Redress Radio
by Masami Moriya
What happened to the Japanese Americans during the WWII "internment" camps? In this podcast, we publish the audio archives from the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians during the 1980s and more. Currently, this podcast is published as a pilot until we can partner with an organization to finish production. If you're interested, please reach out to us at [email protected]
Episodes
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When Nisei Soldiers Were Locked Up for Roosevelt’s Visit - Los Angeles (1981)
Harry Kawamoto, a Nisei from San Diego drafted into the U.S. Army in February 1942, testified before the Commission about the contradictions and injustices he and other Japanese American soldiers faced during WWII. Although he did not experience incarceration himself, his testimony revealed how...
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Voluntary in Name Only: A Family’s Nightmare in Utah - Los Angeles (1981)
Akira Horiuchi, a 54-year-old Nisei from Los Angeles, testified before the Commission about his family’s decision to leave voluntarily rather than face forced incarceration, and the devastating personal tragedies that followed. Father Arrested: On December 7, 1941, the FBI picked up his father...
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33 Years in the Post Office, No Justice for Lost Time - Los Angeles (1981)
Masaaki Hironaka, a WWII veteran and longtime postal worker, testified before the Commission about the injustice of being denied reinstatement to his job after military service, and the need for redress both in compensation and in constitutional principle. Postwar Employment Struggle: After his...
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Commission Reflections: Limits and Commitments
After hearing testimony from Dr. Matsuo and other panelists, members of the Commission offered reflections on the process and their role. Their comments balanced empathy with reminders of the Commission’s limits. Judge Marutani: Thanked panelists, admitted he could not disagree with their goals,...
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“Not American, Not Japanese”: The Generational Toll - Los Angeles (1981)
Beth Shironaka, speaking as part of the San Diego Redress Reparations Committee, testified before the Commission alongside fellow members Masato Sato, Masaki Nurunaka, and Janet Takomura. Representing a diverse coalition of Issei, Nisei, Sansei, Yonsei, and allies, their statement focused on...
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Sue Embrey: From Silence to Pilgrimage - Los Angeles (1981)
Sue Kunitomi Embrey, co-founder of the Manzanar Committee and lifelong educator, testified before the Commission about her own incarceration at Manzanar and her decades of activism to preserve memory and demand redress. Her testimony traced her journey from a teenage internee to the leader of...
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The NCRR Demands $25,000 — A Minimum Starting Point - Los Angeles (1981)
June Kizu, representing the Southern California chapter of the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations (NCRR), delivered one of the most forceful organizational testimonies before the Commission. Speaking as part of a grassroots coalition formed in 1980, she called for justice rooted in...
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Why Apologies Alone Are Not Enough - Los Angeles (1981)
Dave Toru Matsuo, representing Agape Fellowship and Asian American Journey, testified before the Commission with both gratitude and frustration. While thankful for the hearings, he challenged commissioners to go beyond data collection and confront the state’s moral guilt for incarceration. Mixed...
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The Father Who Never Came Home - Los Angeles (1981)
Ewan Yoshida, born in Alaska in 1930, testified before the Commission with a deeply personal story of family separation and lifelong loss. His testimony centered on the disappearance of his father after Pearl Harbor and the decades of unanswered questions that followed. Early Life in Alaska…
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“A Hellhole, Not a Relocation Center” - Los Angeles (1981)
Mitsuru Sasahara, a Sansei from Los Angeles, testified before the Commission about his family’s journey from prewar community life, to incarceration at Manzanar, to postwar struggles in Los Angeles. His testimony wove together personal memory, family loss, and his call for reparations. Family...
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“They Can’t Do That to Me, I’m an American Citizen” - Los Angeles (1981)
Arthur Tsuneishi, an ordained minister and pastor of the Los Angeles Holiness Church, testified before the Commission about his family’s removal, his service to his congregation, and his call for reparations as a Christian duty of the nation. Early Life & Ambitions: Born in Monrovia, California…
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From Horse Stalls to Lifelong Asthma - Los Angeles (1981)
Sumiko Seki, a 56-year-old Nisei from Long Beach and wife of a Purple Heart veteran of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, testified before the Commission about the lasting pain of incarceration, the hysteria that tore apart her family, and her demand for justice. Family & Roots: Born and raised in...
