Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
U.S.A.
April 7, 2014
New exhibit sheds light on
Japanese after onset of World War II
BARBED WIRE & BATTLEFIELDS. Pic-
tured is a folding ironing board that was handcrafted
and polished by Himeko Fukuhara in New Orleans.
Nearly 120,000 Japanese-American men, women,
and children were sent without trial to 10 internment
camps soon after the United States entered World
War II. The board was lent by the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, National Museum of American History, Kenneth
E. Behring Center for an exhibit at the National World
War II Museum in New Orleans — titled “From
Barbed Wire to Battlefields” — about life in the
internment camps and the Japanese-American
soldiers who fought for the United States. (AP
Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
the 33,000 Japanese Americans who
served in the United States military. On
display is Jimmie Kanaya’s diary, which
he wrote while a prisoner of war in
Germany. Kanaya enlisted in the Army at
age 20 in April 1941 and fought in Italy
and France. He was captured in October
1944.
Also on display is a Congressional Gold
Medal, one of the nation’s highest honors,
that was presented to Tokuji Yoshihashi,
91, of San Gabriel, California, for his
World War II service.
Yoshihashi was drafted in 1944 at age 21
and served in the Army’s 100th Infantry
Battalion, 442 Regimental Combat Team
— two years after being sent to an Arizona
relocation camp with his family.
Before he was accepted into the service,
he had to answer a loyalty questionnaire
that asked whether he would pledge
allegiance to the United States.
“I was born here,” he said, “and decided I
should fight for the country of my birth.”
Associated Press writer Janet McConnaughey
contributed to this report. To learn more, visit
<www.barbedwiretobattlefields.org/home>.
By Chevel Johnson
The Associated Press
EW ORLEANS — After Japan’s
naval and air forces attacked
Pearl Harbor and the Philippines
in December 1941, life for seven-year-old
Lily Imahara and her family changed
forever.
They were among hundreds of
thousands of Japanese Americans who
were forcibly moved from their homes on
the west coast to internment camps by the
U.S. government.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
February 1942 order gave the War
Department the power to declare any part
of the country a restricted military zone
and exclude anyone from such an area.
The next month, orders to move were
posted for people of Japanese ancestry in
Washington, Oregon, California, and
southern Arizona. More than 60 percent
were American citizens.
What followed for the Imaharas — as
well as Japanese Americans who fought
for the United States during World War II
— is the focus of “From Barbed Wire to
Battlefields: Japanese-American Experi-
ences in World War II,” an exhibit on loan
from the Smithsonian Institution and on
display through October at the National
World War II Museum in New Orleans.
Lily Imahara Metz, now 80, of Baton
Rouge, often visits high schools in the
Baton Rouge area to discuss her family’s
past and said the artifacts are must-see
history.
“American people need to know,” she
said. “This is part of American history. You
N
can’t erase it. I know it’s on the shameful
side of history, but you can’t ignore it.”
Some show barbed wire encasing the
camps and their guard towers. Others
show the suitcases interned people
brought to the camps — families were
allowed only one. And then there are the
images of Japanese Americans in U.S.
military uniforms preparing for battle.
The Imaharas were housed at the
Rohwer Relocation Center in Desha
County, Arkansas. The camps were well-
maintained and functioned much like
small towns, said Walter Imahara, Metz’s
younger brother.
“We had our own schools and baseball
games and dances and music,” he recalled.
“We just couldn’t go anywhere. What was
tragic was that the older people, like my
parents, lost everything when we were
moved.”
Museum curator Kimberly Guise said
the exhibit touches on the lives of about
120,000 people who lived in the camps.
About 6,000 babies were born in the
camps. “There are a lot of people still
around who experienced that,” she said.
Guise said she hopes the exhibit draws a
broad spectrum of visitors, and creates
conversations. “Was what happened just?
Was it fair?”
The exhibit also recognizes the service of
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