ID Booklets

Hikoji Takeuchi is just one of many former internees and others affected by the internment experience. Click the links below to access their personal stories

NPS

This Educator Resources page includes over sixty individual biographies in the form of “ID Booklets.” Nearly all of these booklets were written by former internees or their families. The files are in .pdf format and may be downloaded and printed. Additional booklets will be added to our website as they become available.

 

Name	Sex/Gen	Camp(s)	Notes
Lilian Bannai	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1922, daughter of Shino, sister of Paul & Rose.
Paul Bannai	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1920, son of Shino, brother of Lilian & Rose. College student. 442nd soldier. 1st JA elected to CA Legislature 1973.
Shino Bannai	F Issei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1899 in Japan, mother of Paul, Lilian, & Rose.
Joan DaValle Beyers	F	Manzanar, CA	b. 1930, sister of Shirley. Lived in camp as the daughter of Caucasian teacher.
Fred Causey	M	Manzanar, CA	7th grader in 1942. Lived in camp as the son of the camp’s Civil Engineer.
Sue Kunitomi Embrey	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1923. sister of Midori & Tets. Manzanar Free Press editor.Civil Rights activist & leading figure in the movement to preserve Manzanar.
Kazuko Tsubouchi Fujishima	F Nisei	Jerome, AR Rohwer, AR	In high school in 1942, graduated in camp in 1944.
Margaret D'Ille Gleason	F	Manzanar, CA	b. 1879, lived in Japan from 1908-18 working with the YWCA, and the Red Cross in Siberia. Served as the chief of Community Welfare at Manzanar and played a key role in reconciliation after the 12/6/42 Manzanar Riot.
Fumi Hayashi	F Nisei	Topaz, UT	b. 1926, attended high school in camp.
Yayoi Okuno Hirashiki	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1926, father taken away by the FBI. Parents returned to Japan after the war.
William Hohri	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1927, graduated in camp in 1944. Civil Rights and Redress activist and author. Brought an unsuccessful class action lawsuit for internment, United States v. Hohri, in the 1980s.
Mas Inoshita	M Nisei	Gila River, AZ	22 years old in 1942, father arrested by the FBI. Served in the Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific.
Kazuko Iwahasi	F Nisei	Topaz, UT	b. 1930, was in elementary school. First sent to Tanforan Assembly Center and then to Topaz. Involved in many youth activities in camp.
Midori Kunitomi Iwata	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1925, sister of Sue & Tets. Graduated in camp in 1943.
George Izumi	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1921, husband of Grace, drafted into the U.S. Army from Manzanar.
Grace Kato Izumi	F Nisei	Jerome, AR Rohwer, AR	Wife of George. Graduated from high school in 1940. Temporarily located to Chicago from camp.
Rosie Maruki Kakuuchi	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1925, graduated from high school & played sports in camp. Her sister Ruby died, along with her newborn twin girls, in the Manzanar hospital in 1942.
Eiichi “H.E.” Kamiya	M Nisei	Rohwer, AR	b. 1936, father arrested by the FBI. Attended grade school in camp.
Kazuko T. Kato	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1933, attended grade school in camp.
Rose Bannai Kitahara	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1924, daughter of Shino, sister of Paul & Lilian. Worked as a nurse in Manzanar.
Tetsuo Kunitomi	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1930, brother of Sue and Midori, attended grade school in camp. Joined the army after camp.
Ralph Lazo	M	Manzanar, CA	b. 1924, Mexican-Irish American who voluntarily entered camp to be with his JA friends. Drafted into the army from camp in 1944.
Ayako Machida	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	High school student. Recalls how friends treated her differently after Pearl Harbor. Eventually left camp to attend nursing school in Illinois.
Sho Maruyama	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1927, father arrested by the FBI. Graduated from high school in camp in 1944 and then volunteered to serve in the army.
Lillian Matsumoto	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1913, earned her degree in social work. Before the war, she worked at Shonien children’s home in LA. She and her husband Harry oversaw the Children’s Village at Manzanar, home to more than 100 children, and the only orphanage in a War Relocation Center.
Shirely DaValle Meeder	F	Manzanar, CA	b. 1931, sister of Joan. Lived in camp as the daughter of a Caucasian teacher.
