Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II

Rudy’s father, 60-something Jisuke Tokiwa, who had lived in the US for over 40 years, now faced political persecution instead of retirement. The laws that prohibited those of Japanese descent from owning land went “back to the arrival of Chinese laborers in California during the gold rush of 1849” (85). At that time, Chinese immigrants faced not only institutional discrimination, but also violence. The 1922 Ozawa v. United States US Supreme Court decision precluded the right to citizenship for first-generation Japanese individuals; two years later, the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act closed the doors for any additional immigration from that country. As a result, “lifelines to Japan were cut off” (86).

In April 1942, the Tokiwas had to leave their home, alongside hundreds of others like them. Military trucks transported them to the Salinas Rodeo Grounds, featuring barracks surrounded by barbed-wire fencing. Rudy felt shocked and outraged. Camp conditions across all these so-called “assembly centers” were the same: communal shower facilities meant for horses, toilets without privacy, and thin walls.

Kats Miho’s father, in turn, was transported from Sand Island, Hawaii, to a Fort Sill detention facility in Oklahoma. The camp housed more than 700 Issei men in tents. One man, Kanesaburo Oshima, a father of 11 in his late fifties, experienced what seemed to be a mental health crisis, attempted to escape, and was shot dead by the guards.

In December 1941, Gordon Hirabayashi was studying at the University of Washington in Seattle and living in the basement of a YMCA. His father Shungo and his mother Mitsu, part of a Christian sect focused on an individual relationship with God, were farmers south of the city. Gordon was an excellent student with a strong moral compass; however, after Executive Order 9102, he began to deliberately break the 8pm curfew set for the Japanese Americans. He also refused to meet the spring 1942 deadline given to Japanese Americans in his area to “close down their affairs, appear at assembly points, and climb on buses to be taken away” (102). Gordon believed that the government's actions were unconstitutional. He sent a letter with his thoughts to the FBI. The FBI was unable to convince Gordon to voluntarily sign the Japanese American registration paperwork, so he ended up at King County Jail. In June, Gordon was arraigned in federal court for violating curfew and Civilian Exclusion Order No. 57. He pled not guilty and remained in jail for months, waiting for his trial “on charges with the potential to keep him imprisoned for years to come” (109).

Fred Shiosaki’s family lived outside the exclusion zone for Washington state. Although they were not put into a camp, they made contingency plans anyway. Fred’s brother Roy was drafted in the short period between the Pearl Harbor attack and the ban on Japanese Americans in the military, and Fred hoped to sign up for the service too. The laundry business was doing well due to the increased volume of dirty clothing as part of the domestic war effort.

At the Salinas Assembly Center, Rudy Tokiwa met a senior Issei immigrant, Mr. Abe, who taught him to cook for large groups of people. Rudy worked 16-hour days every day of the week. The teen enjoyed the company of his senior mentor, who reminded him of his time in Japan.

In mid-1942, Americans displayed unity as they worked on the home front. They donated bacon fat from cooking for making glycerin for explosives, collected scrap metal, and bought War Savings Bonds. Women took over men’s work, and “[e]veryone was chipping in” (112). In contrast, this time was one of “profound discontent and angst” for Japanese Americans (113). As the rest of the country celebrated the Fourth of July, Japanese Americans were incarcerated.

Rudy Tokiwa’s family was transported to the Colorado River Relocation Center in Poston, Arizona. Many Japanese Americans had never encountered the intense heat of Arizona summer, and “[a]lmost immediately people began to faint” (114). The conditions especially affected the elderly and people with disabilities. The camp was disorganized, and “the newcomers had to fend for themselves” (115). Rudy’s mother and sister made mattresses out of empty sacks and straw, while Rudy and his brother Duke collected scrap lumber “to improvise simple shelving, tables, and chairs” (115) in an empty, hot barracks room. Camp residents eventually convinced Rudy to become the camp cook. He organized helpers and used the coal stove to prepare “meager ingredients,” such as fried Spam, “soggy canned vegetables, old potatoes” (117, 125). The residents’ gratitude and resilience made him “proud of what he had done and proud of his people” (117). In late summer, Rudy slipped on a rubber hose, spilling boiling hot coffee over his body. He was treated for serious burns. Others at the camp organized baseball, basketball, and football teams to pass the time.

In the King County Jail, Gordon Hirabayashi regularly wrote letters to his family and lawyers. Having developed a good relationship with the other inmates, he became “mayor of the tank” (119), resolving disputes without violence. Many inmates were illiterate, so Gordon read their documents to them and wrote court letters on their behalf. In Gordon’s October 1942 trial, his attorney claimed that his client’s constitutional rights were violated. The Judge argued that “wartime expediencies trumped constitutional rights” (132). Within 10 minutes, the jury found Gordon guilty.

In the summer of 1942, Kats Miho was a roofer for naval air station barracks in Maui. His brothers Katsuaki and Katsuro lived in Honolulu and worked as a paramedic and an attorney, respectively. Another brother, Paul, studied divinity in Connecticut. His sister Fumiye was still in Japan, and her letters “were heavily censored” (122).

Fred Shiosaki unsuccessfully attempted to join the army when he turned 18, not realizing that the War Department had declared all Japanese Americans “enemy aliens” (123).