Lessons from the Past
The Internment Story of Harold Hiroshi Onishi
Looking Back At The Past to Make Sense of the Present
These video interviews were conducted in October of 2020 and provide insight into the powers of fear, racism, resilience, and reflection. Jon hopes that sharing this family history will lead others to reflect on personal biases so that we can avoid tragedies like these in the future.
Harold Onishi's Family History
Harold Hiroshi Onishi was born May 12, 1929, in Portland and he peacefully passed away Jan. 28, 2015. He was married to Elsie Onishi. Her last name before she was married was Morita. Her Parents were Chieto and Yachiyo Morita and her sister's name was Chiyoko Hashimoto.
Harold’s family tree comes from the rural village of Kibitsu, Japan which is on the main island of Honshu. Japan is made up of different islands. Harold’s parents both came from this rural area. Harold Onishi’s brother Kenji wrote about their mom Masuko and dad Kyusuke about their family history. Kenji writes, “Masuko had never been more than ten miles from her village home in Kibitsu, Japan. Now, she was to set sail to a totally foreign country to be the wife of a man she did not know. Her head was full of questions. “What is America Like? What kind of man is he? Will he treat me well? What will be expected of me? Will I make any friends? Will I see my parents again? The parents arranged a marriage for her.
In 1908 the Suyamas gave their daughter Masuko in marriage to Kyusuke Onishi. A ceremony was performed with a stand-in for the groom. Kyusuke was in Oregon and not able to go back to Japan for his wedding.
The Suyamas and the Onishis were neighbors in this rural village. Everyone was. They didn’t know Kyusuke, but they remembered him as a serious, hard-working young man who left Japan more than 10 years before in 1892. He hoped for a better opportunity in the United States. Masuko didn’t know anything about him. She was just 8 years old when the 21 year old Kyusuke left for the United States. Now, ten years later she will travel alone to the United States at age 18.
After the 3 weeks voyage, she debarked in Seattle with his picture in her hand. They walked up a long hill to a church near the top and married again, then traveled to Oregon in 1908 by train to begin married life. Her took her home- a box car in the railway yard, a mile from downtown Portland. Kenji cannot find words to describe his mother. To say she was strong, wise, resourceful, independent, thoughtful, practical, unselfish, talented only tells half of who she was. She was very spiritual. I think this was the core of her being. The Kibitsu Jinja (shrine) was adjacent to her back yard, and she grew up serving there in many volunteer capacities.”
In Japan, you sometimes are cast in a system of jobs. Elsie Onishi who is Harold Onishi’s wife comes from the Morita family. The father of Elsie Onishi did not want to stay in the farming life and looked for the opportunity to go to the United States to find other types of jobs. He was from Yamaguchi Ken of the south end of the main island of Honshu. Elsie’s father’s name was Chieto, and he had an arranged marriage, too. He married Yachiyo, and they moved to Portland, Oregon, too. Yachiyo was born in Hawaii, United States of America.
Harold came from a large family. His siblings include sisters Hisako Saito, Masako Yada, Fumi Irinaga, Miyoko Iwata, and brothers Kenji Onishi, and older brother Kumao Onishi who died at age 9.
Harold Onishi’s father worked on the railroads, and the family’s home was a boxcar along the tracks in northwest Portland. Harold's father was a self-taught man, who instilled in his children the importance of learning and working hard. His dad taught himself English and would read voraciously, encouraging his children to do the same. His father used to say....” Poor in money, but wealthy in love and other virtues. The Onishi’s grew to be a close family.
Harold's home was situated between rows and rows of tracks. To the east was (as it is currently called) the Union Station, and to the west was 12th Avenue. In between these tracks sat 1 row of box cars, with doors and windows cut out to make them into homes for the Oka family, Onishi family, and about a dozen bachelors who worked for the SP & S Railway, under Harold’s father, Kyusuke Onishi, who was the foreman for this crew. Harold's mother, Masuko Onishi, was the cook, feeding over a dozen or more men 3 times daily. His mother's kitchen occupied 1 car which connected to the dining hall for everyone. One of the cars was a bath house with a big square hot tub in it----big enough for the little ones to splash around. The toilet was an "out-house".