Helen Mishima	F Nisei	Gila River, AZ	Attended school in camp. Relocated to Detroit in 1945.
Archie Miyatake	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1924, graduated from high school in camp in 1944. Son of photographer Toyo Miyatake who smuggled a camera lens into camp and took several thousand photos.
Al Mizuhara	M Nisei	Topaz, UT	b. 1930, attended junior high school in camp. Husband of Phyllis.
Phyllis Mizuhara	F Nisei	Poston, AZ	b. 1930, sixth grader in 1942. Her father was arrested by the FBI. Wife of Al.
George Moreshita	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1931, had mostly Mexican American friends as a child in LA. Served in Japan and Korea during the Korean War.
Frank Mori	M Nisei	Gila River, AZ	b. 1920, met and married his wife in camp. Joined the Military Intelligence Service and served in the Pacific.
Gloria Morita	F Nisei	Tule Lake, CA	High school age, worked in mess halls and offices in camp before locating to Chicago. One brother was a “No-No Boy” and renounced his US citizenship.
Raymond Muraoka	M Sansei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1935, attended 1st – 4th grades in camp. One of 8 children, his baby sister died in camp in 1942.
Aiji Nagano	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1927, brother of Momo. Their father was arrested by the FBI. Graduated from high school in camp in 1944 and volunteered for the U.S. Army
Joe Nagano	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1921, Chemistry major at UCLA when war broke out. Student relocation to Chicago in 1943 and drafted into the Military Intelligent Service in 1945. Served in Occupied Japan.
Momo Nagano	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1925, sister of Aiji. Their father was arrested by the FBI. Attended high school in camp and wove camo nets to support the US war effort.
Joyce Nakamura	F Sansei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1934, grandfather arrested by the FBI. Attended 3rd – 5th grades in camp before relocating to Chicago. Photographed by Ansel Adams for his wartime book Born Free and Equal.
Mitsuru Nakamura	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1926, attended high school in camp. His father was a bystander during the 12/6/42 Manzanar Riot and was shot in the shoulder.
Claire Nakashima	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1923, graduated the summer before Pearl Harbor. Her father was arrested by the FBI. Worked at the Manzanar Hospital before relocating to MN in 1945.
Bill Nishimura	M Nisei	Poston, AZ Tule Lake, CA Santa Fe, NM Crystal City, TX	b. 1920, father arrested by the FBI. “No-No Boy” segregated to Tule Lake in 1944. Renounced US citizenship & became active in the camp’s pro-Japan Hoshidan movement. Removed from Tule Lake and interned in Dept. of Justice camps until 1947. Eventually regained his US citizenship & remained in US.
Takayo “Rose” Matsui Ochi	F Nisei	Rohwer, AR	b. 1938, small child in camp. Civil Rights activist and first Asian American woman to serve as Assistant Attorney General. Instrumental in efforts to establish Manzanar National Historic Site.
Robert Okazaki	M Nisei	POW Camp #33 in Petawawa, Ontario & #101 in Angler, Ontario	b. 1917 in Canada. Organized “Nisei Mass Evacuation Group” to protest Canadian internment. Released in 1946 & lived on the street for the next 2 years.
Jun Okimoto	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1924, graduated from Manzanar High School in 1943. Considered himself a “terrible student” in camp and “hated” his Japanese ancestry.
Sam Ono	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1926, his mother died when he was six. He graduated from Manzanar High School in 1944.
Bo Sakaguchi	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1925, had 6 older siblings attending medical & dental schools when war broke out. A “quiet and an above average student who was not enthused” in camp. Drafted into the Army a week after the war ended.
Saburo Sasaki	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1934, attended elementary school in camp. His family relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1945.
Wilbur Sato	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1929, evicted along with all other Japanese American families on Terminal Island, CA, with only 48 hours notice in February, 1942.
Daisy Uyeda Satoda	F Nisei	Topaz, UT	b. 1927, father arrested by the FBI. Active in student activities, graduated from high school in camp in 1945. Attended college 40 years later.
