Tule Lake
Gil Asakawa's Nikkei View
column this week is about the controversy at his JACL chapter
over issuing an apology to "No-No Boys", WWII draft resisters
who were interned at Tule Lake.
As a thirty-something sansei, I only knew tangentially about
the JACL through their involvement in redress. I was surprised
to learn about the JACL's position during the second War through
Gil's column and the recent PBS documentary, "Rabbit In The Moon".
I was actually glad to hear that there were indeed a number of
draft resisters. I think that those who served in the military
and those who resisted the draft are both heros in my mind.
We hear so much about those who served in the military, but those
who resisted had every reason to, and exemplified what it means
to be American. If what you say about JACL is true, then in my opinion,
an apology is appropriate, lest we make the same mistake our own
government made (i.e., not apologizing to those interned for all
those years) -- not to mention Japan. Geez, it's been over 50 years.
Shouldn't we try to learn from our past, and not dwell on it?
The US government has done enough to divide the JA community,
isn't it time that we try to unify?
Re: Tule Lake
The front page of the June 25, 1999 USA edition of the
Wall Street Journal carries an article written by Norihiko Shirouzu,
staff reporter of the WSJ, about the Nisei draft resistors of WW2,
the turmoil within the JA community, and how many people have started
to re-evaluate them.
Re: Tule Lake
My family is from Hawaii and came to California in the mid-1950s.
I first read about "Camp" in high school in an Asian American Studies class.
I interviewed the father of a classmate who was interned in Manzanar and
to say the least was blown away.
When I worked on a local political campaign in the 1970s I met nisei who
hated each other over some slight (real or perceived) that took place in
camp. Again, for lack of a better phrase, I was blown away.
25 years later and the emotions still ran deep.
Jumping ahead a few years, my wife's uncle recently died and I was
asked to help write his life history. He was a "No No Boy" and was
interned at Tule Lake, along with a sister and brother-in-law.
The rest of the family was in Manzanar. After all those years,
the subject/stigma of being at Tule Lake was something that
the family did not want to deal with. The emotions still run deep.
My question(s) of the day is:
Are there younger members (baby boomers) in this JACL chapter?
If so, how do they relate to "The Apology" issue?
What will happen with the poll of the chapter members?
Maybe you can help me with a question that I ask myself.
Why do I (a 40-something sansei) give money to the ACLU
but do not join the JACL? Well I was a member once.
When Karl Nobuyuki was Executive Director he got a membership
out of me, which has since lapsed.
Re: Tule Lake
> Are there younger members (baby boomers) in this
> JACL chapter? If so, how do they relate to
> "The Apology" issue? What will happen with the
> poll of the chapter's members?
This JACL Chapter's board has a fair representation of boomers and a
couple of younger members (I'm 41, by the way), so in a straw poll of
the board, we would have voted in favor of the apology resolution at the
district meeting. However, the emotions were so strong that we decided we
should poll the membership, and see what they say. I suspect the result
will be a "no" vote, because the JACL membership here tends to
skew to older demographics. Because the JACL's focused to much on the past
and on internment and redress over the years, we've managed to chase away a
LOT of younger members. The organization is perceived as an irrelevent and
out of step with the interests of younger JAs. It's a big challenge to try
and change that perception.
I am relatively new to the JACL and even the idea of JA activism,
so I'm eager to hear others' experiences and perceptions of
the organization.
Re: Tule Lake
I just got back from a vacation down in the Mono Lake Basin area.
We stopped at the Tule Lake internment camp memorial on the way back.
The guard houses are still in use (I think for itinerant workers).
A ranger at the Lava Beds National Monument told us that guards
worked interchangeably for both the German POW camp and the
Japanese American camp.
Re: Tule Lake
> I was surprised to learn about the JACL's position
> during the Second World War through Gil's column and
> the recent PBS documentary, "Rabbit In The Moon".
I was fortunate enough to see "Rabbit in the Moon" - an interesting
documentary about JAs - on PBS. I hope a lot of the Ties-talk members
saw it. You would have appreciated its message.
Re: Tule Lake
> My wife's uncle recently died and I was asked to help
> write his life history. He was a "No No Boy" and was
> interned at Tule Lake, along with a sister and
> brother-in-law. The rest of the family was in Manzanar.
> After all those years, the subject/stigma of being
> at Tule Lake was something that the family did not
> want to deal with. The emotions still run deep.
Our family had a similar experience when Baa-chan died a
little over a decade ago and we were preparing her life history to
be read at the funeral. Although the relatives were too young for
the draft at that time, one uncle was most insistant (threatening
to walk out of the funeral) that Tule Lake NOT be mentioned in her
family history. Hence, a compromise was reached where it was just
mentioned that entered camp and returned after the war.
Re: Tule Lake
> When Baa-chan died a little over a decade ago and we were
> preparing her life history to be read at the funeral ...
> one uncle was most insistant (threatening to walk out of
> the funeral) that Tule Lake NOT be mentioned in her family
> history.
