{"id":953,"date":"2025-04-11T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/?p=953"},"modified":"2025-11-17T22:23:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T05:23:06","slug":"james-hatsuaki-wakasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/james-hatsuaki-wakasa\/","title":{"rendered":"James Hatsuaki Wakasa"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The court ruled the guard was following orders. Which meant someone ordered him to kill randomly.<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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April 11, 1943: James Hatsuaki Wakasa was killed in cold blood by a guard while walking his dog.\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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He wasn\u2019t running. He wasn\u2019t warned. He wasn\u2019t anywhere near the fence.<\/p>

James Wakasa was quietly walking his dog at Topaz, the incarceration camp in the Utah desert where he had been forcibly relocated with thousands of other Japanese Americans.<\/p>

He was a 63-year-old Issei (first generation Japanese American) who had lived in the United States for more than 40 years. He spoke English. And he was known to be quiet and very likable, while skilled as an accomplished chef.<\/p>

Twenty feet inside the fence, he was shot directly in the chest by a military guard from one of the towers. He died instantly.<\/p>

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James Wakasa, an accomplished chef before WWII, wasn\u2019t trying to escape \u2014 just walking his dog. But he was shot by a guard who claimed he was \u201ctoo close\u201d to the fence.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\u201cApril 11, 1943. James Hatsuaki Wakasa Shot by M.P.\u201d by Chiura Obata, credit Smithsonian<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Private Gerald Philpott was initially charged with manslaughter but later acquitted by a military court<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Public reports conflicted with government reports. The news release was cleared by the War Department. Credit Wakasa Memorial Committee<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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James Wakasa's funeral was forced to be held half a mile away from where he was shot, credit National Archives<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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A scene from James Wakasa\u2019s funeral service by Min\u00e9 Okubo<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\u201cThe women of each block made enormous floral wreaths with paper flowers\u201d by Min\u00e9 Okubo<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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The U.S. military quickly claimed Wakasa was \u201cattempting to escape\u201d by crawling under the fence, even though multiple eyewitnesses and evidences contradicted that claim. There were no signs of flight. No warnings. No threats. Just a fatal shot \u2014 and a rush to justify it.<\/p>

The guard was put on trial, but not in a civilian court. The Army held a brief military tribunal that lasted less than a day. The guard was acquitted.<\/p>

Topaz residents weren\u2019t allowed to question the ruling. And when they tried to mourn Wakasa by building a simple memorial on the spot where he was shot, the U.S. government ordered it destroyed.<\/p>

Even Wakasa\u2019s funeral was nearly canceled by military authorities. But over 2,000 people showed up, in quiet defiance. They stood together, grieving the loss of not only a man, but the last hope and illusions of fairness.<\/p>

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Wakasa\u2019s story, like so many others from the incarceration era, was buried for decades. Forgotten, or deliberately left out of the public narrative.<\/p>

But in 2020, archaeologists at Topaz unearthed a stone \u2014 a rough, handmade marker believed to be part of the original memorial built by Wakasa\u2019s fellow incarcerees. After nearly 80 years, the silence began to break.<\/p>

A single shot killed a man. And what little justice remained.<\/p>

We remember James Hatsuaki Wakasa today \u2014 and all those who suffered in silence.<\/p>

Because history shouldn\u2019t be erased, or buried, twice.<\/p>

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The memorial stone that was unearthed in 2020, credit Kristine Weller \/ KUER<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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New Wakasa Memorial Sign, credit The North American Post<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Shoichi James Okamoto, shot and killed by a Tule Lake camp guard for failing to show his pass, credit Jan Okamoto<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The Value of Japanese American Life<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

James Hatsuaki Wakasa\u2019s account reminds us how fragile life and dignity were behind barbed wire. Others, like Shoichi James Okamoto<\/a> at Tule Lake, paid the ultimate price \u2014 shot dead by a guard who was fined only one dollar.<\/p>

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Share this article<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On April 11, 1943, James Hatsuaki Wakasa, a 63-year-old Japanese American, was shot and killed by a guard at the Topaz concentration camp as he stood near the fence. His death \u2014 later ruled \u201caccidental\u201d \u2014 revealed the deep fear, mistrust, and brutality that defined life behind barbed wire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,248,12,8,49,48,6,246,32,10,46,245,9],"class_list":["post-953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aapi-history","tag-civil-rights-activism","tag-constitutional-violations","tag-executive-order-9066","tag-hatsuaki","tag-james-wakasa","tag-japanese-american-history","tag-law-justice","tag-quiet-americans","tag-racial-injustice","tag-topaz-war-relocation-center","tag-wartime-incarceration","tag-wwii-incarceration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=953"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5570,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953\/revisions\/5570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}