Born in California and imprisoned as an enemy, Claude Akira Mimaki volunteered for the U.S. Army from behind barbed wire, served in two wars, and went on to build a life and business in postwar Japan. His story traces the full arc of the Nisei experience, from exclusion to service to reinvention, lived across borders and decades.
Takuji Yamashita fought racism in Washington’s courts long before WWII. His 1922 case, Yamashita v. Hinkle, exposed how the Alien Land Laws targeted Japanese immigrants.
From Tokyo streets to American fame, Rocky Aoki built an empire with Benihana, mixing performance and food into a new kind of dining experience. His wild life made him one of the most fascinating Japanese Americans of his era.
The last prince of Japan chose an American girl over Shōgun inheritance.
In “When Can We Go Back to America?,” author Susan H. Kamei gives voice to Japanese Americans whose lives were uprooted by incarceration during World War II, including her own family. Their stories reveal the enduring power of memory and justice.
When you survived incarceration, a murder attempt, and the war in Europe, you weren’t afraid of Disney.
During World War II, while Japanese American farmers were forced from their land, one young white agricultural inspector named Bob Fletcher chose to stand by them. He worked three farms, paid their taxes, and refused to profit from their loss. In a time when prejudice was law and loyalty was punished, Fletcher’s quiet integrity helped Japanese American families return to something few others had left: their homes.
The Santa Anita Strike of 1942 was a labor protest inside a World War II detention center for Japanese Americans. The uprising revealed growing anger over poor living conditions and injustice under government control.
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