I was an American citizen, and I had as many rights as anyone else.
As long as my record stands in federal court, any American citizen can be held in prison or concentration camps without a trial or a hearing.
I still remember, 40 years ago, when I was shackled and put in prison... Being an American citizen didn't mean a thing.
During the curfew, whoever went out, the people were watching you. Any Japanese home, there was some person figuring he's a good American citizen by doing his duty, and they were watching every move each family were doin'. Or if they went out, they followed them to see where they were goin'.
I didn't think that the government would go as far as to include American citizens to be interned without a hearing.
I was really upset because I was branded as an enemy alien when I'm an American.
I was very upset because I did not have a fair trial to prove my loyalty to this country.
I was the third son, and the family tradition was my dad always favored the oldest child.
One person can make a difference, even if it takes forty years.
I'm Asian, so they assumed I'm not an American and that I come from Japan. Restaurants would refuse to serve me, and places would refuse to give you a haircut.
I was just living my life, and that's what I wanted to do.
That was it - I lost my job... I was very discouraged. I wanted to be in defense work... I'm an American, and I have nothin' to do with Japan, and so it's sort of an insult to me.
I don't even know how it is to have a home. I feel like an orphan or something.
Before the war, my parents were very proud people. They'd always talk about Japan and also about the samurai and things like that. Right after Pearl Harbor, they were just real quiet. They kept to themselves; they were afraid to talk about what could happen. I assume they knew that nothing good would come out of it.
All of them turned their backs on me at that time because they thought I was a troublemaker.
I thought what the military was doing was unconstitutional.
