Dear Asianometry, I was born and raised in Hood River OR USA and I know this story very well, Hood River OR had a quite large community of Japanese-American farmers, many of them quite successful. In High School I went on one of my very first dates with a local girl. My Parents found out, and delicately informed me that it was their wish that I stop seeing her. Having never behaved in such a way before I was taken aback. No she was not Japanese American. When the US Government ( in a fit of racist paranoia as no German Americans went to camps ) sent the Japanese Americans to "...The Camps..." they had to leave their homes, possessions, but worse they had to leave their land, and farmland does not take care of itself. Often they would sell the land for a $ 1.00 someone in the area who would promise to sell it back when the war was over, and when they came back. The insult to their injury was that for some of them, when they came back they could not get their land back, or if they did, the land had been commercially raped, no fertilizer, no pruning, no care of any kind. The caretaker owners had sold every piece of fruit on the tress, year after year at top US Army prices, and making a small fortune. So when the Japanese-American family came back from the camps, and assuming they could even get their own property back, the farm had to be plowed up and started from scratch at great cost. Those who profited from the Japanese-Americans misfortunes were known, many of the more "liberal" or Christian members in the valley knew who these people were, it was a small world after all, and refused to associate with them socially or even in business ( some were even family ), and this is where my girlfriend story emerges, her family was one of those that had profited and my Parents had rejected her family. There was a deep, deep rift of feelings within the European-American community over this, it was a scar that lasted for many decades after the war.
Im a 40yo working white guy. The most discriminated against people in America currently. I understand your past resentments and current sentiment. No I’m not kidding and I bet this comment will be reported and/or removed
After WWII, many thousands of Japanese immigrated to Brazil. We already had some here since 1908 but their numbers grew exponentially. Currently, we have the largest Japanese population outside Japan, over 1.5M considering Japanese nationals and descendants of those first immigrants. There's even a very cool region in São Paulo called Liberdade (freedom) where you have many Japanese shops, architecture, restaurants, etc. Quite a cool place.
And of course, all of them were just innocent immigrants. There were for instance no war criminals like those nazi Germans, italian fascists, Vichy frenchmen, murderers from Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ucrania, Croatia, Hungary and Romania that migrate to North America and particularly to South America where they were blessed and protected by the Catholic church.
Peru, too... There was a second generation Japanese-Peruvian that was elected to the Presidency of Peru! His name- Alberto Fujimoro, and hos name reminds me of the names of my grandparents and great aunts/uncles, who were all Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans): Fred, Joe, Thomas, and Fritz Tokagawa- Jane and Rosie Sasaki etc, etc.
Acho que a coisa mais similar ao bairro da Liberdade que eles tem são as chinatowns, só que estas são de outra etnia. Settler societies com o Brasil e os EUA são um terreno fértil para a convivência de grupos que em suas terras de origem seriam rivais.
My father, a Kibei, spent the war in DC working for the OSS estimating what the GNP of Japan would be after the war. My mother was in Manzanar camp and then in DC at the OSS also. But most of their friends fought in the war. When I was a child, one of his cronies from Hawaii brought me from Hawaii to Taipei to my parents. On the way he told me some amazing stories. He was in Burma tapping phone lines for Merrils' Mauraders, and later was sent to Yunan to translate Japanese communications. On his 18th birthday, Mao and Chou En Lai attended; probably he is the only american who can say that. Later when Nixon went to China he was remembered and invited. The war created some incredible challenges but also some amazing experiences and opportunties for these Nisei.
I knew a Japanese translator who worked for the occupying American forces. He was born in the US but was on the last ship from the US to Japan at the age of 17. He did not speak Japanese when he arrived in Japan. He lived in a small village through the war and when the Americans became an occupying force. He became a translator/interpreter for the American forces as he spoke fluent American English. Later he became a journalist.
Grandpa in the 442nd: My Grandfather and several great-uncles served in the 442nd. My grandfather as a Corporal (w/ purple heart, bronze star) and eventually an MP, maybe attached to the artillery batillion- its not clear.) ...After going through the craziness of the Itialian campaign, France, etc, he saw DACHAU during its liberation. (can you imagine that? With his own family spending most of the war in 'camp', in places like Idaho?) He ended up guarding German POWs, at a former concentration/death camp (not sure which: he was a shutterbug, but the pics I have don't show exactly where, though I suspect it was Dachau, which was used for that purpose)... He was a guard, whole they were sorted into different classifications- draftees, officers, SS, war criminals, etc. Apperantly, He got along fairly well with a few of the POWS, and, as most were cleared of any war crimes, I think he may have identified with some of them as in: 'Well, ain't this FUBAR?', etc. (I'm paraphrasing). Anyway, when my mother was a teenager in the 60s, My grandfather owned a wholesale nursery (for trees/plants), and one afternoon, a stranger came to the door, asking for my grandfather by name. The visitor was a former German officer that was in town to sell machine tools (of course he was- what could be more German?), and had recalled that my grandfather, as a guard, had mentioned that he lived there. The German had brought a six-pack of German beer, and appearently they sat on the porch for a while and caught up, and then never saw one another again. It's a great story... according to my mother and uncle, it's true. My grandfather would never speak about his time in Europe (which is common, appearently), but, I suppose that those were significant moments in his life and for that German ex-soldier. So, wow, eh? I've been thinking about writing a history of the 442, using his life and experiences to personalize/ anchor the history. Anyway, that's my connection to the 442nd. (I have some relics- a camera he 'bought' in Italy, an alabaster statuette, some photo albums (Most of which have been donated to an Asian-American museum- the Wing Luke- in Seattle) -B (One more thing- as a shutterbug, he had a ton of photos of his friends in itally- short-ish Japanese men sitting/ dancing/ flirting with lots of tall, beautiful (recently liberated?) Itialian women. He DID talk about that, a few times... Grandpa was pretty cool.)