I just saw parts of "Rabbit in the Moon" on PBS -- it's about
internment with more of a focus on the Nissei draft resisters and JACL
portrayed as traitors to JAs (especially issei). Parts of the program
centering around Tule Lake reminded me of comments my mother made about that
particular camp. According to her, Tule Lake was a particularly high
security camp and "high risk" people were sent there. This gave my mother
the impression that Tule Lake internees were rebels/rabble rousers, but I'm
sure this is only part true. The PBS program mentioned that many Tule Lake
internees later kept this fact hidden given this reputation. Perhaps your
grandmother and/or relatives felt this "stigma" even years after the camps
closed?
Re: Tule Lake
> Tule Lake was a particularly high security camp and
> "high risk" people were sent there. This gave my mother
> the impression that Tule Lake internees were rebels/rabble
> rousers, but I'm sure this is only part true. The PBS
> program mentioned that many Tule Lake internees later kept
> this fact hidden given this reputation. Perhaps your
> grandmother and/or relatives felt this "stigma" even
> years after the camps closed?
I have heard about the stigma some people attach to Tule Lake, even
after more than half a century. I can only imagine how much it
still hurts to think about that nightmare they experienced.
Another interesting person who passed away recently was
an older kibei nisei, a family friend. He was also transferred
to Tule Lake and where he then decided to repatriate to Japan
but returned to the States several years later. He would
discuss and reminisce about camp with Jii-chan at our house,
but would never discuss his experience during his repatriation
back to Japan during the post-war years.
Those who repatriated back to Japan during or immediately after
the war and who either stayed or returned also have some
interesting stories to tell.
Living here in Japan, it is interesting listening to the
experiences of various issei (virtually all deceased now) and
nisei people who have been living here since before, during and
after the war. They all attest to the deplorable living conditions
here during the immediate post-war period. One issei (actually
his wife) told me that their property and house was virtually
all financed by the black-market selling of sugar sent by
friends and relatives in California during that time.
They first entered Manzanar, transferred to Tule Lake,
then repatriated to Japan.
In the States, several kibei-nisei who lived in Japan during the
post-war period have told me stories of black-marketeering and how
arrogant some of the nisei in the U.S. Occupation Forces were.
Another kibei-nisei who arrived here with the U.S. Occupation
forces told me that one of the first things he wanted to do was
punch his former teacher in retaliation for all the beatings he
received from him before the war when he was a student. To his
disapointment, when he finally made it down to Hiroshima, he found
out that his teacher died when the city was A-bombed.
Another kibei-nisei with the U.S. Occupation Forces told how
appalled he was at seeing the virtual slave-like conditions of
the tenant farmers contrasted with the relative splendor of
the landlords when he arrived at his post in rural Japan to
help oversee the carrying out of the Agricultural Land Reform Law,
which broke up the big estates and gave the land to the tenant
farmers who were tilling it.
I was surprised when one nisei who served in the US Occupation
forces told me that he joined the Army while in Manzanar not
because he wanted to serve his Country or for any patriotic reason,
but rather because it was the only way to get out of camp.
After hearing that, I really wonder about the real reason why
some nisei joined the service at that time. Perhaps it has
a better ring to it to say "to serve my Country" rather than
something else?
I think it is difficult for many people to reply when they are
asked point blank about camp. Often times, one learns more by just
sitting quietly or by serving them coffee (or ocha) and listening
to them reminence among themselves. Even if you cannot understand
the entire conversation when it is in Nihongo, listen quietly
anyway and ask any questions later.
There is a fair amount of pre-war and camp writings (memoirs,
diaries, poetry, short stories, etc) by issei.
Virtually all of it is in Japanese, and little of it has been
translated into English. Perhaps that is another motive for
all of us to study Japanese?
I am sorry for rambling on and on .....
Re: Tule Lake
> I have heard about the stigma some people attach to
> Tule Lake, even after more than half a century.
> I can only imagine how much it still hurts to think
> about that nightmare they experienced.
From listening and talking to a lot of Nisei many expressed in one
way or another that the greatest hurt that crushed them is they
grew up believing that they were being "good" Americans--they
went to school, received good grades, worked hard and believed
in the American dream. Some told me initially they were very
worried about their Issei parents who they believed would go into
a camp because they were not American citizens but the shock
of hearing that they would also have to go to camp was
overwhelming.
Different people reacted to the stressful situation
in a variety of ways -- some became angry and fought back, some
were angry and kept it inside, some, depending on their age and
life experiences took the "shikata-ganai" attitude and tried to
carry on the best they could. I met one Nisei who completely
blocked the experience from his mind. During a sharing time
at our church he spoke up and said he remembered absolutely
nothing of what happened and couldn't relate to the stories others
were sharing -- I was stunned to learn that he was 21 years
old at the time he was sent to Camp!
