Friday, April 8, 2016

Blog 06: Jimi Yamaichi Interview

Jimi Yamaichi (age 93)

  • He was born and raised in San Jose. 
  • He refers the internment camps as American concentration camps instead of internment camps.
  • 1942 Executive Order 9066 – “gave army the full right to do whatever they had to do to us.” Yamaichi’s registered number was 32420, which became his new identity at the camps. 
  • If you were 1/16th Japanese, you were considered Japanese. 


Q: Challenges you faced while in the internment camp?
A: Their citizenship was completely taken away. Lowest as 1/16 Japanese blood you were sent to concentration camps. Lost their identity, known by a number. Surviving was a huge challenge, was highly discriminated everyday. Struggle to stay safe on a daily basis. Keeping the family together was another challenge.

Q: Was anyone shot while in the camps?
A: There were two people who he remembered that got shot. One was half blind and could barely hear. He was chasing after his dog who escaped and could not hear the guard yelling at him to stop running and ended up getting shot by him. Another person was shot a few days later.

Q: How did you feel after everything was over?
A: It took until 1960 before they were fully accepted as American citizens once again. He wanted to show the rest of the country that the Japanese were just as good as everyone else. It was hard to find a job; they took anything they could get to get by. High school was his top education, but he wished he acquired a college education.

Q: What was the first thing you wanted to do when you got out of the camp?
A: He went to trade school in 1941 and graduated inside Morris Dailey auditorium. He took up carpentry and wanted to go find work. When he got out of camp his strongest desire was fighting the issue of getting a union card to work. It was hard for him to find a job because he faced constant discrimination for being Japanese.

Q: What did you use as motivation to get through the hardships of the camp?
A: 7% of the people at the camp were financially stable; the rest of them were poor and/or homeless.  Most of these people didn’t have any money to support themselves. The biggest motivator to get through these hardships was working hard enough to earn money to support his loved ones.

Q:  Do you recall a time where you had to give hope to your younger siblings?
A: Our future was unknown but we tried to keep everything normal as possible. All the parents tried to make life as normal as possible for everyone. We had recreational facilities and we would make the most out of them. We would just take everything in stride and try to enjoy ourselves anyway we can. It was tough and scary, but it was survival of the fittest.

Q: How did the camp change your view of America?
A: It made me a stronger man.  I learned not to get mad, but try to understand the other person. I tried my best to figure out why they were mad. I learned that it’s all about how you look at the issue. I learned a lot about different people and the struggle of discrimination.


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