@@gus473 thanks... I've been collecting info and documentation for a while. Also, since that generation (the Nisei- first gen born in the US) is basicly gone, and the next, who remember them personally, are going... I do some work with some historical associations in my area (Seattle) as well, so I have the material... I may as well do SOMETHING with my English degree, eh? Thanks for the encouragement. Cheers.
@@bnooper Half- 4 of my great-grandparents immigrated to the US in the early 1900s. (The men for work, and their wives as 'picture brides')... I am fourth generation. (I don't speak a lick of Japanese, nor did my third-gen, 100% Japanese mother- while my white Father was semi-fluent! Cheers! P.S./ Also: There is a term: 'Hapa' (a slang term from Hawaiin plantation workers), which means half-asian/ half-white, and had recently begun to be used more commonly: The idea is that, say, a half-Japanese may find more in common (re: their experiences in the US) with a half-Vietnamese person than they might with a full Japanese American or White American... It's an interesting te, amd, probably a lot more prevalent in areas like Seattle, San Francisco, etc, than in the broader US.)
This story remind me that the conflict in WW2 and the cooperation after WW2 between US and Japan, which proved that human kind is kind enough to forgive the hatred and reach a better future together. Wonderful story.
Years ago, I went to a WW2 memorial on Okinawa and I watched a video interviewing an Okinawan woman who was about to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff with her baby. The Japanese military had implored civilians not to be captured and to commit suicide. As she gathered the courage to jump off the cliff with her baby, she heard a man speaking "beautiful" Japanese pleading with her NOT to jump. She didn't think it could be an American so she obeyed and didn't jump. Unfortunately, many other Okinawan civilians committed suicide by jumping off what was to be later called "suicide cliff".
These history videos of yours are my favorites. Pleas keep it up and tell more stories like these. I had no idea about these brave men and their contribution.
Gookurosama deshita. I grew up next to Herbert Miasaki, his Ookasama, and their 3 kids. Miasakisan was mostly closedmouthed, except for his Kibei experiences back before the war. I had no idea how precious those recollections were until I went to the mainland for the University of California. Strange you must go to Kaliponi to learn what your treasures are!
As someone with an interest Japanese culture, this was an excellent episode. It's one of those stories that feels like a puzzle piece fell into place with regard to how history developed. A language note: issei and nisei literally mean first and second generation. The "iss" in issei is a contracted form of ichi (one) and "ni" means two.
With so many of your videos I feel like I am just sitting down for a boring history lesson but every time I find myself rivated and fully engaged. Great writing. This is probably the only channel I watch regardless of the topic of the video because its just always very interesting and I learn so much every time as well without it being tedious.
What infuriates me most about the internments was it only applied to the West Coast. If Japanese-Americans were such a dire threat, it should have applied to Hawaiians even more so. The rank hypocrisy so typical of politicians really shows. Stirring up the public with nonsensical fears of an impossible invasion of the West Coast makes it even more unforgivable.
Hearing the anecdote of the nissei soldier, I do wonder if staying amongst the (let's face it, extremely dumb and racist) west coast population would have been that much better, or would it have resulted in more deaths and hostility. Although the way it was done, planned and executed was still shamefull obviously. Americans were not and to be fair are still not especially good at dealing with whatever "foreign" problems they have. I'm french, and my family was in the US in 2003. It was easier for them to say they were canadians. And that was for a "light" problem compared to what the arab-americans went through.
@@freedmen123 I'm sure those 2000 were mighty pissed, and rightly so. But compared to what happened on the west coast, it's insignificant and doesn't lessen the hypocrisy.
I live across the river from Savage, Minnesota. I am a huge WW2 history buff, lived here most of my life, never knowing this all occured here. Sad how a lot of history gets lost. Thank you for covering this entire story.
Same here about living in this area and not knowing this history. There is a informative historical marker in Savage at the location of where Camp Savage was (Xenwood Av and the South Frontage Rd,- it's displayed on Google maps). I was there just recently, and sadly there is nothing of the camp structures left. There is a "take-a-book/leave-a-book" box next to the marker, and inside I left a copy of the photo of the camp that was used in this video. This was a great UA-cam video.
This is truly an excellent history video, owing to the depth of the information as well as the succinct and tactful manner with which it is presented. Great job!
another very well done, interesting, and informative video from which I learned a lot. Thank you for the work, and then sharing. I always look forward to your next video.
