Tessaku - Stories from the Japanese American Incarceration

Tadashi Tsufura was a young teenager living with his family in the farming community of Parlier, California, where his father, Shosetsu Tsufura was the Buddhist minister and his mother, Midori (Kamamoto), was a Japanese language teacher - both central to the community’s cultural heritage and knowledge. When the war broke out, the family was sent to Gila River in Arizona and after two years in camp, the Tsufuras moved across the country to Seabrook, New Jersey to work in the frozen foods packing plant. But while rebuilding their lives in Seabrook, Tad’s mother suffered a breakdown under the stress of anti-Japanese sentiment and the difficulties of starting from scratch. Tad went on to become a beloved math teacher and principal of P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village in New York City. On March 29, 2020, Tad died after contracting the coronavirus, just five days after his wife, Mabel, succumbed to the virus, too. Read Tad’s NY Times obituary here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/obituaries/tadashi-tsufura-dead-coronavirus.html

Mary Nomura was a teenager when she and her siblings were sent to Manzanar. Both parents had passed when she was young, leaving her eldest siblings to struggle through the Depression in caring for the family. But in camp she found friends, a new social life, and her future husband. In this episode, you'll hear original recordings of Mary singing, which were done inside Manzanar and are the only recordings from the ten camps. Follow Tessaku on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessakuproject/ Become a patron of these stories: https://www.patreon.com/tessaku For more information on the Eastern California Museum: http://www.inyocounty.us/ecmsite/

Grace Izuhara was five years old and living in Los Angeles when WWII broke out. And rather than go to camp, her family chose to avoid it by leaving their home and signing up for a farm labor program to harvest a vital wartime staple: sugar beets. But unlike other Japanese Americans who were children during the war and had opportunities to play together, she has few happy memories: She was bullied at school, and remembers that when her younger brother had an accident, nearly every emergency room they went to refused to care for him. In the years following the war, her father was so upset by the experience that he never voted in another election. Follow Tessaku on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessakuproject/ Become a patron of these stories: https://www.patreon.com/tessaku For more information on the sugar beet farms, check out Uprooted: http://www.uprootedexhibit.com/

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Kaz's family lived alongside all Italian Americans, even befriending members of the mafia. It wasn't until he went to basic training at Fort Snelling that he met other young Niseis from the West Coast and Hawaii who, as he puts it, "straightened him out real quick," teaching him what it meant to be a proud, Japanese American. And though over 70 years have past, Kaz’s wartime memories from the occupation in Tokyo distress him: He still deals with PTSD. But despite this, he continues to volunteer at the Veterans Affairs office in New York, giving visitors a rare and special opportunity to hear his incredible story. ⭐️Please rate and review the podcast - thank you!

Nancy Yamamoto was a teenager when war broke out between the U.S. and Japan. Her plans to become a fashion designer were abruptly put on hold as her family was uprooted from a farming town near Sacramento to the harsh landscape of Tule Lake. In our chat, she reflects on her anger towards Japan for bombing Pearl Harbor and the fraught relationship she had with her mother. ⭐️Please rate and review the podcast - thank you!