Internment – Time of Remembrance – Jim Tanimoto
First-Hand Accounts of the Japanese American Internment Experience. It is our hope that these stories will build on the work and legacy of the late Mary Tsukamoto, who devoted her life to promoting social justice for all, regardless of race, creed, or ethnicity.
Jim Tanimoto Interview
Jim was held at the Tule Lake Segregation Center. In 1943, he refused to answer the so-called “loyalty questionnaire,” and was removed with many other men living in his same block to a nearby former California Conservation Camp (CCC).
00:00 – Introduction
00:18 – Clip 1: Description of life prior to Pearl Harbor and being sent to Tule Lake. Refers to Tule Lake as a concentration camp.
03:34 – Clip 2: Description of the Loyalty questionaire and his decision not to sign the paper.
06:13 – Clip 3: Description of the segregation of those who did not sign the loyalty questionaire at Tule Lake and their removal from camp and incarceration in jail.
08:53 – Clip 4: Description of arrival of at the CCC camp – provides brief history of the CCC camp. First encounter with guards.
10:58 – Clip 5: Description of the treatment of the guards at the CCC camp towards the Japanese men who refused to sign the loyalty oath.
14:01 – Clip 6: Description of a positive experience with one of the guards at the CCC camp.
16:23 – Clip 7: Additional information about one of the guards at the CCC camp.
17:18 – Clip 8: Description of his families experience in dealing with racism when they returned. Includes a story about Eleanor Roosevelt.
20:49 – Clip 9: Description of why he became a resistor – based on his education and recognition that the US was not living up to its ideals. Difficulty in leaving everything behind.
24:47 – Clip 10: Description of what happened to the Japanese people upon their return from camp and how their things were stolen.
26:45 – Clip 11: Describes experiences when he returned to Gridley and the racism he and his family experienced including an incident with his former coach.
31:33 – Clip 12: Describes an experience in Montana at Custer’s monument with an American Indian – explores the importance of telling his story.
35:27 – Credits
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