Aside from the obvious racism and mistrust, something similar happened with German speaking Americans in WWII. My uncle was one such. Even though he was military intelligence and didn't really have a lot of combat training, he ended up getting killed by the Nazis about a hundred miles from the village in Germany his great-great-grandfather had left almost a hundred years earlier. Broke my grandma's heart and left my 13 year-old dad a very quiet, reserved man for the rest of his life. Neither he nor my grandma were exactly thrilled when I began studying German and became quite fluent 30 years after the war.
I know someone already mentioned Brazil, but there's also a very interesting story regarding a Japanese immigrant organization in Brazil called Shindo Renmei, spreading Japanese propaganda amongst the Japanese Brazilian community and prosecuting "defeatists".
@@xraymind Yes, Windtalkers was about Navajo code talkers who served with the Marines in the Pacific Theater of WWII. Don't think a movie about Japanese-American Linguists and their role in the war has been done (and it probably won't happen because it will inevitably bring up the topic of the Japanese Internment Camps that the US operated during WWII).
I grew up on the north side of Chicago. My landlord was issei and his wife nisei. The next door neighbors were also nisei and in laws to them. One of the guys was a linguist with the Navy intelligence during WWII. He never really talked about what happened, other than he interrogated prisoners. The landlady, who was nisei, had been interred. The landlord, who was issei had actually gone back to Japan to visit relatives just before the start of war and ended up having to stay there for the duration. They had so many stories. Sadly they are all gone now and I miss them.
This was fantastic and I learned a lot, your video quality incredible. Also was proud to see my home state of Minnesota accept and treat these people with the respect they deserve.
In 1963 while working for the US Navy I was sent to New York for a 12 week tech school. There I met fellow students from other shipyards. I became friends with 2 men from Pearl Harbour Naval Shipyard. They were both Hawaiian born Nisei veterens of WWII. Thomas Nikita served with the famous 442 Battalion in Italy. The other guy, Fumio Kito, had spoke japanese in his home as a youth. He became a translator serving in the US Army in the Pacific. At the end of the war he parachuted into Manchuria along with 2 white American army officers. Their mission was to take charge of a large Japanese prisoner of war camp holding many allied prisoners. They were immediately imprisoned themselves and Fumio particularly underwent very harsh treatment from the Japanese army as he was considered a traitor. It took 3 days to convince the Japanese that Japan had surrendered and the war was over. Thomas and Fumio were both great guys and true Americans.
I have a softspot for the translators for the Japanese during this time period. My Grandmother's uncle, Edwin Dozier, was a Southern Baptist Missionary before World War II and was well respected as he spent much of his life in the country. You can find an article about him and in the 80's a biography was written on him, I own the book still. After getting kicked out of Japan due to the order of "All foreigners must leave" He served as a translator to Japanese prisoners of war where he even befriended them as well
My great uncle, Hongo Masahiro was a translator for the Americans during the war. He grew up in Japan as well as in Hawai'i, so he was fluent in both Japanese and English. My grandfather Manabu, (his younger brother) also served in the war. He also knew a decent amount of japanese, but he never went to college and was well educated like my uncle was, so he served in Europe up to the battle of Monte Casino. He was injured and both returned home safely. My grandfather lived to 90 and died in 2014. My uncle lived to over 100 and died during quarantine.
The Master Sergeant's comment reminded me of a day in a neighborhood bar.There was the barkeep and about 4 customers. When there was that few we would get to talking at times. A man's brother was drafted in WW II. He reported in expecting a direct commission and being assigned to the Adjutant Generals' Office(AGO). He was told that that they had too many lawyers. He became a medic.
Forgive me - I was sure Asianometry had made a video on the history of Supercomputers/Cray or Seymore Cray and his team ? Anyone know or know which one I'm thinking of?
I vividly remember being told that my grandfather, being nisei, refused to teach any our family the Japanese language. Proclaiming “we are Americans, and we will speak english”. He held onto this sentiment despite his treatment and service to the US Army in the Pacific, and with some of his own brothers and sisters sent to internment camps. For the remainder of his life, I never witnessed nor heard of him speaking ill of America in spite of everything that happened to the family during and after the war.
There's an interesting story of a Navajo Indian named Joe Kieyoomia who was captured while fighting in the Pacific Theater. His captors assumed he was a Japanese American and hence a traitor and tortured him for months until he finally convinced them he wasn't.
he got another session of torture when the japanese recorded communications between navajo code talkers - he had to convince them he couldn't understand the code - which was a subset of navajo words redefined so that even navajo speakers couldn't understand without training
Thanks for sharing this video. As the fourth generation of Japanese American, where my great, great uncle, Japanese American, and was He was the first Japanese American elected to the Senate of the Territory of Hawaii.
Knew a man. Dead now. Served in the Pacific Theater. Ivy Leaguer. The US Army had him in Language School to learn Japanese BEFORE we dropped the Big One. He was one of the many Soldiers they sent in to help remake “The Empire of the Rising Sun.” FunFact? He saw Douglas MacArthur. He was on Guard Duty when the General walked into the building for a meeting.
Add 17:36 you said "securing military supplies like meth". Did I misunderstand you or are you talking about methamphetamine? I know that methamphetamine was popular in Japan during world war II but I wanted some clarification. Outstanding an informative video keep it up.
