Browse Items (140 total)

Community leader Ben Chikaraishi describes his family’s experiences in Rohwer, the WRA, and resettlement in Chicago. He shares his career trajectory as an optometrist, from working in the camp as an assistant, to his work in Chicago while in school,…

Lisa Doi, a Yonsei born and raised in Chicago, discusses the development of the Japanese American redress movement and the ongoing process of intergenerational healing and repair in the Japanese American community. She reflects on the importance of…

Lisa Doi is a multiracial fourth generation (Yonsei) Japanese American, born in Chicago and raised in Evanston, Illinois. Lisa discusses her maternal family's roots in Japan, immigration history, wartime experiences of incarceration at Santa Anita…

Toshiko (Tonko) Doi is a second-generation (Nisei) Japanese American born in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles, California the day before Pearl Harbor was attacked. In this interview, she discusses her family's pre-war history,…

Yoko Doi was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1935. The oldest of four children, she recalls an early childhood spent close to Tokyo Bay, rising patriotism in Japan, and harrowing wartime experiences of family and friends. Rather than being evacuated to a…

Sisters Sono and Midori "Dori" Fujii were born and raised in Chicago in the 1950s and 60s. Their father was born in Gifu, Japan and their mother, a nisei, was born in San Jose, California. In this interview, they discuss their mother's experiences…

Kazuko May Fujishima recounts her early life in rural central California, incarceration experiences during World War II, and postwar resettlement in Chicago. A founding member and the first female president of the Midwest Buddhist Temple, she…

Jane Fujiyoshi is a third generation (Sansei) Japanese American who was born in California and incarcerated at Rohwer as an infant. She discusses her family's experiences leaving Rohwer to farm in Texas, where they lived for 19 years before…

Mitsuo and Kikuno Goi are a Kibei, Nisei couple who met in Chicago after WWII. Both were born in the U.S. but spent time in Japan as children. In this interview, Kikuno shares her experiences losing her parents at a young age, living in Japan with…

Bill Hamade is a third and fourth generation (Sansei/Yonsei) Japanese Canadian. A retired librarian with 31 years of service in the Toronto Public Library stem, he discusses his lifelong interest in Japanese Canadian history and family history. He…