Kenji Okuda - Japanese Internment in the US during World War II

David talks to 87 year old Kenji Okuda about his experiences as a Japanese-American youth in World War II.

Kenji's father was initially interred the day of Peal Harbour. His father, a leader in the community was initially from Seattle were taken to Montanna to a camp that had earlier been used for German prisoners of war. After a hearing, his father was released as "too old to be a danger to society" and allowed to move to Spokane, WA.

Kenji was a student at the University of Washington when war broke out. During the war he an other students in similar circumstances were permitted to continue their education at universities away from the coast.

As a youth who could speak both English and Japanese, Kenji was asked to deal with people as a spokesman one of the four "parking areas"
 

David's own father was involved on the Canadian side with relocating the Japanese from the Vancouver area at the same time. The contrasts between the two counties' dealings with their Japanese immigrants and 2nd/3rd generation citizens is very interesting.

As one of the "Nesai" or second generation immigrants from Japan, Kenji's experiences were colored heavily by his abilities to deal with both languages.

From a camp in Northern California, Kenji was moved almost immediately to Northern Colorado, near Dodge City, Kanasas.

Not long afterward, Kenji was encouraged to apply to Oberlin College in Ohio, not far from the Great Lakes. Within only a couple of months he was voted head of the student body.

During his stay at Oberlin he was asked to tour and talk about what was happening to the Japanese immigrants and Nesai around the country.

After graduation from Oberlin, Kenji went on to get a doctorate in econommics from Harvard and ended up teaching there for a time.

Kenji spent time in over 11 countries doing work in economics and, in one case, ended up writing the acceptance speach for Idi Amin when he first came to power in Uganda.

You'll enjoy the whole interview