That evening in the quiet ward, Goro Suzuki, an Oakland boy, later known as Jack Soo of television fame, came through singing in his mellow voice, “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas,” and I sank deep under the covers, shedding copious tears of joy that a healthy baby girl was born—and tears of regret that she was born in a concentration camp.
This is the third of five excerpts from Harue Minamoto’s memoir (with minor edits).
Part 1: Forced Removal
Part 2: Tanforan
Part 4: Dust-up in the Desert
Part 5: The Aftermath
About the contributor: Harue Hirai Minamoto was born in Oakland, CA in 1916. A graduate of Oakland Technical High School, she completed bookkeeping and secretarial courses at Merritt Business School and was hired by the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services in 1937. After Executive Order 9066 was issued, she was forced to resign. She married Toshiro Minamoto in February 1942, shortly before they were incarcerated in Tanforan. Two of her three children were born in Topaz. Sponsored by a Quaker family, the Minamotos resettled in Philadelphia in 1944; but when Tosh was drafted in 1945, Harue and the children returned to Oakland. Harue often spoke of the injustices of incarceration to her children and grandchildren and never hesitated to inform others of what EO 9066 did to American citizens. She passed away in 1999. Her story was shared with us by her family: Melyssa Minamoto, Gay Kaplan, John Minamoto, Ed Minamoto and their children.
© 1999, Harue Minamoto. All rights reserved.
My husband Russell Yamazaki (died 2021 Jan) was also born at Topaz ( in Nov 2042) with a similar story of his parents who married in February after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His parents were both in college but married and were relocated to TanForan and then Topaz. They were moved to Wooster Ohio when Russell was 2 years old and they stayed in Wooster Ohio for the rest of their lives. Wooster people (Presbyterian Church) went way out of their way to welcome the Yamazakis and help them get established in Wooster.
Thanks for supplying the pictures as well as the Minamoto story.
Jane Welton Yamazaki
Thank you for sharing your husband’s story, Jane! It’s wonderful to know about a community that welcomed Japanese Americans in those difficult years.