Methanol-injection was used in high performance aero engines; and methylated spirits is a reagent in many chemical processes. But yeah also issuing speed pills to combat troops 😆
An excellent piece of educational history. I have studied the war for many years, but never knew the actual derails of how the Japanese speaking Americans were trained and their service in the Pacific. Their role in Europe is of course well known. As a South African, I thank you for the work you put into this presentation.
★★★★★ Another stellar presentation. I admire your erudition and clarity greatly. What a pleasure. Thank you for this sad, meaningful, poignant narrative.
This pretty accurately describes most first generation Americans I think. My Spanish is pretty shit and I have a toe in multiple cultures, which is quite alienating. As an adult I found myself more comfortable living in Europe and Asia because it’s easier to be totally foreign than kinda foreign in America.
A suggestion for your video and research projects are the fortunes made by others making fortunes buying American Japanese properties for pennies on the dollar. Bellevue Washington is an example. John Scott Reality.
1. It's sad to see the parallels between the treatment of these translators and the modern day Afghan translators who were left to their fate as Western forces exited Afghanistan a couple of years ago. 2. Fort Minor (Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park) wrote the song "Kenji" as a reflection of his families history in US internment camps. Regardless of how you feel about his musical genre, it's a really sad song when you reflect on it
Well done, as a military history buff, this was highly informative telling the good and not so good about our past. Is Mr. Asianometry of Japanese or Japanese descent bragging on the historic Japanese contributions to the US?
Its kind of funny to me to think the children didn't really know any japanese but its not a surprise. My grandparents on my mother's side were immigrants from Hong Kong and they gave all their kids "American names" and refused to teach them chinese. As an adult I kind of envy children that grow up in multilingual families because I wish I did.
First generation immigrants giving their children American names is evidence of how much they tried to assimilate and contribute to the United States. I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. There are people in the United States whose families have resided for generations and they give their kids absurd names that are difficult to pronounce when they can’t even speak their family’s native language. Giving them those names is performative because they have no connection to the culture aside from their skin color. Not teaching the language however is a shame because it just reinforces the fact that there’s no real connection to the culture and that the name issue is just performative.
@@conor7154more like evidence of how one can expect to be treated in America if they have any aspect of character that doesn’t conform to white Christian dogma
My late wife's grandparents immigrated from China during the early 1900's, one side taking up farming in Oregon, the other into grocery business in the Sacramento/Stockton area. Her aunties and uncles were bilingual, if not always comfortably, and her generation not so much. She often wished she could speak more, but with the two sides speaking slightly different dialects, it was less easy than one might wish.
To take my grandfather as an example, he could speak Japanese to speak with his immigrant parents, but because it was the Hiroshima dialecthe had to learn Tokyo “standard” dialect to work as an interpreter.
Dear Asianometry, I was born and raised in Hood River OR USA and I know this story very well, Hood River OR had a quite large community of Japanese-American farmers, many of them quite successful. In High School I went on one of my very first dates with a local girl. My Parents found out, and delicately informed me that it was their wish that I stop seeing her. Having never behaved in such a way before I was taken aback. No she was not Japanese American. When the US Government ( in a fit of racist paranoia as no German Americans went to camps ) sent the Japanese Americans to "...The Camps..." they had to leave their homes, possessions, but worse they had to leave their land, and farmland does not take care of itself.
Often they would sell the land for a $ 1.00 someone in the area who would promise to sell it back when the war was over, and when they came back. The insult to their injury was that for some of them, when they came back they could not get their land back, or if they did, the land had been commercially raped, no fertilizer, no pruning, no care of any kind. The caretaker owners had sold every piece of fruit on the tress, year after year at top US Army prices, and making a small fortune.
So when the Japanese-American family came back from the camps, and assuming they could even get their own property back, the farm had to be plowed up and started from scratch at great cost. Those who profited from the Japanese-Americans misfortunes were known, many of the more "liberal" or Christian members in the valley knew who these people were, it was a small world after all, and refused to associate with them socially or even in business ( some were even family ), and this is where my girlfriend story emerges, her family was one of those that had profited and my Parents had rejected her family. There was a deep, deep rift of feelings within the European-American community over this, it was a scar that lasted for many decades after the war.
Thank you for sharing your story.
And today the US is afraid of its own shadow. It sees fascism everywhere, where actually it's the US all along that's the top fascist
I was wondering why you mentioned that bit about your girlfriend in the beginning. lol Thanks for sharing
Im a 40yo working white guy. The most discriminated against people in America currently. I understand your past resentments and current sentiment. No I’m not kidding and I bet this comment will be reported and/or removed
Racist paranoia... or you've never heard of the Niihau incident.
After WWII, many thousands of Japanese immigrated to Brazil. We already had some here since 1908 but their numbers grew exponentially. Currently, we have the largest Japanese population outside Japan, over 1.5M considering Japanese nationals and descendants of those first immigrants. There's even a very cool region in São Paulo called Liberdade (freedom) where you have many Japanese shops, architecture, restaurants, etc. Quite a cool place.
Jiu Jitsu
Fascinating, thanks for sharing. Brazil is definitely on my bucket-list & this is just another good reason to visit.
And of course, all of them were just innocent immigrants. There were for instance no war criminals like those nazi Germans, italian fascists, Vichy frenchmen, murderers from Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ucrania, Croatia, Hungary and Romania that migrate to North America and particularly to South America where they were blessed and protected by the Catholic church.