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Commissioners’ Questions: Education, Farms, and Futures - Los Angeles (1981)
Following Dr. Mazukazu “Jack” Fujimoto’s testimony, commissioners pressed him and others on issues of education and economic loss. Their questions reflected concern over how incarceration disrupted the futures of Japanese American youth and farm families. Education Interrupted: Asked whether...
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Three Wrongs That Must Be Made Right - Los Angeles (1981)
Bill Izumi Nakagawa, an architect from Washington, testified before the Commission about his family’s forced removal, their losses, and his own journey from the assembly centers to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. His words drew from diary entries kept at the time, offering a vivid picture of...
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Evacuated in 48 Hours, Treating 18,000 Patients - Los Angeles (1981)
Dr. Yoshiko “Fred” Fujikawa, a physician born in San Francisco in 1910, testified before the Commission about the forced removal from Terminal Island and his work as a doctor inside the camps. His story highlights both the chaos of evacuation and the crushing conditions of providing medical care...
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“I Was a Chicken in a Cage” - Los Angeles (1981)
Mazukazu “Jack” Fujimoto, later the first Japanese American college president in the United States, testified before the Commission about his childhood experiences at Poston and the lifelong lessons he carried into his career in education. He reflected on the humiliation of FBI raids, the...
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Justice Arthur Goldberg: “An Unconscionable Evil Act” - Los Angeles (1981)
Commissioner Arthur Goldberg, former Supreme Court Justice and U.S. Secretary of Labor, addressed the Commission as he prepared to leave the hearings due to illness. Speaking personally, not officially for the panel, Goldberg reflected on the purpose of the hearings, the dangers of division, and...
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From Church Bell to Camp: The Story of a Buddhist Priest - Los Angeles (1981)
Reverend Bunyu Fujimura, a Buddhist priest who served 22 years in Salinas and later in West Los Angeles, devoted more than four decades to ministry before retiring in the 1970s. His long service in the Buddhist Churches of America was interrupted by war, prejudice, and years of forced removal....
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Tsuye Nozawa: A Mother’s Loss at Manzanar - Los Angeles (1981)
Tsuye Nozawa, a 64-year-old housewife from Gardena, testified before the Commission about the devastating loss of her first child at Manzanar and the lasting health and financial struggles that followed. Her story captured the intimate toll of incarceration on mothers, families, and future...
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“We Are Not Japs, We Are Japanese Americans” - Los Angeles (1981)
Robert Hayamizu, executive secretary of the Nisei Veterans Coordinating Council of Southern California, testified before the Commission on behalf of a coalition of Japanese American veterans’ posts and organizations. His statement honored the long but often overlooked history of Japanese American...
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“This Can Happen to Anybody”: Paul Sagawa Testifies - Los Angeles (1981)
Paul Sagawa, born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1922, testified before the Commission about his family’s struggles under alien land laws, the loss of his father’s business, and the lasting injustice of wartime incarceration. His story traces the arc from forced removal in Arizona, to Poston camp, to…
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"Knock It Over Seven Times, Rise the Eighth” - Mitsuo Usai - Los Angeles (1981)
Mitsuo (Mitchell) Usui, a realtor from Northridge and WWII veteran, testified before the Commission in memory of his late parents. His testimony traced his family’s flourishing nursery business, the trauma of incarceration, his own military service, and the lasting wounds of loss. Family &...
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Blankets for Walls, Straw for Beds: A Visit to Manzanar - Los Angeles (1981)
Jun (June) Fukushima, a U.S. Army draftee in April 1941, testified before the Commission about the painful contradiction of serving his country while his family was imprisoned at Manzanar. His words blended personal memory, family loss, and a unique call for elder care for survivors. Before the...
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From Horse Stalls to Battlefields - Lillian Baker Disrupted, Veterans Respond - Los Angeles (1981)
Jim Karaminami, representing the 442nd Veterans Association of Southern California, testified before the Commission to honor the legacy of Nisei soldiers while condemning the injustice of incarceration. His statement blended vivid memories of camp, the sacrifices of Japanese American servicemen,...
