Wartime internment huge mistake, Japanese-Americans tell listeners in Hiroshima
Nov. 16, 2012
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
Two Japanese-Americans, who were forced to live in an internment camp in the United States during World War II, recently shared their experiences at a symposium held at the International Conference Center Hiroshima. They said that both the atomic bombings and the internment were huge mistakes that should never be repeated.
The two speakers were Herbert Tsuchiya, 80, and Yosh Nakagawa, 79. Both are second-generation Japanese-Americans and live in Seattle, Washington. During the war, the U.S. government considered Japanese-Americans a security threat to the United States and about 120,000 Japanese-Americans are believed to have been sent to internment camps. Mr. Tsuchiya and Mr. Nakagawa were detained in the same camp in the state of Idaho for four years until the end of the war.
“The war broke many families apart,” Mr. Tsuchiya said, explaining how parents and children were sometimes sent to different camps. Mr. Nakagawa said, “I want to share my experience of living in an internment camp to young people.”
The symposium was sponsored by the World Friendship Center, an NPO based in Nishi Ward, Hiroshima. The American co-directors of the organization arranged the event, taking the opportunity offered by the visit of the two Japanese-Americans to Japan. About 50 people were in attendance.
(Originally published on November 13, 2012)
Two Japanese-Americans, who were forced to live in an internment camp in the United States during World War II, recently shared their experiences at a symposium held at the International Conference Center Hiroshima. They said that both the atomic bombings and the internment were huge mistakes that should never be repeated.
The two speakers were Herbert Tsuchiya, 80, and Yosh Nakagawa, 79. Both are second-generation Japanese-Americans and live in Seattle, Washington. During the war, the U.S. government considered Japanese-Americans a security threat to the United States and about 120,000 Japanese-Americans are believed to have been sent to internment camps. Mr. Tsuchiya and Mr. Nakagawa were detained in the same camp in the state of Idaho for four years until the end of the war.
“The war broke many families apart,” Mr. Tsuchiya said, explaining how parents and children were sometimes sent to different camps. Mr. Nakagawa said, “I want to share my experience of living in an internment camp to young people.”
The symposium was sponsored by the World Friendship Center, an NPO based in Nishi Ward, Hiroshima. The American co-directors of the organization arranged the event, taking the opportunity offered by the visit of the two Japanese-Americans to Japan. About 50 people were in attendance.
(Originally published on November 13, 2012)