Peru, too... There was a second generation Japanese-Peruvian that was elected to the Presidency of Peru!
His name- Alberto Fujimoro, and hos name reminds me of the names of my grandparents and great aunts/uncles, who were all Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans): Fred, Joe, Thomas, and Fritz Tokagawa- Jane and Rosie Sasaki etc, etc.
Acho que a coisa mais similar ao bairro da Liberdade que eles tem são as chinatowns, só que estas são de outra etnia. Settler societies com o Brasil e os EUA são um terreno fértil para a convivência de grupos que em suas terras de origem seriam rivais.
I started listening to you because of your semiconductor content, but i enjoy these historical episodes as much if not more.
Same story. What a wonderful channel
My father, a Kibei, spent the war in DC working for the OSS estimating what the GNP of Japan would be after the war. My mother was in Manzanar camp and then in DC at the OSS also. But most of their friends fought in the war. When I was a child, one of his cronies from Hawaii brought me from Hawaii to Taipei to my parents. On the way he told me some amazing stories. He was in Burma tapping phone lines for Merrils' Mauraders, and later was sent to Yunan to translate Japanese communications. On his 18th birthday, Mao and Chou En Lai attended; probably he is the only american who can say that. Later when Nixon went to China he was remembered and invited. The war created some incredible challenges but also some amazing experiences and opportunties for these Nisei.
I knew a Japanese translator who worked for the occupying American forces. He was born in the US but was on the last ship from the US to Japan at the age of 17. He did not speak Japanese when he arrived in Japan. He lived in a small village through the war and when the Americans became an occupying force. He became a translator/interpreter for the American forces as he spoke fluent American English. Later he became a journalist.
7:28 "Your first quest is eliminate 10 rats from the basement"
Lvl 01 quest..
Grandpa in the 442nd:
My Grandfather and several great-uncles served in the 442nd. My grandfather as a Corporal (w/ purple heart, bronze star) and eventually an MP, maybe attached to the artillery batillion- its not clear.)
...After going through the craziness of the Itialian campaign, France, etc, he saw DACHAU during its liberation. (can you imagine that? With his own family spending most of the war in 'camp', in places like Idaho?)
He ended up guarding German POWs, at a former concentration/death camp (not sure which: he was a shutterbug, but the pics I have don't show exactly where, though I suspect it was Dachau, which was used for that purpose)... He was a guard, whole they were sorted into different classifications- draftees, officers, SS, war criminals, etc.
Apperantly, He got along fairly well with a few of the POWS, and, as most were cleared of any war crimes, I think he may have identified with some of them as in: 'Well, ain't this FUBAR?', etc. (I'm paraphrasing).
Anyway, when my mother was a teenager in the 60s, My grandfather owned a wholesale nursery (for trees/plants), and one afternoon, a stranger came to the door, asking for my grandfather by name.
The visitor was a former German officer that was in town to sell machine tools (of course he was- what could be more German?), and had recalled that my grandfather, as a guard, had mentioned that he lived there. The German had brought a six-pack of German beer, and appearently they sat on the porch for a while and caught up, and then never saw one another again.
It's a great story... according to my mother and uncle, it's true. My grandfather would never speak about his time in Europe (which is common, appearently), but, I suppose that those were significant moments in his life and for that German ex-soldier.
So, wow, eh? I've been thinking about writing a history of the 442, using his life and experiences to personalize/ anchor the history.
Anyway, that's my connection to the 442nd. (I have some relics- a camera he 'bought' in Italy, an alabaster statuette, some photo albums (Most of which have been donated to an Asian-American museum- the Wing Luke- in Seattle)
-B
(One more thing- as a shutterbug, he had a ton of photos of his friends in itally- short-ish Japanese men sitting/ dancing/ flirting with lots of tall, beautiful (recently liberated?) Itialian women. He DID talk about that, a few times... Grandpa was pretty cool.)
Write it up, sounds great! 😎✌️
@@gus473 thanks... I've been collecting info and documentation for a while. Also, since that generation (the Nisei- first gen born in the US) is basicly gone, and the next, who remember them personally, are going... I do some work with some historical associations in my area (Seattle) as well, so I have the material...
I may as well do SOMETHING with my English degree, eh? Thanks for the encouragement. Cheers.
That sounds terrific - I'd love to read more!
So out of curiosity, are you fully of Japanese descent?@@bholdr----0
@@bnooper
Half- 4 of my great-grandparents immigrated to the US in the early 1900s. (The men for work, and their wives as 'picture brides')... I am fourth generation. (I don't speak a lick of Japanese, nor did my third-gen, 100% Japanese mother- while my white Father was semi-fluent!
Cheers!
P.S./ Also: There is a term: 'Hapa' (a slang term from Hawaiin plantation workers), which means half-asian/ half-white, and had recently begun to be used more commonly: The idea is that, say, a half-Japanese may find more in common (re: their experiences in the US) with a half-Vietnamese person than they might with a full Japanese American or White American... It's an interesting te, amd, probably a lot more prevalent in areas like Seattle, San Francisco, etc, than in the broader US.)
