Participant Accounts

With the implementation of Executive Order 9066, the military had discretion to intern anyone deemed a "military threat". Unfortunately, the target of this order was predominately people of Japanese heritage. Here are several personal accounts of the experiences that many Japanese-Americans faced in the early part of 1942. The interviews, while some are brief, focus on the individuals entire life. Where they were born (citizenship), their family's experiences with internment, and the obstacles that they faced before the war and their post-war encounters.

(video sources)


A chapter by chapter interview with Hiroshi Kashiwagi and his experiences as a young boy growing up in rural California and resisted the registration and internment orders. His story is one of resistance to Executive Order 9066 and as an american citizen his resentment to the standars imposed on him and his fellow Japanese-American citizens. Hiroshi Kashiwagi's story

Interview with Paul Ohtaki and his experiences with internment and then
joing the military as a translator in military intelligence. Mr. Ohtaki is somewhat brief in his summary. (source)

An interview with Masaru Kawaguchi (Masaru Kawaguchi). Mr. Kawaguchi describes his life before and after his internment. In the interview, one can see that Mr. Kawaguchi embodies the same traits, interests, goals etc. as the next american citizen. He becomes a memeber of the occupying forces in Japan, after he was interned at Topaz Camp in Utah. Mr. Kawaguchi gives a broad interview of his life's experiences and the effects that being a Japanese-American citizen had on him during this time.


DBQs.

A) The interviews conducted above offer a broad range of experiences from
     different viewpoints. If there is a common theme that all of the individuals
     expressed, what might that be (i.e., resentment, disappointment, anger) and
     how is it articulated?

B) Many of the individuals stated that their families were invlolved in the
     farming industry. Given their importance to the national war effort, how
     might they make sense of the government's decision to intern so many
     that were an important to the war cause?