Tessaku
9 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 21 ratingsTessaku (iron fence or barbed wire) is a collection of stories from the Japanese American incarceration during WWII. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States went into a state of shock and with poor political leadership, forcibly removing all Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast into isolated concentration camps. These are the stories and memories of the people who lived through it.
Read more stories and find resources to help in tracking down your own family's camp history at https://tessaku.com/
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Episodes
Tadashi Tsufura
July 14, 2020 20:00 - 27 minutes - 19.2 MBTadashi Tsufura was a young teenager living with his family in the farming community of Parlier, California, where his father, Shosetsu Tsufura was the Buddhist minister and his mother, Midori (Kamamoto), was a Japanese language teacher - both central to the community’s cultural heritage and knowledge. When the war broke out, the family was sent to Gila River in Arizona and after two years in camp, the Tsufuras moved across the country to Seabrook, New Jersey to work in the frozen foods pack...
Tadashi Tsufura
July 14, 2020 20:00 - 27 minutes - 19.2 MBTadashi Tsufura was a young teenager living with his family in the farming community of Parlier, California, where his father, Shosetsu Tsufura was the Buddhist minister and his mother, Midori (Kamamoto), was a Japanese language teacher - both central to the community’s cultural heritage and knowledge. When the war broke out, the family was sent to Gila River in Arizona and after two years in camp, the Tsufuras moved across the country to Seabrook, New Jersey to work in the frozen foods pack...
The Songbird of Manzanar: Mary Nomura
August 17, 2018 07:00 - 40 minutes - 18.8 MBMary Nomura was a teenager when she and her siblings were sent to Manzanar. Both parents had passed when she was young, leaving her eldest siblings to struggle through the Depression in caring for the family. But in camp she found friends, a new social life, and her future husband. In this episode, you'll hear original recordings of Mary singing, which were done inside Manzanar and are the only recordings from the ten camps. Follow Tessaku on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessakupro...
Mary Nomura - The Songbird of Manzanar
August 17, 2018 07:00 - 40 minutes - 18.8 MBMary Nomura was a teenager when she and her siblings were sent to Manzanar. Both parents had passed when she was young, leaving her eldest siblings to struggle through the Depression in caring for the family. But in camp she found friends, a new social life, and her future husband. In this episode, you'll hear original recordings of Mary singing, which were done inside Manzanar and are the only recordings from the ten camps. Follow Tessaku on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessaku...
Grace Izuhara
August 05, 2018 07:00 - 17 minutes - 7.98 MBGrace Izuhara was five years old and living in Los Angeles when WWII broke out. And rather than go to camp, her family chose to avoid it by leaving their home and signing up for a farm labor program to harvest a vital wartime staple: sugar beets. But unlike other Japanese Americans who were children during the war and had opportunities to play together, she has few happy memories: She was bullied at school, and remembers that when her younger brother had an accident, nearly every emergency r...
Kazuo Yamaguchi
July 02, 2018 07:00 - 20 minutes - 9.48 MBBorn and raised in Queens, New York, Kaz's family lived alongside all Italian Americans, even befriending members of the mafia. It wasn't until he went to basic training at Fort Snelling that he met other young Niseis from the West Coast and Hawaii who, as he puts it, "straightened him out real quick," teaching him what it meant to be a proud, Japanese American. And though over 70 years have past, Kaz’s wartime memories from the occupation in Tokyo distress him: He still deals with PTSD. But ...
Kazuo Yamaguchi
July 02, 2018 07:00 - 20 minutes - 9.48 MBBorn and raised in Queens, New York, Kaz's family lived alongside all Italian Americans, even befriending members of the mafia. It wasn't until he went to basic training at Fort Snelling that he met other young Niseis from the West Coast and Hawaii who, as he puts it, "straightened him out real quick," teaching him what it meant to be a proud, Japanese American. And though over 70 years have past, Kaz’s wartime memories from the occupation in Tokyo distress him: He still deals with PTSD. But ...
Nancy Yamamoto
June 21, 2018 07:00 - 20 minutes - 9.48 MBNancy Yamamoto was a teenager when war broke out between the U.S. and Japan. Her plans to become a fashion designer were abruptly put on hold as her family was uprooted from a farming town near Sacramento to the harsh landscape of Tule Lake. In our chat, she reflects on her anger towards Japan for bombing Pearl Harbor and the fraught relationship she had with her mother. ⭐️Please rate and review the podcast - thank you! 📖 For more stories and info: https://tessaku.com/ ✒️ Help save thes...
Nancy Yamamoto
June 21, 2018 07:00 - 20 minutes - 9.48 MBNancy Yamamoto was a teenager when war broke out between the U.S. and Japan. Her plans to become a fashion designer were abruptly put on hold as her family was uprooted from a farming town near Sacramento to the harsh landscape of Tule Lake. In our chat, she reflects on her anger towards Japan for bombing Pearl Harbor and the fraught relationship she had with her mother. ⭐️Please rate and review the podcast - thank you! 📖 For more stories and info: https://tessaku.com/ ✒️ Help save thes...