This story remind me that the conflict in WW2 and the cooperation after WW2 between US and Japan, which proved that human kind is kind enough to forgive the hatred and reach a better future together.
Wonderful story.
Years ago, I went to a WW2 memorial on Okinawa and I watched a video interviewing an Okinawan woman who was about to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff with her baby. The Japanese military had implored civilians not to be captured and to commit suicide. As she gathered the courage to jump off the cliff with her baby, she heard a man speaking "beautiful" Japanese pleading with her NOT to jump. She didn't think it could be an American so she obeyed and didn't jump. Unfortunately, many other Okinawan civilians committed suicide by jumping off what was to be later called "suicide cliff".
What a noble deed. I wonder if that baby is still alive today?
These history videos of yours are my favorites. Pleas keep it up and tell more stories like these. I had no idea about these brave men and their contribution.
Their facilities should be a museum to tell their extraordinary stories.
My father John D Ishii was one of them . US Military Intelligence Then 25 years in the CIA during the Vietnam War. He was at camp Savage Mi
Gookurosama deshita. I grew up next to Herbert Miasaki, his Ookasama, and their 3 kids. Miasakisan was mostly closedmouthed, except for his Kibei experiences back before the war. I had no idea how precious those recollections were until I went to the mainland for the University of California. Strange you must go to Kaliponi to learn what your treasures are!
As someone with an interest Japanese culture, this was an excellent episode. It's one of those stories that feels like a puzzle piece fell into place with regard to how history developed.
A language note: issei and nisei literally mean first and second generation. The "iss" in issei is a contracted form of ichi (one) and "ni" means two.
These Japanese-Americans who worked for the allied cause, only to see their family and friends placed in internment camps. Unjust.
Always high point of the day when you post. Thank you so much
This one was great, one of the many reasons I keep coming back to this channel is the history I don't really get anywhere else. Thanks.
With so many of your videos I feel like I am just sitting down for a boring history lesson but every time I find myself rivated and fully engaged. Great writing. This is probably the only channel I watch regardless of the topic of the video because its just always very interesting and I learn so much every time as well without it being tedious.
Internment Camps... one of the greatest mistakes of our leadership ever.
Those who wrap themselves in the flag the most are the first to discard what it stands for in times of duress.
What infuriates me most about the internments was it only applied to the West Coast. If Japanese-Americans were such a dire threat, it should have applied to Hawaiians even more so. The rank hypocrisy so typical of politicians really shows. Stirring up the public with nonsensical fears of an impossible invasion of the West Coast makes it even more unforgivable.
Hearing the anecdote of the nissei soldier, I do wonder if staying amongst the (let's face it, extremely dumb and racist) west coast population would have been that much better, or would it have resulted in more deaths and hostility.
Although the way it was done, planned and executed was still shamefull obviously.
Americans were not and to be fair are still not especially good at dealing with whatever "foreign" problems they have. I'm french, and my family was in the US in 2003. It was easier for them to say they were canadians. And that was for a "light" problem compared to what the arab-americans went through.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005Over 2000 Japanese Americans were interned at Honoluilui and other camps on the islands and/or deported to the mainland.
@@freedmen123 I'm sure those 2000 were mighty pissed, and rightly so. But compared to what happened on the west coast, it's insignificant and doesn't lessen the hypocrisy.
Loving the surprinsly different last couple videos, a nice change of pace from the usual content.
I live across the river from Savage, Minnesota. I am a huge WW2 history buff, lived here most of my life, never knowing this all occured here. Sad how a lot of history gets lost. Thank you for covering this entire story.
Same here about living in this area and not knowing this history. There is a informative historical marker in Savage at the location of where Camp Savage was (Xenwood Av and the South Frontage Rd,- it's displayed on Google maps). I was there just recently, and sadly there is nothing of the camp structures left. There is a "take-a-book/leave-a-book" box next to the marker, and inside I left a copy of the photo of the camp that was used in this video. This was a great UA-cam video.
This is truly an excellent history video, owing to the depth of the information as well as the succinct and tactful manner with which it is presented. Great job!
Thank you. This was so well researched and edited.
I love these videos so much I can't even explain. thank you for your amazing quality channel!
@Asianometry Thank you Jon. Another brilliantly framed excerpt of how history frames current times.
another very well done, interesting, and informative video from which I learned a lot. Thank you for the work, and then sharing. I always look forward to your next video.
Aside from the obvious racism and mistrust, something similar happened with German speaking Americans in WWII. My uncle was one such. Even though he was military intelligence and didn't really have a lot of combat training, he ended up getting killed by the Nazis about a hundred miles from the village in Germany his great-great-grandfather had left almost a hundred years earlier. Broke my grandma's heart and left my 13 year-old dad a very quiet, reserved man for the rest of his life. Neither he nor my grandma were exactly thrilled when I began studying German and became quite fluent 30 years after the war.
I know someone already mentioned Brazil, but there's also a very interesting story regarding a Japanese immigrant organization in Brazil called Shindo Renmei, spreading Japanese propaganda amongst the Japanese Brazilian community and prosecuting "defeatists".
Great video man. 👍
Awesome presentation Jon!
😃
I want a movie on this
There is one about this (more or less) it’s called Windtalkers
@@KomradZX1989 It wasn't that good, but once won't hurt. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@gus473 Thought Windtalkers was about American Indian code talkers?
