can you elaborate? Like, when did you first learn about Japanese internment? In high school?
A: In high school, I guess. But lots of high schools, they don't teach, there aren't any, but it depends on the teacher. Some teachers teach students what they have experienced in the States, Japanese Americans, but they don't specifically explain what happened to Japanese Americans in the textbooks, but at University I learned about that more.

Q: What classes did you learn [about] Japanese internment in?
A: Japanese sociology class.

Q: What were your reactions to it? What do you feel about Japanese internment?
A: It's so sad and, I think that a lot of the reason why, that it happened, was that there was discrimination against Japanese in the States.

Q: Do your parents or family ever talk about it?
A: Yes, but I don't have any relatives who moved to the States or anything so I just talk about that issue with my family.

Q: Does your family ever like remember the Japanese internment and how Japan felt when it was happening in the 1940s?
A: Did family know about that, when it happened?

Q: Yes.
A: Yes.

Q: Well did they have any reactions to it?
A: They didn't have any big reactions.

Q: Because they had no family [in the States] right?
A: Yeah, that's true.

Q: Do Japanese people ever talk about the other side of World War II? Japanese crimes against the Chinese such as the Rape of Nanjing or Comfort Women?
A: Yes, but at the government-level people don't want to talk about that topics. There are some conservative, you know, professors or politicians who are saying there aren't any Holocaust in China. They deny the fact. Yeah, lots of people think it's not true. And there's one big issue in Japan right now how they talk about in the textbooks for high school students and junior high school students and they are changing the sentences right now to give to students more specifically what Japan had done to Chinese people. But they don't mention the Rape [of Nanjing] issues, but they mention that Japanese military had done Holocaust in Nanking.

Q: So wait, they're trying to add sections talking about the Rape of Nanking and Comfort Women? Or are they trying to erase it?
A: They're trying to add, but the reason why they don't write [about Japanese war crimes] --the people who write the texts are mostly men and rich who don't really have?how you say? gender perspectives so now many feminists or some other activists are trying to change the texts to add more about Comfort Women. They don't talk about Comfort Women in the texts, but they talk about that topic in reference book so yeah, I think they are getting there to it.

Q: Well, how about the Rape of Nanking? Are they trying to add that too?
A: I think so, I think so, but I don't think it will happen soon.

Q: Have you experienced any anti-Japanese sentiment from people who are still mad at the Japanese crimes in World War II? Like from Koreans or Chinese, for instance. You, or your family, or your friends?
A: Right.

Q: Do you remember?
A: Not really, mm mm, no. But when I was in West Virginia [as a high school exchange student] people told me there are some people who--guys who do that because of what they had done to the United States during the World War II so that's why--there are no Japanese exchange students, I mean guys, boys, Japanese guy exchange students in town where I stayed for a year. They just [had] Japanese girls because that's just easier for them to, I don't know, I--because the town where I stayed was--is such a small town in West Virginia, Ravenswood and there are still people who don't like Japanese guy because of?

Q: World War II?
A: Yeah, because of that.

Q: Do you think something like the internment of Japanese Americans could happen again?
A: I don't think so. I don't think so. Because it's against the human race, and conventions for UN.

Q: Is there anything you want to add?
A: I hope, even though, even though there are many people the facts, the fact about the internment camp in the States and the immigrants from Japan to the States, I hope they talk about more at school or in the textbooks for the students can learn more about, you know.

Q: Thank you.


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William Glynn
William Glynn grew up in Hawaii and is currently residing near Seattle, Washington. At the time of Japanese internment, the United States depended the Japanese laborers of Hawaii to work on the plantations to maintain a stable economy. Thus, most Japanese Americans living in Hawaii were not interned whereas those in the mainland were stripped of their properties and sent to camps (class notes).

Q: How old are you?
A: 58.

Q: If you could classify yourself, would you say that you are Japanese, Japanese-American, or American? Or something else?
A: American

Q: What is your background? (E.g. Born and raised in Japan? Or America? If so, which state?)
A: Born and raised in America, Hawaii.

Q: Do you more easily identify with America or Japan? Why?
A: I consider myself American, I don't identify myself with Japan or Japanese culture.

Q: Are you first, second, third, or fourth generation Japanese American? Or none?
A: I'm third generation.

Q: Do you know about the Japanese internment in WWII?
A: Yes.

Q: Where did you first learn about Japanese internment?
A: I learned about it in school, but my mother had told me about it beforehand because my grandparents family doctor was interned and they took away everything he had.

Q: Were your grandparents or other members of their family interned?
A: No.

Q: Were they in the US or Japan during World War II?
A: US.

Q: Do you or your family know people who were interned? Yes If so, what have they shared about their internment experience?
A: I didn't know the doctor personally, I just know what my mother told me.

Q: If your family was not interned but still living in the US during WWII, what do they remember about that time period? How were they treated/mistreated in the US?
A: They were controlled, if they had radios or something of that nature, they checked them for transmission equipment, but I don't know if they were actually confinscated. They wanted to ensure no one conducting covert operations with the Japanese. Background checks were done on all Japanese that were not interned.

Q: Do you think internment has left a long-lasting impact on your family?
A: No, not really since my grandparents were never interned. People in my generation don't really know what went on.

Q: And Japanese Americans in general?
A: I imagine those who were interned and their families are still bitter and upset about what happened. I mean, their loyalty to their country was challenged.

Q: Do you think that your family holds grudges against white people, Americans, or the US government because of the internment of Japanese Americans?
A: No.

Q: Do your parents/elders ever talk about the other side of WWII? Japanese crimes against the Chinese such as the Rape of Nanjing?
A: No.

Q: How did they feel when Japan was committing such heinous war crimes against the Chinese, Koreans, and other Asians?
A: I didn't know about what occurred during World War II for a long time but now that I have read about it more, I feel what they did is very wrong. However, I don't think their crimes were more heinous than what the Germans did in Europe.

Q: Have you or your family ever experienced any anti-Japanese sentiment in terms of people who remember Japanese crimes in WWII? For example have Chinese people ever discriminated against you or your family because you were Japanese? If yes, what did you or your family members do?
A: I have never been discriminated against by Caucasians or other asian races because I was Japanese. However, because I was half, I felt discriminated against by other Japanese people.

Q: Do you think something like the internment of Japanese and Japanese-Americans can occur again present time?
A: I doubt seriously that that would happen again. I think that we have learned our lesson. However when national security is involved, you never know what the government will do. For instance with the current war, I'm sure thorough background checks were done on people of middle eastern heritage without their knowledge.

Q: However, don't you think there has been a lot of progress in the US government to promote racial equality?
A: They've done the best they can. They've given most minorities privileges that they would not be afforded in other countries. However, you cannot erase those tensions in societies, racial probelms will always exist.

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