The Importance of Speaking Out - Gene Akutsu

During World War II, Gene Akutsu was incarcerated in the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. In 1944 he was arrested for resisting the draft and imprisoned at McNeil Island Penitentiary.  [More...]

Feeling Ashamed of Japanese American Identity - May K. Sasaki

May K. Sasaki was a young child during World War II when she and her family were incarcerated in the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho.  [More...]

Thoughts from a Nisei after 9/11 - Joe Yasutake

During World War II, Joe Yasutake and his family lived in the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho, and the Crystal City internment camp, Texas.  [More...]

A Cabinet Meeting the Day after 9/11 - Norman Mineta

Norman Mineta was the U.S. Secretary of Transportation during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This clip is an excerpt from Norman Mineta's Densho oral history interview conducted July 4, 2008, in partnership with the Japanese American National Museum.  [More...]

Meeting Malcolm X - Yuri Kochiyama

Yuri Kochiyama, well-known civil rights activist, was incarcerated in the Jerome concentration camp, Arkansas. After the war, she moved to New York and became involved in a number of political causes.  [More...]

Deciding to Resist the Curfew - Gordon Hirabayashi

During World War II, Gordon Hirabayashi challenged the curfew and removal orders being enforced against Japanese Americans on the West Coast. He turned himself in to the FBI, was found guilty, and served time for violating the curfew order and failing to report for "evacuation."  [More...]

Receiving Encouragement from Mother - Gordon Hirabayashi

During World War II, Gordon Hirabayashi challenged the curfew and removal orders being enforced against Japanese Americans on the West Coast. He turned himself in to the FBI, was found guilty, and served time for violating the curfew order and failing to report for "evacuation."  [More...]

Arrested For Resisting Mass Removal (audio clip) - Fred Korematsu

In 1942, Fred Korematsu decided to resist the removal orders being enforced against Japanese Americans on the West Coast. He legally challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, and his case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the order in 1944.  [More...]

Intentionally Getting Arrested (audio clip) - Minoru Yasui

In 1942, Minoru Yasui deliberately defied the curfew imposed upon Japanese Americans in Portland, Oregon, and was arrested. His case was tried, and he was sentenced to one year in prison and given a $5000 fine. The appeal eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled that the government did have the authority to restrict the lives of civilian citizens during wartime.  [More...]

The Trial of the Heart Mountain Draft Resisters - Frank Emi

Frank Emi was one of the leaders of the Fair Play Committee at the Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming, during World War II. He was convicted of resisting the draft when the U.S. Army began drafting Japanese Americans out of camp, and was imprisoned for eighteen months at Leavenworth, Kansas.   [More...]

Oral History - Shigeko Sese Uno

Shigeko Sese Uno describes how her father worked his way from Japan through Mexico to the United States. This clip is an excerpt from Shigeko Sese Uno's oral history interview conducted September 18, 1998   [More...]