In other words, each person responded depending on their age,
their generation (Issei, Nisei, Sansei), their personal attitudes
towards life, their goals and ambitions, their ability to show
or deny their personal feelings and their coping mechanism.
In otherwords, it seems there is no ONE way that was the
"right way" to respond to the psychological trauma.
This is one reason I think we all need to give the variety of
emotional responses a wide berth. Who knows how each of us would
have responded back in those days?
> Back in the States, several kibei-nisei living here in
> Japan during the post-war period have told me stories of
> black-marketeering and how arrogant some of the nisei
> in the U.S. Occupation Forces were.
I have also heard this same thing from some people in Japan.
> I was surprised when one nisei who served in the
> US Occupation forces told me that he joined the Army
> while in Manzanar not because he wanted to serve his
> Country or for any patriotic reason, but rather
> because it was the only way to get out of camp.
> After hearing that, I really wonder about the real
> reason why some nisei joined the service at that time.
> Perhaps it has a better ring to it to say "to serve
> my Country" rather than something else?
I have heard this same story from other Nisei who joined the
Army -- it was not for the noble cause others talk about now.
One man said he joined because all his friends were going and he went
along too. He said he did not have a noble cause, or that he wanted to
show the American people that he was also a good American. He went
because he didn't have anything better to do ... and that is why he
did not want his name listed on the 442nd memorial monument
that was being set up in Los Angeles.
I have also talked to some of the resistors from Heart Mountain and
I have a much better understanding of why they took the stand they did
... and I also feel it is time for the National JACL and any other
group who took a stand against them to come together. Yet, on the
other hand I have talked to Nisei who are angry because they felt they
were harassed by a variety of resistance supporters in the other
camps for joining the army -- and they cannot forget that experience.
> There is a fair amount of pre-war and camp writings
> (memoirs, diaries, poetry, short stories, etc)
> by issei. Virtually all of it is in Japanese,
> and little of it has been translated into English.
> Perhaps that is another motive for all of us to
> study Japanese?
I have a book called Japan at War: An Oral History by Haruko
Taya Cook and Theodore F. Cook, The New Press, New York (1993),
ISBN 1-56584-039-9. I bought it and read parts of it. It is
a very moving collection of oral histories of ordinary Japanese
people during WWII -- written in English.
Re: Tule Lake
> < stories >
I guess those are the things about camp that I will never to able to
understand. Maybe raising the apology issue will help heal some wounds
or at least allow people to deal with their feelings.
Re: Tule Lake
> I guess those are the things about camp that I
> will never to able to understand. Maybe raising
> the apology issue will help heal some wounds or
> at least allow people to deal with their feelings.
You are right. There are some things that we, who never experienced
camp, will never be able to fully understand, no matter how hard we try.
Re: Tule Lake
> There are some things that we, who never experienced
> camp, will never be able to fully understand, no
> matter how hard we try.
As you say, we will never fully understand what it was like, and
certainly, our silent ancestors aren't making it any easier (And I noticed
that "camp" was never mentioned at either of my parents' funerals). Perhaps
our more "Americanized" sansei peers who lived in the camps might be more
forthcoming about the experience?
Re: Tule Lake
After seeing "Rabbit in the Moon" and reading about the
controversy within the JACL regarding an apology or
some type of action, I was very curious about the
resisters of conscience -- especially since it was
stated there were approx 263 young men who received
prison sentences or some type of punishment and we
don't have any information about their stories or
experiences.
The majority of information on the resisters of
conscience that is discussed is always related to
the Fairplay Committee out of Heart Mountain. There
were only 41 men who served their time and were later
pardoned by President Truman. They were from Ht Mtn,
but I wondered abut the others. I had heard rumors
before that there was a group of young men who were also
imprisoned from Amache concentration camp in Colorado
but no one really knew.
My husband and I went to the National Archives and
Records and pulled court cases from 1944-45 and we
found approximately 32 names -- of those young men
approximately 25 were sentenced to two years at
Prison #10 in Tucson, Arizona. No one where I live
was even aware that this occurred and some of the
people were Amache internees.
Does anyone out there have other information? I am
interested because the JACL is asking each Chapter to
vote on whether to pass the proposed statement on
the resisters of conscience and there is no factual
information coming out -- only on the Fairplay
Committee -- who is being blamed for every
injustice that occurred to people in the other 9
permanent camps. I dont feel, personally, that it is
very fair at this point to be asked to vote on something
and there is no other factual information out--people
are responding from emotion and what happened to them
personally rather than dialoguing about what
happened.
I would like to find out more information on the other
resisters from the 8 other permanent camps. Not the
names but nfo such as their charges and sentencing and
where they had to serve their time. President Truman
pardoned all the resisters because their sentencing
and serving time was wrong in the first place.
Another piece of information that we found is that
the number of cases of Caucasian young men who refused
to be drafted during the same period--1944-45, from
the Amache area was more than doubled the resistance
from within the camp.
Does anyone have any information?
Last updated 05 November 1999