Mas Segimoto	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1929, 6th grader when war broke out. Father arrested by the FBI along with most other men on Terminal Island. Snuck out of camp to go fishing.
Grace Shinoda	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1927, sister of Larry. Her father died when she was six. She saw one of her classmates, 17-year-old Jimmy Ito, shot & killed during the 12/6/42 Manzanar Riot.
Larry Shinoda	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1930, brother of Grace. Attended school in camp. Served in the Korean War. Grew up to become a world-renowned auto designer who helped design the Corvette Stingray, Boss Mustang, Camaro Z28, & Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Hy Shishino	M Nisei	Gila River, AZ	b. 1924, senior in high school when war broke out. Principal refused to give him his diploma in 1942—he didn’t get it until 1988. Wove camo nets in camp for US war effort. His brother accidentally drowned during Hy’s 21st birthday celebration in MN. Drafted then discharged from the army when his father became terminally ill in 1946.
LaPriel Strong Bush	F	Manzanar, CA	b. 1930, her father was the Caucasian director of Adult Education at Manzanar. Attended school outside camp, but lived in camp & socialized with Japanese American children.
Bill Taketa	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1926, his father died when he was ten. Attended a segregated school pre-war. Freshman in high school when war started. Wove camo nets for the US war effort. Graduated from Manzanar High School in 1945 and served in the Military Intelligence Service.
Hikoji Takeuchi	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1921, shot by an MP after receiving permission to collect scrap wood to build furniture for his family’s barracks. Hurt & angry because of his internment, he was sent to Tule Lake Segregation Center & then Bismark, ND. Went to Japan after the war but returned to the US in the 1950s.
Tadashi Tatsui	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1929, in junior high when the war began. Relocated to Chicago. Served in the Korean War.
Mary M. Teramoto	F Nisei	Jerome, AR Rohwer, AR	9th grader when war started. Enjoyed school in camp. Returned to CA in 1945.
Mariagnes Aya Uenishi Medrud	F Nisei	Minidoka, ID	b. 1925, her father was picked up by the FBI. She visited injured Japanese American soldiers in a hospital in NY, a “devastating experience,” and encountered racial hatred.
Hank Umemoto	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1928, recalls “the whole world seemed to collapse before my eyes…”
Kinichi Watanabe	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA Tule Lake, CA	b. 1934, his 4 year old brother died in Manzanar, and another brother was born there two years later. Attended 1st – 3rd grade in camp before being segregated to Tule Lake.
Arthur Williams, Jr.	M	Manzanar, CA	b. 1928. In 1912 his grandfather bought an apple farm in the pre-war town of Manzanar. 30 years later, his father was hired as the Caucasian Assistant Chief of Internal Security at Manzanar. Art lived in camp and attended school in Independence.
Shig Yabu	M Nisei	Heart Mountain, WY	b. 1932, the only Japanese American in his Fremont elementary school, his teacher cried when he was taken away. In 2007 he published the children’s book “Hello Maggie!” about his experiences taming a magpie to be his camp pet.
Kazuyuki Yamamoto	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1924, junior in high school when the war began. Relocated to Chicago in 1945.
Jun Yamamoto	M Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1923, college student at UCLA when war broke out. Volunteered for the 442nd and fought in Italy & France, including the “Rescue of the Lost Battalion.” Jun’s unit suffered 800 casualties (including 54 dead) to rescue 200 Texans of the 36th Infantry.
Homer Yasui	M Nisei	Tule Lake, CA	b. 1925, his father was arrested by the FBI. Homer relocated to Denver to attend college in 1942. Homer’s older brother Min deliberately challenged a curfew order and took his case, Minoru Yasui v. United States, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Harry Yasumoto	M Nisei	Gila River, AZ	4th grader when the war broke out, he was allowed to finish the school year before being sent to camp. Played football in camp.
Yaeko Munemori Yokoyama	F Nisei	Manzanar, CA	b. 1919, she had just finished training to be a nurse when the war began. Yaeko helped set up the Manzanar hospital. Her brother Sadao was killed while fighting with the 442nd in Italy. He was the only Japanese American to win the Medal of Honor during World War II.