@@xraymind Yes, Windtalkers was about Navajo code talkers who served with the Marines in the Pacific Theater of WWII. Don't think a movie about Japanese-American Linguists and their role in the war has been done (and it probably won't happen because it will inevitably bring up the topic of the Japanese Internment Camps that the US operated during WWII).
You're correct, @@xraymind!
Brilliant video and comments too!
That was fascinating and informative. Thanks
Very moving story. Thank you for telling. Your research is excellent. I learned a lot.
One minor clarification: the image of Rasmussen flanked by two Nisei - the Nisei were paratroopers assigned to the 11th Airborne Division.
Mahalo for posting....
(That Chevy sign in 1932 "Tokio" is so ironic. And chances are it only sold with LHD and there wasn't much indigenous competition then.)
Excellent video
Good Video, i appreciated it a lot, thanks.
I grew up on the north side of Chicago. My landlord was issei and his wife nisei. The next door neighbors were also nisei and in laws to them. One of the guys was a linguist with the Navy intelligence during WWII. He never really talked about what happened, other than he interrogated prisoners. The landlady, who was nisei, had been interred. The landlord, who was issei had actually gone back to Japan to visit relatives just before the start of war and ended up having to stay there for the duration. They had so many stories. Sadly they are all gone now and I miss them.
Loved this, thank you.
This was fantastic and I learned a lot, your video quality incredible. Also was proud to see my home state of Minnesota accept and treat these people with the respect they deserve.
In 1963 while working for the US Navy I was sent to New York for a 12 week tech school. There I met fellow students from other shipyards. I became friends with 2 men from Pearl Harbour Naval Shipyard. They were both Hawaiian born Nisei veterens of WWII. Thomas Nikita served with the famous 442 Battalion in Italy. The other guy, Fumio Kito, had spoke japanese in his home as a youth. He became a translator serving in the US Army in the Pacific. At the end of the war he parachuted into Manchuria along with 2 white American army officers. Their mission was to take charge of a large Japanese prisoner of war camp holding many allied prisoners. They were immediately imprisoned themselves and Fumio particularly underwent very harsh treatment from the Japanese army as he was considered a traitor. It took 3 days to convince the Japanese that Japan had surrendered and the war was over. Thomas and Fumio were both great guys and true Americans.
Many, many decades ago G.I. combat ran a story about a Nisei translator. That story always stuck with me
Your video is very good, thank you.
Beautiful video, thank you for making this and showing the human side of an overshadowed and large part of history
Excellent video.
I have a softspot for the translators for the Japanese during this time period. My Grandmother's uncle, Edwin Dozier, was a Southern Baptist Missionary before World War II and was well respected as he spent much of his life in the country. You can find an article about him and in the 80's a biography was written on him, I own the book still.
After getting kicked out of Japan due to the order of "All foreigners must leave" He served as a translator to Japanese prisoners of war where he even befriended them as well
They did outstanding service for their country and should be praised for it.
My great uncle, Hongo Masahiro was a translator for the Americans during the war. He grew up in Japan as well as in Hawai'i, so he was fluent in both Japanese and English.
My grandfather Manabu, (his younger brother) also served in the war. He also knew a decent amount of japanese, but he never went to college and was well educated like my uncle was, so he served in Europe up to the battle of Monte Casino. He was injured and both returned home safely.
My grandfather lived to 90 and died in 2014.
My uncle lived to over 100 and died during quarantine.
Man.... John Aiso did not deserve to have his story ended like that, after all he went through.
Most underrated channel on yt, EVER
Wow! This is a great story. Thank you for telling it.
Beautifully told, thank you.
A fine episode.
Thanks!
The Master Sergeant's comment reminded me of a day in a neighborhood bar.There was the barkeep and about 4 customers. When there was that few we would get to talking at times. A man's brother was drafted in WW II. He reported in expecting a direct commission and being assigned to the Adjutant Generals' Office(AGO). He was told that that they had too many lawyers. He became a medic.
Great story, I worked with the Japanese in Japan during the late 1950s and truly enjoyed it.
Top stuff again.👍
this is great content
Very excellent. Thank You
Those awarded the Silver Star seemed to do something that deserved a Medal of Honor.
Forgive me - I was sure Asianometry had made a video on the history of Supercomputers/Cray or Seymore Cray and his team ? Anyone know or know which one I'm thinking of?
Thank you very informative as all history is , they were very courageous and raise my hand with full respect Excellent video 👍👏🤷♀️
No mention of the Niihau incident?
"Snow Falling on Cedars" by David Guterson. fiction / novel, but a good read referencing the internments
Wow! Bravo!
Standing ovation!
I vividly remember being told that my grandfather, being nisei, refused to teach any our family the Japanese language. Proclaiming “we are Americans, and we will speak english”. He held onto this sentiment despite his treatment and service to the US Army in the Pacific, and with some of his own brothers and sisters sent to internment camps. For the remainder of his life, I never witnessed nor heard of him speaking ill of America in spite of everything that happened to the family during and after the war.
