Mitsuru J. Nakamura

MITSURU J. NAKAMURA
Family # 2689
Camp: Manzanar, CA
Address: 33-4-2

Jingo Nakamura, my father, came to America in 1918 at the age of 16. He worked on the railroad with his father and his brothers. After the exclu­sion act was passed my father returned to Japan to get a wife. My mother, Michie Inadomi, age 16, came to America as a “picture bride.” They were both from Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. I was born in December 1926 in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, CA. I studied Japanese language at Chuo Gakuen, as well as shuju, kendo, and kenbu. I attended Ste­venson Junior High and Roosevelt High Schools. I attended Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, in the location of the Japanese American National Museum.

I was 15 years old when the Pacific War started. On December 8, 1941, two FBI agents came to our home and confiscated our cameras, radios, and kitchen knives. Curiously they did not take my kendo helmet or Japanese swords. During the next few weeks I felt bewildered and intimidated. Fortunately for us, Boyle Heights was made up of Mexican Americans and Jew­ish Americans, who were sympathetic and helped us in many ways. Roosevelt High School had many stu­dent body officers who were Nisei. So after the evacuation, the school had to have another election of officers. The official evacuation notice posted on telephone posts was dated May 3, 1942. We arrived at the Manzanar War Relocation Center on June 1, 1942. Our family number was 2689; we were assigned housing in 33-4-2. My father had arrived in Manzanar two weeks earlier to work as a carpenter to construct the barracks that would house us. Our possessions, which were not sold, were stored in a friend’s house. In these moments of trauma and uncertainty, our non-Japanese neighbors were very helpful.

A makeshift school system was developed in camp. I belonged to the Judicial Committee, Science Club, and Boy’s League. Occasionally, I wrote short mystery stories. Soon, I acquired the nickname of “Dick Tracy.” A few of our teachers were Quakers whose husbands were im­prisoned in Conscientious Objector camps. I worked after school delivering heating oil to the barracks and also as a dishwasher in the Guayule Research Laboratory. For recreation, I helped my mother and others build a clay ten­nis court. We did some shopping with the Sears catalogue. Our Mexican friends in Los Angeles often sent us food pack­ages. Once there was a riot. The soldiers started to shoot. My father, an innocent bystander, was shot in the back. Fortu­nately he survived. After graduation from high school, at the age of 17, I obtained a Citizen’s Indefinite Leave pass and left “camp” forever.

Wind and Dust
This wind and dust I have to bear
How hard it blows I do not care.
But when the wind begins to blow –
­My morale is pretty low.
I know that I can see it through
Because others have to bear it too.
So I will bear it with the rest
And hope the outcome is the best.
– George Nishimura, age 16 (Manzanar, 1943)

Read this to learn more about the demographics of each of the ten facilities administered by the War Relocation Authority.

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