How the Japanese felt in the Interment Camps
A Few Tragedies
During July of 1942, some prisoners were transferred to Lordsburg. To get there, the prisoners had to walk. However, there were two prisoners, Isomura and Kobata, who were too ill to walk. Due to their condition, they were driven to the new location and arrived there much quicker than any of the other prisoners. Upon arrival, they were shot and killed. When the rest of the prisoners arrived, and asked about Isomura and Kobata, they were told these men were being treated in the hospital at camp. Later, one of the doctors came and told the prisoners that Isomura and Kobata were shot and killed because they had tried to escape. Two of the men in the camps were forced to dig graves for Isomura and Kobata and were told that if they refused, they would be forced to dig two more, implying that they'd be killed if they didn't follow orders. The other prisoners weren't satisfied with the doctor's explanation so they demanded a real investigation and were denied due to the fact that Isomura and Kobata were "already buried."
Ichiro Shimoda was among the first Japanese Americans separated from his family on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. The reason he was a part of the first few people taken was because he was a Japanese war veteran. This event caused Ichiro a lot of pain and depression causing him to go crazy. In fact, he tried to commit suicide by biting off his tongue during a train ride to Missoula and he might have even succeeded if the other prisoners hadn't placed a piece of wood in his mouth to keep him from hurting himself further.
Ichiro Shimoda was among the first Japanese Americans separated from his family on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. The reason he was a part of the first few people taken was because he was a Japanese war veteran. This event caused Ichiro a lot of pain and depression causing him to go crazy. In fact, he tried to commit suicide by biting off his tongue during a train ride to Missoula and he might have even succeeded if the other prisoners hadn't placed a piece of wood in his mouth to keep him from hurting himself further.
Quotes and Analysis
"It was really cruel and harsh. To pack and evacuate in forty-eight hours was in impossibility. Seeing mothers completely bewildered
with children crying from want and peddlers taking advantage and offering prices next to robbery made me feel like murdering those responsible without the slightest compunction in my heart." -Joseph Yoshisuke Kurihara
Kurihara was talking about how it felt to be taken away from his home. He's talking about the Terminal Island Evacuation, which was a terrifying event for the Japanese. He felt that the life was being sucked out of them.
"We saw all these people behind the fence, looking out, hanging onto the wire, and looking out because they were anxious to know who was coming in. But I will never forget the shocking feeling that human beings were behind this fence like animals [crying]. And we were going to also lose our freedom and walk inside of that gate and find ourselves…cooped up there…when the gates were shut, we knew that we had lost something that was very precious; that we were no longer free." -Mary Tsukamoto
Tsukamoto believed that humans were being treated like animals; they were losing their freedom as soon as the gates shut.
"I remember the soldiers marching us to the Army tank and I looked at their rifles and I was just terrified because I could see this long knife at the end... I thought I was imagining it as an adult much later... I thought it couldn't have been bayonets because we were just little kids." -Children of the Camps
Her childhood was taken away from here and this is a memory that will never going to go away.
"Finally getting out of camps was a great day. It felt so good to get out of the gates, and just know that you were going home...finally. Home wasn't where I left it though. Getting back, I was just shocked to see what had happened, our home being bought by a different family, different decorations in the windows; it was our house, but it wasn't anymore. It hurt not being able to return home, but moving into a new home help me I believe. I think it helped me to bury the past a little, to, you know, move on from what had happened." -Aya Nakamura
She felt like she was free when they got out of the camps, but her home wasn't her home anymore. Everything had changed.
with children crying from want and peddlers taking advantage and offering prices next to robbery made me feel like murdering those responsible without the slightest compunction in my heart." -Joseph Yoshisuke Kurihara
Kurihara was talking about how it felt to be taken away from his home. He's talking about the Terminal Island Evacuation, which was a terrifying event for the Japanese. He felt that the life was being sucked out of them.
"We saw all these people behind the fence, looking out, hanging onto the wire, and looking out because they were anxious to know who was coming in. But I will never forget the shocking feeling that human beings were behind this fence like animals [crying]. And we were going to also lose our freedom and walk inside of that gate and find ourselves…cooped up there…when the gates were shut, we knew that we had lost something that was very precious; that we were no longer free." -Mary Tsukamoto
Tsukamoto believed that humans were being treated like animals; they were losing their freedom as soon as the gates shut.
"I remember the soldiers marching us to the Army tank and I looked at their rifles and I was just terrified because I could see this long knife at the end... I thought I was imagining it as an adult much later... I thought it couldn't have been bayonets because we were just little kids." -Children of the Camps
Her childhood was taken away from here and this is a memory that will never going to go away.
"Finally getting out of camps was a great day. It felt so good to get out of the gates, and just know that you were going home...finally. Home wasn't where I left it though. Getting back, I was just shocked to see what had happened, our home being bought by a different family, different decorations in the windows; it was our house, but it wasn't anymore. It hurt not being able to return home, but moving into a new home help me I believe. I think it helped me to bury the past a little, to, you know, move on from what had happened." -Aya Nakamura
She felt like she was free when they got out of the camps, but her home wasn't her home anymore. Everything had changed.