Takano Family Papers

Itsuhei Takano (1887 October 18-1967 January 3) immigrated from Yamanashi, Japan, in 1906 and married Tomoye Kodama (1889 March 3-1979 October 17) in 1913. They resided in Highland Park, Los Angeles, California since 1914 and raised six children. Itsuhei was a retailer and operated a vegetable produce business at 5014 Eagle Rock Boulevard in Los Angeles since 1938. Their Nisei child, Fumio Fred Takano (1914 February 2-1989 July 22), was the oldest child and married Yoneko Meguro (1918 May 30-2007 January 10) in March 1942. He worked for the tuna fishing industry, and the family resided in Los Angeles, California, purchasing a real property prior to the exclusion.

Kumaji Meguro (1878 February 28-1957 December 1) and Tsuruno Meguro (1894 February 1-1985 January 12) were also Issei immigrants and resided in Colorado in the 1920s and 1930s. They were farm laborers and raised their Nisei child, Yoneko, Yoshiko Ruth, and Leo Ryoichi in Colorado, but moved into Los Angeles in 1936.

When the exclusion order was issued, the Takano and Meguro families were transferred to different assembly centers, Pomona Assembly Center and Santa Anita Assembly Center during the war. They were hoping to be transferred to the same incarceration camp together but were imprisoned separately in different camps, the Gila River camp in Arizona and the Heart Mountain camp in Wyoming. During his incarceration, Fumio Fred Takano answered questions on a form, known as the “loyalty questionnaire” in February 1943. His initial answers to questions 27 and 28 were “no” to question 27 and “yes” to question 28, however, his answers were not accepted at the Registration Office. The registration officer claimed that questions 27 and 28 should be answered both in the affirmative or negative, and his answer to 27 was altered in the negative by the officer. Because of his answers to the questionnaire, he struggled to be granted the permit he needed to leave. Later, he left the camp for Chicago but joined his family in Los Angeles when his family members were released from the camps. In June 1945, the Takano and Meguro families were able to return to Los Angeles, California.

Leo Ryoichi Meguro, one of the Meguros' children, was incarcerated in the Pomona Assembly Center and transferred to the Heart Mountain incarceration camp with his parents. He enlisted and served in the 100th Infantry Battalion as a Nisei solider and was deployed in Europe during the war. In 1944, he was hospitalized and discharged because of his illness but reenlisted and served in the Korean War.