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Paul Oda: In Uniform, Still Segregated
Paul Kumao Oda, a Hawaiian-born veteran of World War II, testified before the Commission about the bitter irony of serving in the U.S. Army while enduring discrimination at home. His testimony was brief but powerful, centering on his service record, his fiancée’s incarceration, and the…
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When Soldiers’ Families Were in Camps - Los Angeles (1981)
Phil Shigekuni delivered the testimony of Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura, a Japanese American Medal of Honor recipient, who could not attend due to flight delays. Miyamura, a veteran of both World War II and Korea, shared his life story and underscored the injustice of incarceration through the lens…
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Thomas Kinaga’s Mental Anguish: War Abroad, Injustice at Home - Los Angeles (1981)
Thomas Kinaga, a veteran of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, testified before the Commission about the deep conflict of serving his country while his family remained imprisoned behind barbed wire. His words captured the bitter irony of loyalty tested by injustice. Condemnation of Evacuation:...
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Bronzeville, Manzanar, and the City’s Role in Injustice - Robert Farrell - Los Angeles (1981)
Robert Farrell, Los Angeles City Councilman, addressed the Commission on behalf of the city. He acknowledged both the symbolic and insufficient nature of official apologies, while urging that the Commission’s work remain on record to expose the racist foundations of Executive Order 9066. City...
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Dillon Myer’s Denial, Read by Lillian Baker and the WRA’s Revisionist Defense - Los Angeles (1981)
Preface: This episode contains testimony from an internment denier. Lillian Baker, a far-right activist, read Dillon S. Myer’s statement before the Commission. Myer was the wartime head of the War Relocation Authority, the civilian agency that ran the camps. His testimony minimizes the injustice…
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Joe Yamamoto: “I Wish I Had Said Hell No” - Los Angeles (1981)
Joe Yamamoto, a 62-year-old from Gardena, testified before the Commission about the collapse of his business, the humiliation of camp life, and the sting of America’s betrayal. Speaking as a former gas station owner and JACL member, his testimony carried both bitterness and hope for redress.…
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Hostages vs. Prisoners: A Question of Value, Henry Sakai - Los Angeles (1981)
Henry Sakai, national treasurer of the Japanese American Citizens League, testified before the Commission about his incarceration as a teenager and the indignities suffered by his family and community. His words mixed personal memory, family loss, and sharp critique of media distortions that...
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Mary Kurihara on Loss, Loyalty, and the Cost of Silence - Los Angeles (1981)
Mary Kurihara appeared before the Commission on behalf of her husband, Albert Kurihara, a 78-year-old Hawaiian-born Nisei who had just suffered a stroke. Determined to have his voice heard, Mary read his written testimony describing the pain of incarceration and the scars it left on his family....
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Veterans Forgotten Behind Barbed Wire: Katsumi Yagura - Los Angeles (1981)
Katsumi Yagura testified before the Commission to highlight a group often overlooked in discussions of wartime incarceration: Japanese American veterans who were already serving in the U.S. military before Pearl Harbor. He described the bitter irony of men in uniform fighting for their country...
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“A Great Democracy Can Admit Its Mistakes” - Ken Hayashi - Los Angeles (1981)
Ken Hayashi, chairperson of the Orange County Japanese American Citizens League, testified before the Commission with what he called “mixed emotions” — frustration at having to prove the injustice of incarceration, and gratitude for the rare chance to speak before a federal body. His testimony...
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Loyalty, Silence, and the Cost of Conscience - Los Angeles (1981)
Irma (Sarah Baker) Roth, wife of George Knox Roth, testified before the Commission about how her husband’s defense of Japanese Americans during WWII led to his professional ruin and lifelong stigma. She illuminated the collateral damage faced by allies who stood against mass incarceration....
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The Silent Carryover of Camp: Discrimination in Jobs, Housing, and Education - Los Angeles (1981)
In this exchange, a commissioner pressed witnesses on whether the legacy of the WWII incarceration camps left a lasting “camp spirit” that continues to shape discrimination against Japanese Americans. Commissioner’s Question: Did the incarceration experience itself reinforce racism in U.S....
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The Cost of Dignity Behind Barbed Wire - Los Angeles (1981)
Elizabeth Nishikawa, a native Californian born in Berkeley, spoke before the Commission about her family’s sacrifices, their Christian values, and the shock of Executive Order 9066. Her testimony captures the journey from a Quaker marriage in Tokyo, to her parents’ migration across the Pacific in...
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Handcuffed from Hospital to Camp: William Shigeta’s Warning to America - Los Angeles (1981)
William Morris Shigeta, born in Seattle in 1919, testified before the Commission about the personal toll of incarceration and its lasting effects on his mental health and livelihood. His life story traced a path from childhood in Japan and the freedom he found in America, to being drafted for...