Some friends could not understand how the Onishi's could live the life they did. Trains were running night and day on either side of them. Not only did they worry about the Onishi's safety, they couldn't understand how they could stand to live with the noises. Actually, they were so used to it. They said, "We didn't even hear it. It actually was "music to our ears." It was a wonder none of them got hurt but they had a lot of fun growing up between the tracks, I heard.
The end cars were their living quarters. There was a family room and a big bedroom. There was one other bedroom. They had pot bellied stoves and kerosene lamps. It was the childrens' job to keep the lamps clean.
One exciting thing was the birth of my dad Harold Hiroshi Onishi. It was a Sunday, and Harold's father had taken the kids to the Japanese Community picnic. The mother was getting desperate for "Papa" to return, as Harold was ready to make his appearance. Upon the return, the kids dashed under the covers of one bed to peek at the whole procedure of Harold being born.
None of the train track families had a car so they walked everywhere unless they caught a ride from the delivery man from two Japanese stores, who came three or four times a week to bring food supplies my mother had ordered.
After attending the regular school, the Onishi kids walked to their Japanese School everyday, so it was a long day for them. Harold's father insisted that they go to Japanese School. He said, "The world's getting smaller. Everyone will be speaking other languages and travelling", he used to tell them. So the Onishi kids went everyday for a couple of hours after their regular school and on Saturdays.
Later, my dad's family moved to a house and my dad's parents started managing a small hotel.
Elsie Onishi’s dad Chieto Morita bought and ran a laundry cleaning business with his wife Yachiyo. Both the Morita family and the Onishi suffered hard economic times during the Great Depression of 1929 for some years. Elsie Onishi’s dad Chieto Morita bought and ran a laundry cleaning business with his wife Yachiyo. It was amazing they were able to hold jobs or keep a business after this economic disaster when they spoke little English. They had strong work ethics and lived frugally.
Harold Onishi, 1939
Masako Onishi
Masako 7. Fumi 3, Miyo 5, and baby Kenji
World War II began against Japan, and this was followed by Internment Orders
Then, World War II began and the United States joined the war against Japan and other countries after this horrific event. Japan bombed ships in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. President Roosevelt orders executive order 9066 as a result of Japan's actions. Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain areas as military zones, clearing the way for the incarceration of Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans in U.S. internment camps. Even though the Japanese had their American Citizenships, and many were born in the United States, they were interned in some states of the United States.
Japanese Americans were given from four days to about two weeks to settle their affairs and gather as many belongings as they could carry. In many cases, individuals and families were forced to sell some or all of their property, including businesses, within that period of time. Some Euro-Americans took advantage of the situation, offering unreasonably low sums to buy possessions from those who were being forced to move. Many homes and businesses worth thousands of dollars were sold for substantially less than that. Nearly 2,000 Japanese Americans were told that their cars would be safely stored until they returned. However, the U.S. Army soon offered to buy the vehicles at cut-rate prices, and Japanese Americans who refused to sell were told that the vehicles were being requisitioned for the war. After being forcibly removed from their homes, Japanese Americans were first taken to temporary assembly centers. From there they were transported inland to the internment camps (critics of the term internment argue that these facilities should be called prison camps). The first internment camp in operation was Manzanar, located in southern California. Between 1942 and 1945 a total of 10 camps were opened, holding approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans for varying periods of time in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Arkansas.
Japanese American Internment: children
Dispossession
dispossessionRestaurant “under new management” as a result of the U.S. government's relocation order for Japanese Americans during World War II.National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Dorothea Lange, photographer
Manzanar War Relocation Center
Evacuations forced Japanese businesses to liquidate at huge losses.