There's an interesting story of a Navajo Indian named Joe Kieyoomia who was captured while fighting in the Pacific Theater. His captors assumed he was a Japanese American and hence a traitor and tortured him for months until he finally convinced them he wasn't.
he got another session of torture when the japanese recorded communications between navajo code talkers - he had to convince them he couldn't understand the code - which was a subset of navajo words redefined so that even navajo speakers couldn't understand without training
Heroes… every one of them!
Thanks for sharing this video. As the fourth generation of Japanese American, where my great, great uncle, Japanese American, and was He was the first Japanese American elected to the Senate of the Territory of Hawaii.
So your great great uncle is Sanji Abe? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanji_Abe
As an American, hearing the way this great man died is really infuriating to me. We've got too much of this nonsense still going on.
I've read Bridge to the Sun. Excellent book.
Knew a man. Dead now. Served in the Pacific Theater. Ivy Leaguer. The US Army had him in Language School to learn Japanese BEFORE we dropped the Big One. He was one of the many Soldiers they sent in to help remake “The Empire of the Rising Sun.” FunFact? He saw Douglas MacArthur. He was on Guard Duty when the General walked into the building for a meeting.
Another excellent episode, Jon -- one I am sure to replay from time to time! 😎✌️
Thanks For Upload. 442nd "Go For Broke" is a Good Movie.
Thank you! Amazing men and we owe them so much.
Add 17:36 you said "securing military supplies like meth". Did I misunderstand you or are you talking about methamphetamine? I know that methamphetamine was popular in Japan during world war II but I wanted some clarification. Outstanding an informative video keep it up.
Methanol-injection was used in high performance aero engines; and methylated spirits is a reagent in many chemical processes. But yeah also issuing speed pills to combat troops 😆
Amazing stories, both in the video, and here in the comments.
The link to sources began to be cut in half from 4:53
An excellent piece of educational history. I have studied the war for many years, but never knew the actual derails of how the Japanese speaking Americans were trained and their service in the Pacific. Their role in Europe is of course well known. As a South African, I thank you for the work you put into this presentation.
I'm always moved by the stories of those who work to rise above their hardships and unfair persecution. You can only feel admiration for that.
Excellent
Thank you.
Thank you
"....saving lives on both sides..." - right on!
★★★★★ Another stellar presentation. I admire your erudition and clarity greatly. What a pleasure. Thank you for this sad, meaningful, poignant narrative.
This pretty accurately describes most first generation Americans I think. My Spanish is pretty shit and I have a toe in multiple cultures, which is quite alienating. As an adult I found myself more comfortable living in Europe and Asia because it’s easier to be totally foreign than kinda foreign in America.
exactly what my uni professor kept talking about, impecable timing thanks a lot
A suggestion for your video and research projects are the fortunes made by others making fortunes buying American Japanese properties for pennies on the dollar. Bellevue Washington is an example. John Scott Reality.
that was beautiful, man.
A great untold part of history.
一世 (いっせい / issei) and 二世 (にせい / nisei) are literally "first generation" and "second generation." "Of immigrant" is implied in this use case.
This is the first time I've heard of a Japanese-American drafted in WW2. Great stories.
1. It's sad to see the parallels between the treatment of these translators and the modern day Afghan translators who were left to their fate as Western forces exited Afghanistan a couple of years ago.
2. Fort Minor (Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park) wrote the song "Kenji" as a reflection of his families history in US internment camps. Regardless of how you feel about his musical genre, it's a really sad song when you reflect on it
Sad these things took place at all, but grateful for what they did and had to endure.
Well done, as a military history buff, this was highly informative telling the good and not so good about our past. Is Mr. Asianometry of Japanese or Japanese descent bragging on the historic Japanese contributions to the US?
The killer of the judge in 1987 is the same as color of today.
In Yokohama, there is a fantastic museum dedicated to the lives of the Japanese diaspora. Highly recommend it if you ever visit
Its kind of funny to me to think the children didn't really know any japanese but its not a surprise. My grandparents on my mother's side were immigrants from Hong Kong and they gave all their kids "American names" and refused to teach them chinese. As an adult I kind of envy children that grow up in multilingual families because I wish I did.
First generation immigrants giving their children American names is evidence of how much they tried to assimilate and contribute to the United States. I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. There are people in the United States whose families have resided for generations and they give their kids absurd names that are difficult to pronounce when they can’t even speak their family’s native language. Giving them those names is performative because they have no connection to the culture aside from their skin color. Not teaching the language however is a shame because it just reinforces the fact that there’s no real connection to the culture and that the name issue is just performative.
@@conor7154more like evidence of how one can expect to be treated in America if they have any aspect of character that doesn’t conform to white Christian dogma
My late wife's grandparents immigrated from China during the early 1900's, one side taking up farming in Oregon, the other into grocery business in the Sacramento/Stockton area. Her aunties and uncles were bilingual, if not always comfortably, and her generation not so much. She often wished she could speak more, but with the two sides speaking slightly different dialects, it was less easy than one might wish.
This old white guy wishes he were bilingual. It is a blessing I do not have. I struggle with my one language, English.
To take my grandfather as an example, he could speak Japanese to speak with his immigrant parents, but because it was the Hiroshima dialecthe had to learn Tokyo “standard” dialect to work as an interpreter.
What a fantastic effort by everyone, I am English, but proud of you all!