The 55 sojourners hiked the dusty, parched grounds of the Manzanar National Historic Site on April 29, walking in the footsteps of the 600 Florin Japanese Americans forced from their homes in 1942.
Like the Nikkei [ethnic Japanese] before them traveling under the cloud of the December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, this diverse group of Americans of Japanese, Muslim, Chinese, Jewish, Filipino, Korean, and European ancestry journeyed in the shadow of 9/11.
This adventuresome crew from the Sacramento area, in this first organized effort, undertook the 350-mile pilgrimage, eight-hour bus ride spanning three days, to traverse the Sierra Nevadas down Highway 395, past Bishop, and finally arrive at Manzanar. Former internee Hiroko Saigo remarked that the ride reminded her “of a long trip to a former destination in Gila River camp,” though a lot nicer, of course.
People on the protracted ride expressed that they wanted to learn first-hand about the wartime stories of the Issei [first-generation Japanese immigrants in the United States] and Nisei [native-born American citizens whose parents are Japanese immigrants]. Some wondered about what lessons this might hold after 9/11.
With ages ranging from seven to mid-80s, the assembly later absorbed the tales of camp hardship told by National Park Ranger Richard Potashin as they trudged through the barracks foundation, mess hall and rock garden areas.
Who could forget the women’s latrine building with pipes for toilets placing strangers nearly cheek-to-cheek? No partitions shielding modesty in the early months. The walk brought back vivid memories for the dozen Nisei and older Sansei [third-generation Japanese American] in the group.
The Manzanar Interpretive Center, a top-notch museum, housed in the renovated Manzanar gymnasium, impressed all. Carol Hironaka, a former Manzanar internee, saw her name etched on the expansive plexi glass wall listing the names of over 10,000 inhabitants. The names of my two uncles, orphans in the Children’s Village, stood out for me.
The interfaith cemetery ceremony, led by Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian priests, invited people to pay their respects by offering carnations. Some made other offerings. Our group, with the planning of Annie Kim Noguchi of the Florin Chapter of JACL, had folded origami paper cranes along our journey. Several of our 10 students presented the cranes. The two Muslim friends in our group, Dina El-Nakhal and Maren Shawesh, dressed in traditional hajib scarves, represented Americans of the Islamic faith.
The L.A.-based Manzanar Committee drew over 500 people to its 37th Annual Pilgrimage day program – a massive and valuable undertaking.
The “Manzanar At Dusk” program in Lone Pine drew several hundred, mostly college students from the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California. “The Camp Dance” by the Grateful Crane Ensemble wowed the audience by expertly telling the poignant, moving, and humorous stories through lively song, dance, and dramatic numbers.
Small circle group discussions offered students a chance to talk to those who had lived the camp experience first-hand. Mary Yaskukawa, a former Tule Lake War Relocation Center internee, said the importance of these discussions was driven home to her. Most of the students said parents and grandparents never talked about the camps.
Walking among the groups, you could see Nisei veterans, draft resisters, and those whose families were “No-No Boys” [Japanese Americans who refused to join U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor] generously sharing their stories and the impossible choices the government forced upon them. Most of the discussion facilitators turned out to be our Florin pilgrimage members!
A young Muslim man in our group, Mike Fauzy, unexpectedly made his way onto the stage during the open mic session. He courageously shared his fears as a Muslim American when many people ignorantly cast suspicion on his community after 9/11.
Karen Kurasaki, Florin JACL chapter president, expressed the empathy felt by the audience when she called on all to support Mike Fauzy and our Muslim neighbors. People responded with a moving standing ovation.
Wayne Maeda, Asian American Studies professor at California State University, Sacramento, later publicly thanked Karen saying, “We’ve all made a commitment to stand up for each other.”
As we journeyed back after three days together, many people shared their thoughts and feelings. Joyce Eng, head of the Chinese American Council of Sacramento (CACS), disclosed that she had been “to two other internment camps before, Angel Island and Ellis Island,” where many immigrants had been imprisoned. This was her first chance to hear people share their stories.
The pilgrimage provided a lesson for Dina El-Nakhal of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). She “felt the sense of strength and pride from all the internees,” she said. “They had an amazing resilient spirit – of looking forward.”
One of the youth, Davis student Esumi Fujimoto, shared her thoughts. She “valued every single word said on the trip. It’s really important for us young people to get out and be educated. We’re not learning about people’s personal experiences in school, just what’s in a textbook.”
Temple B’nai Israel member JoAnn Solov found a renewed commitment. “With the Muslim community feeling victimization,” she said, “we really have to have a stronger presence with them, solidarity.”
As the pilgrimage ended, we were no longer just 55 individuals or members of the Florin JACL, CAIR, CACS, Temple B’nai Israel, Nikkei Singles Ethnic Studies Department, or other groups. Along the journey’s way, we opened our eyes, listened, and learned from each other.
As Stan Umeda, a former Jerome Relocation Center internee, put it, “What started out as just a trip, by traveling together and sharing with people, it turned into a pilgrimage.”
By the end of our journey, we had walked in the footsteps of the original 600 Florin Manzanar internees, paid our respects, made new friendships, and renewed our commitment to being vigilant today.
