Eighty years ago, the US government imprisoned about 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War Two.
Eighty years ago, the US government began rounding up Japanese Americans, forcing them to live in prison camps for the remainder of World War Two. Now the younger generation is fighting to make sure this dark chapter is not forgotten, writes Elaine Chong for the BBC.
Everyone was taken aback by the gleaming royal purple fabric, and how it caught the light with white, peach blossoms hand-embroidered with silver thread. "That was your grandmother's Japanese name," said Konno's uncle suddenly. "And this was her family's registration number for the camps." "My grandmother kept secrets even from her own children. Why would someone cover up their own name? Why hide these kimonos?"At a candlelight vigil for Stop Asian Hate, amid the rise of anti-Asian attacks in the US last summer, Konno could tell that there were other Japanese Americans present, and there was something they wanted to get off their chest.
While they were under construction, families were often sent to makeshift "assembly centres" - temporary housing located on fairgrounds with horse stables around the racetracks.Konno's grandmother was sent to San Mateo Race Track. "It was such a longshot, and people never thought they would see this in their lifetime," he told the BBC.
Fearing they would be seen as foreign, some communities burned their Japanese belongings to blend in more. The destruction of their Japanese culture would affect generations to come. Konno's grandparents spoke Japanese, but after their experience in the camps they decided to not teach her children the language.Now, Konno is trying to recover generations of lost knowledge. "I can empathise with the choices my grandparents made, they did what they thought would protect us," they said.
Families were housed in long wooden barracks, dividing the rooms with bed sheets. Even with some semblance of privacy, people would still be walking through other people's areas where they slept. The communal bathrooms were open plan, rooms with shower heads and toilets with no walls, affording no privacy. Women would patiently queue outside to let the person before have their own private time, which meant people would shower at weird times all night long."They were trying to make this hostile prison just a bit prettier for themselves."
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