3 videos of Tak Ishikawa's oral interviews
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| Tak Ichikawa |
Takeo "Tak" Ichikawa (Poston 214-5-D) was born on August 17, 1928 and raised in Salinas, California by his Japanese immigrant parents, Torakichi and Haruko Ichikawa. His father entered the United States through the port of San Francisco in 1912 and his mother followed in 1924. Tak had two sisters (Sakaye and Hisaye) and brothers (Sadao and Shigeo James). The Ichikawa family farmed and shipped produce.
When Tak was 13 years old, his father was arrested by the local police, and was found to be a "subversive" and a “potentially dangerous enemy alien” due to his affiliations with Heimusha Kai, the Buddhist Church, and possessing a Japanese citizenship.
When Tak was 13 years old, his father was arrested by the local police, and was found to be a "subversive" and a “potentially dangerous enemy alien” due to his affiliations with Heimusha Kai, the Buddhist Church, and possessing a Japanese citizenship.
Tak" has very vivid memories of the day his father was taken and the months and days leading up to it. As a family with immigrant parents and children of Japanese ancestry, the Ichikawa family, among many other Japanese and Japanese Americans, burned many valuable, cultural, and familial things that were Japanese. The burning of memorabilia was a mode to fit in and show loyalty to the United States. Many Japanese families threw out anything they thought might be considered "subversive".
Tak, his mother and siblings were evacuated to the Salinas Assembly Center, and a few months later, moved to more permanent living quarters on July 4, 1942 at Poston, Arizona internment camp, block 214-5-D. Meanwhile, Tak's father was sent to several detention prison camps, specifically for the alien Japanese which the police thought were a threat to the U.S. security. On June 18, 1943, Torakichi was paroled from the Department of Justice detention prison at Crystal City, Texas, and joined his family at the Poston, Arizona camp II. On June 20, 1944, brother Sadao Ichikawa left Poston and resettled in Philadelphia. On October 28, 1944, Tak, his parents and the rest of the Ichikawa family left Poston and resettled in Preston, Idaho.
After camp, the Ichikawa family returned to Salinas, his father was torn apart and falsely accused and opened a store instead of putting his effort into restarting farming. Tak attended Salinas Jr. College, and after college, he worked for the AAA Insurance Company. Tak married Yoshiko and they have a family. His mother died at the age of 62 years in 1970, and Tak recalled his father as being a "broken man".
