At his hearing, a young white officer asks him about his sympathies and confronts him with accusations that he provided oil to Japanese submarines Ko explains that the oil drums contained bait used to catch fish. Lincoln, Ko is viewed as anīy other inmates. tells him she will come to see the family, which she does. When Rich goes to the hospital to seek assistance, a nurse-who says she is a volunteer from the , North Dakota, detention camp, while Joe Takahashi, a World War I veteran, dressed in his uniform, rails against what is being done to them.Īt Manzanar, we get a glimpse of the chaotic early days of the camp: poor food, a lack of privacy, insufficient medical personnel and facilities, and spartan living conditions. On the way to the camp, Misa reads a censored letter from Ko who is being held at the The family gathers with other Japanese Americans and get on a bus to Manzanar. When a greedy white man offers to buy Misa's prized dishes for a fraction of their worth, she begins breaking them instead. Rumor of forced removal become reality, and the Wakatsukis pack their things. A week later, the FBI comes to arrest Ko, taking him away.

Over the next few days, the family burns family photos and a Japanese flag and see neighbor men arrested. Shouts of 'Pearl Harbor' soon explain the reason. But a week later, as the family sees Ko and the two sons out to sea on their fishing boat, they are puzzled when the boats turn around and come back. Ko is an apparently prosperous fisherman, and the family lives in a spacious home in Santa Monica, California. We go back to just prior to the war as the Wakatsukis celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of Jeanne's parents, Ko and Misa, with her four older siblings Teddy, Richard, Alice, and Vernon, Teddy's pregnant wife Chiyoko, Jeanne's grandmother, and some of Ko's white friends. This is where I grew up.' As the story continues, contemporary Jeanne's narration provides context for the on-screen events of the past. Her voiceover begins 'My name is Jeanne Wakatsuki. The movie begins in the early 1970s present as the adult Jeanne Wakatsuki arrives at the Manzanar site with her husband and two young children. Houston,Īired nationally on NBC stations on March 11, 1976, and remains one of the few mainstream dramatic films centered on the Japanese American concentration camp experience. Of the same name by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Made-for-television movie about a Japanese American family in PoV:Told from perspective of Nisei woman looking back at her childhood įacility:Manzanar - Manzanar, California Fort Lincoln (Bismarck) - Bismarck, North Dakota Theme:Evils of racism Family – blessing or curse Growing up – pain or pleasure Injustice Patriotism – positive side or complications Power of the past InterestLevel:Grades 6-8 Grades 9-12 Adult

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