Drastic Changes and Heartbreak
The Onishi family had to sell most of their belongings, as they could only take 2 suitcases per person full of things to the camp. A man in a brown suit knocked on the hotel door (they managed a hotel above the Lotus Card Room near 3rd and Salmon) and gave my dad's mom a letter ordering the Japanese to get ready for relocation. My dad's mom ordered all the kids to gather any belongings that could be tied to Japan----notes, letters, pictures, magazines, etc.----and burned them in their pot-bellied stove. They did not want anything that might be misconstrued as loyalty to Japan during the War’s hysteria. Then, they went to the Pacific International Livestock Exposition building in the north of Portland which was the Portland Assembly Center. It was for temporary housing as they waited to be transferred to the Minidoka Internment Permanent Camp in Hunt, Idaho. Most Japanese Americans went to assembly centers without protest, hoping their compliance would prove their loyalty. Still, they harbored worries about what would become of them.
The Portland Assembly Center operated from May 6 to September 10 and reached a peak population of 3,676 on June 6.Footnote5
The center was quickly converted for use from its previous role as a livestock center on the county fairgrounds. Thin sheets of plywood were set up to divide the existing building into housing "apartments" for four, six, eight, or ten individuals. Since the alterations were designed to be temporary, many of the plywood walls only extended part way to the ceiling, further limiting privacy. A typical unit may have 200 square-feet of space with a single, bare light bulb. While mattresses were provided at the Portland center, other locations only provided a mattress ticking that had to be filled with hay or straw.Footnote6 Owing to the previous use of the building, evacuees tolerated the strong smell of livestock dung.
Livestock pens at the Portland Assembly Center
Laundry room at the Livestock Exposition Building
Then, the Onishi family went by train to the Minidoka internment camp. The blinds were down on the train ride and they did not know their final destination. 3 years of freedom were taken from my parents and grandparents without due process of law. This was not a court decision but an executive order by the President of the United States.
Kyusuke retired from the railroad business in 1940 and bought a small hotel to support the family but they had to sell it when they were forced to evacuate and go to the internment camps. That was devastating to him because he worked hard and wanted this hotel to provide for his family in the future. Then, he died of a heart attack before he had to go to the internment camp.
Life in the Camps
Train ride to Minidoka Internment Camp
Arriving at the Internment Camp
Internees getting escorted by soldiers to the Internment Camps
Barbed wire fences were used to keep Internees sequestered
Gun Turret Lookout for Army to Watch Over the Japanese Americans.
Attempting Normalcy
Young boys looking through barbed wire.
A map of Internment Camps in the West
A New Reality
Trying to keep privacy between living and sleeping quarters.
Soldier guarding the grounds.
Cramped quarters
Loyalty and New Realities
During World War II, some Japanese Americans wanted to prove their loyalty by joining the army. They fought in Europe with the 442nd troop. Many of the 442nd infantry regiment were wounded or killed, and the 442nd Regiment was the most decorated unit for its size in U.S. military history. Harold's brother Kenji signed up for the USA Army during World War II. My dad joined the United States Army after World War II when the Korean War started.
After World War II was over, my dad's family moved back to Portland, Oregon after the internment camps closed. Harold’s mom lived in a room with a family then moved into a small hotel that her daughter Hisako and son-in-law bought. My dad Harold and his sister Masako moved in to the hotel with their mom. The other children worked and lived on their own. Then, her daughter Hisako bought a second hotel. Wanting to be independent, my dad's mom Masuko offered to manage the property for her daughter Hisako. The hotel was in a neighborhood of other Japanese-owned hotels. One by one the other owners visited her, not only to welcome her to the neighborhood, but to advise her on how to run the business. They told her emphatically, "Do not let colored people stay." Masuko's reply was, "A place to stay is basic to all people, and colored people are human, too.
My mom's family also moved back to Portland, Oregon.
My mom's dad Chieto had to make a complete comeback since they sold their laundry business for dirt cheap before they left for the internment camps. They started a small hotel business in a very poor area. Later, they bought a little bigger hotel in a poor area where many of the people who stayed there were war veterans who had psychological problems from the war. My mom's mom Yachiyo would always treat them kind and make them dinner sometimes. My mom's dad Chieto later bought a four plex apartment. Her mom Yachiyo was gutsy and bought stocks that were big companies that she trusted would not go broke because their product was strongly needed. She did well picking the right stocks. Even though her mom could not speak English that well, she had a great business sense for investments. Elsie’s parents accumulated a lot of wealth in their lifetime.