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Don’t Be So Japanese: Mike Murase on the Legacy of Camp
Mike Murase, president of the Little Tokyo Service Center and long-time community organizer, testified before the CWRIC on behalf of a federation of 13 social service organizations serving Japanese Americans in Southern California. His testimony drew on years of direct service and the painful...
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George Takei: Childhood Behind Barbed Wire - Los Angeles (1981)
George Takei, actor and activist, testified before the CWRIC reflecting on his childhood memories of incarceration during WWII. Speaking not as a celebrity but as a former child prisoner, his words captured the innocence of not understanding and the lifelong weight of shame that followed.…
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From Manzanar to Little Tokyo: Alan Nishio Demands Redress - Los Angeles (1981)
Alan Nishio, born in Manzanar and a founding member of the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations, testified before the CWRIC on behalf of the Little Tokyo People’s Rights Organization. His testimony connected personal history, community loss, and the fight for justice. Who He Is: Sansei,...
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Not Rocking the Boat Is Over: Roy Nakano Testifies - Los Angeles (1981)
Roy Nakano, representing the Gardena Committee for Redress and Reparations, testified before the CWRIC on the deep impact of incarceration and its lingering effects on Japanese American communities—especially Gardena, which held the largest percentage of Japanese Americans in the continental U.S....
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The Crime Was Racism: An Educator Speaks Out - Los Angeles (1981)
Raymond Wiedemann, a retired teacher and educational consultant from San Pedro, California, appeared before the CWRIC not as a Japanese American, but as a citizen moved by conscience. His testimony highlighted the injustice of wartime incarceration and the moral obligation to make amends....
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Helen Keller Was Our Only Friend - Los Angeles (1981)
Hannah Tomiko Holmes, 53 years old at the time of testimony, spoke before the CWRIC with the help of an interpreter, bringing forward a story rarely heard: the forgotten struggles of disabled Japanese American children during WWII incarceration. Early Life & Deafness: Hannah had been deaf since…
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Hunger, Hardship, and a Broken Spirit: Alfred Nabeta Testifies - Los Angeles (1981)
Alfred Nabeta, a Nisei from Los Angeles living in Huntington Beach at the time of testimony, spoke before the CWRIC about the devastating toll of early removal under Executive Order 9066. Forced Out Before Camps Were Ready: As part of the so-called “voluntary” evacuees, Alfred and his family were...
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Principle vs. Politics: Shigekuni Before the CWRIC - Los Angeles (1981)
Phil Shigekuni, who spent his childhood years at Amache camp in Colorado, testified before the CWRIC about the danger of silence, the burden of misinformation, and the urgent need for redress. Childhood in Camp: At eight and nine years old, Phil was incarcerated with his family at Amache. Decades...
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Doctors at Manzanar: $19 a Month - Tom Watanabe - Los Angeles (1981)
Tom T. Watanabe, a UCLA and University of Chicago–trained physician, testified before the Commission with striking memories of Los Angeles before and during mass removal. His words blended clinical precision with personal outrage, capturing both the indignities of camp and the hypocrisy of...
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Not Forgotten, Not Forgiven: Why Redress Matters: Harry Kawahara’s Testimony - Los Angeles (1981)
Harry Kawahara, speaking as chair of the Japanese American Citizens League’s Pacific Southwest District Redress Committee, testified before the CWRIC about why Japanese Americans could not “just forget” the camps and why reparations were necessary. Why Redress, Why Now: Addressed critics asking…
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The Crime of Silence: Morris Kight Before the CWRIC - Los Angeles (1981)
Morris Kight, a Los Angeles human rights activist, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front, and member of the L.A. County Human Relations Commission, testified before the CWRIC with a call to conscience and action. Personal Apology: Opened by apologizing directly to Japanese Americans for not…
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Evacuation Is a Lie: Robert O’Brien Rejects Euphemisms - Los Angeles (1981)
Robert W. O’Brien, former director of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council and speaking on behalf of the American Friends Service Committee, testified before the CWRIC about the unfinished work of justice. Student Relocation Efforts: During WWII, O’Brien helped relocate...
About this show
What happened to the Japanese Americans during the WWII "internment" camps? In this podcast, we publish the audio archives from the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians during the 1980s and more. Currently, this podcast is published as a pilot until we can partner with an organization to finish production. If you're interested, please reach out to us at [email protected]
Hosted by
Masami Moriya
Categories