Atsushi Art Ishida Collection

Atsushi Art Ishida (1921 June 2-) is a Kibei Nisei who is a U.S citizen and was educated in Japan prior to World War II. His family history in America began with immigration of his grandfather, Tamakichi Ishida, around late 1800. Tamakichi and his first son, Umeo (Atsushi’s uncle), were Issei immigrants from Hiroshima, Japan and arrived in Hawaii as contract laborers. After a few years of the plantation labor contract, Tamakichi came back to Japan while Umeo moved to the mainland and settled in Fresno, California. Atsushi’s father, Matsuo Ishida, left Hiroshima to join his brother, Umeo. Due to the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 between the U.S and Japan, Japanese immigration and emigration were restricted, but Matsuo managed to board a ship leaving Japan for South America, jumped into the ocean at Ensenada, Mexico, swam to the shore, and walked across the border to reunite his brother in Fresno. Later, Matsuo became a naturalized U.S. citizen, brought his wife, Saku, from Japan, and owned a farm in Compton, California. Atsushi was born to Matsuo and Saku as the oldest child among their four children in Fresno. Atsushi’s younger brother, Takashi, was also born in Fresno, and his younger sisters, Masaye and Ruby, were born in Compton, and all grew up in Southern California. When Atsushi’s uncle, Umeo, decided to retire and return to Japan, Umeo took Atsushi and Takashi to Japan for education in 1929, and the rest of the family members also returned to Japan in 1935 due to Matsuo’s illness; and he passed away in Japan a year later. Atsushi and his brother attended school in Hiroshima, Japan but decided to return to California together in 1937 by a steamship, Asama Maru, while his mother and sisters remained in Japan. He and his brother joined their family friend, Mr. Hamamoto, who had been farming in Artesia, California and looked after them. Atsushi attended a high school and helped Mr. Hamamoto by farming together in Artesia until the war interrupted his life.

Following the attack on the Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 9066 was issued by the President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. Atsushi received the notice of the exclusion order and had to leave within three days, and was imprisoned in several camps during the war. On April 5, 1942, he was sent to the Santa Anita Assembly Center in California. He recollects the day of the forced removal and incarceration: His baggage was inspected by the Army personnel, and he was provided with meal tickets and assigned to a “room” which had been a horse stall and manure still remained on the wall and asphalt floor. On October 13, 1942, he was transferred from the Santa Anita Assembly Center to the Jerome incarceration camp in Arkansas. The trip took three days by train without any stops. He remembers that the camp was in the middle of swamp forests and surrounded with the barbed-wire fence and armed guard towers. Answering "no" and “yes” to questions 27 and 28 of the form that is known as the "loyalty questionnaire," he was interrogated. During the interviews, he was not able to express his thoughts in English well and appeared suspicious to the interrogators. The interviews concluded that he was dangerous and to be transferred to the Tule Lake Segregation Center in California in May 1944 as one of the incarcerees who were renouncing their U.S. citizenship. During his time in the Tule Lake camp, he was interrogated again but answered that he never wished to return to Japan or renounce his U.S. citizenship but wanted to leave the camp. His answer surprised the interrogators but they decided to release him from the Tule Lake camp. In February 1945, he voluntarily moved into the Minidoka incarceration camp in Idaho from the Tule Lake camp and stayed with his friends briefly before being released from the camp. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in March 1945 to join his brother who had been settled there. He started reestablishing his life, working for a furniture manufacturer company, and resided there until he was drafted for the Korean War in September 1946.

While he was deployed in Korea, he took a leave from service and visited his mother, sisters, and relatives in Hiroshima, Japan and witnessed aftermath of the atomic bombing and devastation. During the visit, he met his future wife, Mamie Yoshiko Sakamoto, who was also a Kibei Nisei but had been stranded in Japan through World War II. They married in Japan on November 14, 1947, and he was discharged in March 1948 but came back to the U.S. alone, and she followed after she managed to get a permit. They resided in Chicago, farming for a while, and moved to Norwalk, California in 1949 to join his friend to farm together. Their farming was not successful and he decided to move to Gardena, California for a gardening job. Prior to moving to Gardena, however, he was recalled by the U.S. Army again and stationed in Tokyo, Japan, serving as the MIS reserves until September 1951. After being discharged the second time, he returned to California, establishing himself in life as a gardener, moved to Gardena with his wife in April 1957. His career continued to be a landscaper, studied landscaping, obtained certification, and opened his private landscaping business in 1960s. He was a member of the Gardener’s Association and retired in 1986. He likes golf, cards, trip to Las Vegas, photography, and guitar. He continued to play on the golf course until the COVID-19 hit in 2020. Atsushi and Yoshiko have resided in Gardena since 1957 and remained married for 71 years. They have two daughters, Lynn and Vicki, and Yoshiko passed away in November 2019. As of 2020 Atsushi continues to live in Gardena at the age of 99.