Education and Careers
Harold Onishi is in the back left and his mom and sisters and older brother are in the picture, too.
Harold Onishi’s mom and family. Harold is the front left person. His mom is the front middle person.
Interned Children March with American Flags
Life Lessons: Reflections on the Power of Prejudice and of Resilience
My Life Lessons from my dad-Harold Onishi was always teaching me about the internment camps and how wrong it was to intern American Citizens. He mentioned always that we never received due process of law in the court system. He always told me that everyone has subtle or blatant predjudice inside and that you must fight everyday within yourself not to be prejudice. He told me that prejudice is out of ignorance, and it is learned. He always talked about the importance of educating people about looking honestly at themselves inside and the importance of teaching people about discrimination and prejudice in our world.
How is what happened in the past relevant today? My dad always said, “I don’t want history to repeat itself. That is why I’m sharing the story of what happened to the Japanese Americans in the Internment Camps.” Fear and hysteria can cause certain groups to be targeted. You see presently how discrimination and prejudice and hate crimes happen to people based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and sexual orientation and gender identity. My Uncle Kenji is straight forward and is over 90 years of age. He has mentioned how fear and hysteria and the relationship to people from Mexico getting detained, and parents are getting separated from their children. He mentions fear and hysteria and the relation to the insurrection of the white house. My dad would be saddened of these events.
I grew up in the 1960's and 1970's as a child and teenager. In 5th grade, I was 11 years old. The public school system of Portland integrated for the first time black and white students together. We were told that some black students would be bused to our school and would be joining our school from now on. When I came home that day with a friend, my dad overheard me say to my friend, "I think that black kid had a switch knife on him.: My dad said, "Turn around now and listen. I never want to hear those words out of your mouth again. You think just because he is black that he has a knife. You are stereotyping a person. You are generalizing all black people. That is so wrong." I was very embarrassed in front of my friend as I deserved an earful from my dad. That day I learned an important lesson. It stuck with me for life. My dad also said, "Every joke about someone's race is not a funny joke. That perpetuates prejudice. You think it is just a joke, but that is how prejudice spreads." As I analyze my life, I look deep inside. I know I still have subtle prejudice inside me. The minute we think we don't, we will let down our guard and not fight racism but will help perpetuate it. We must fight racism and say no to it within ourselves and when we hear it from others. It is a constant battle. I have experienced prejudice myself with people making slant eyes at me from the street. I remember when one of my best friends Chris Koida and I went to a pizza restaurant with other friends. I remember that a married couple kept saying over and over "why don't you yellow bellies go back to your own country." Chris and I froze up and we didn't know what to do. My white friend went over there and told them to stop in a very strong way. When another Asian friend heard about this after we left the restaurant , he was so angry he started hitting a wooden beam.
I still hear Asian jokes about how we are bad drivers, or we all have cameras around our neck. I freeze up sometimes and don't speak up how this is wrong. People say "You must know a good Asian restaurant. Can you give me a recommendation." This is very subtle but assumes a lot about a race and generalizes a race.
As I analyze my life, I remember telling my daughter I don't think you should go into that neighborhood because it is dangerous. I realize that I was discriminating and generalizing people and a certain area. It is very easy to make statements that you don't realize keeps the cycle of discrimination and prejudice going.
I have seen other people be discriminated against, but I question did the person really mean what I thought. I think to myself "Maybe they meant something else or I'm overreacting probably". Instead, I should have asked that person what did you mean by that statement. I should have stood up for that person who might have been discriminated against. If it was discrimination, I should have said please stop these statements. I know I need to get better on fighting against racism. I should not sit by and wonder what did that person mean. I should not freeze up and say nothing. It is not good enough to say, "I don't say prejudice things, and I am analyzing myself and working at not being prejudice.
We and I must say "No, stop this. That is wrong."