[00:02.04]Fort Minor
[00:04.00]Kenji
[00:05.72]
[00:06.88]My father came from Japan in 1905
[00:10.44]He was 15 when he immigrated from Japan
[00:13.92]He, he... he worked until he was able to buy this patch
[00:17.11]And build a store
[00:17.97]
[00:18.20]Let me tell you the story in the form of a dream,
[00:20.14]I don't know why I have to tell it but I know what it means,
[00:22.67]Close your eyes, just picture the scene,
[00:24.28]As I paint it for you, it was World War II,
[00:26.50]When this man named Kenji woke up,
[00:28.55]Ken was not a soldier,
[00:29.74]He was just a man with a family who owned a store in LA,
[00:33.50]That day, he crawled out of bed like he always did,
[00:36.34]Bacon and eggs with wife and kids,
[00:38.28]He lived on the second floor of a little store he ran,
[00:40.99]He moved to LA from Japan,
[00:42.79]They called him 'Immigrant,'
[00:43.85]In Japanese, he'd say he was called "Esay,"
[00:46.66]That meant 'First Generation In The United States,'
[00:49.64]When everyone was afraid of the Germans, afraid of the Japs,
[00:53.03]But most of all afraid of a homeland attack,
[00:54.94]And that morning when Ken went out on the doormat,
[00:57.57]His world went black 'cause,
[00:59.03]Right there; front page news,
[01:00.86]Three weeks before 1942,
[01:02.92]"Pearl Harbour's Been Bombed And The Japs Are Comin',"
[01:05.72]Pictures of soldiers dyin' and runnin',
[01:07.48]Ken knew what it would lead to,
[01:09.32]Just like he guessed, the President said,
[01:11.24]"The evil Japanese in our home country will be locked away,"
[01:14.77]They gave Ken, a couple of days,
[01:17.08]To get his whole life packed in two bags,
[01:19.39]Just two bags, couldn't even pack his clothes,
[01:21.86]Some folks didn't even have a suitcase, to pack anything in,
[01:25.23]So two trash bags was all they gave them,
[01:27.69]When the kids asked mum "Where are we goin'?"
[01:30.01]Nobody even knew what to say to them,
[01:32.14]Ken didn't wanna lie, he said "The US is lookin' for spies,
[01:35.28]So we have to live in a place called Mandinar,
[01:38.07]Where a lot of Japanese people are,"
[01:40.14]Stop it don't look at the gunmen,
[01:41.69]You don't wanna get the soldiers wonderin',
[01:44.10]If you gonna run or not,
[01:45.60]'Cause if you run then you might get shot,
[01:47.69]Other than that try not to think about it,
[01:50.05]Try not to worry 'bout it; bein' so crowded,
[01:52.17]Someday we'll get out, someday, someday.
[01:56.64]
[01:57.28]As soon as war broke out
[01:57.86]The G.I came and they just come to the house and
[02:01.02]"You have to come"
[02:03.42]"All the Japanese have to go"
[02:04.70]They took Mr. Lee
[02:06.62]People didn't understand
[02:08.05]Why did they have to take him?
[02:09.86]Because he's an innocent (neighbour/labourer?)
[02:12.13]
[02:12.40]So now they're in a town with soldiers surroundin' them,
[02:14.51]Every day, every night look down at them,
[02:16.93]From watch towers up on the wall,
[02:18.95]Ken couldn't really hate them at all;
[02:20.84]They were just doin' their job and,
[02:22.54]He wasn't gonna make any problems,
[02:24.81]He had a little garden with vegetables and fruits that,
[02:27.97]He gave to the troops in a basket his wife made,
[02:30.52]But in the back of his mind, he wanted his families life saved,
[02:33.41]Prisoners of war in their own damn country,
[02:36.18]What for?
[02:36.84]Time passed in the prison town,
[02:38.64]He wanted them to live it down when they were free,
[02:41.18]The only way out was joinin' the army,
[02:43.36]And supposedly, some men went out for the army, signed on,
[02:46.98]And ended up flyin' to Japan with a bomb,
[02:49.24]That 15 kilotonne blast, put an end to the war pretty fast,
[02:53.71]Two cities were blown to bits; the end of the war came quick,
[02:56.98]Ken got out, big hopes of a normal life, with his kids and his wife,
[03:01.62]But, when they got back to their home,
[03:03.11]What they saw made them feel so alone,
[03:05.52]These people had trashed every room,
[03:07.61]Smashed in the windows and bashed in the doors,
[03:09.76]Written on the walls and the floor,
[03:11.51]"Japs not welcome anymore."
[03:13.29]And Kenji dropped both of his bags at his sides and just stood outside,
[03:17.43]He, looked at his wife without words to say,
[03:19.49]She looked back at him wiped the tears away,
[03:21.83]And, said "Someday we'll be okay, someday,"
[03:24.77]Now the names have been changed, but the story's true,
[03:27.66]My family was locked up back in '42,
[03:29.87]My family was there it was dark and damp,
[03:32.56]And they called it an internment camp
[03:34.26]
[03:34.76]When we first got back from camp... uhh
[03:37.03]It was... pretty... pretty bad
[03:39.03]
[03:39.37]I, I remember my husband said
[03:42.29]"Are we gonna stay 'til last?"
[03:43.93]Then my husband died before they close the camp.
[03:47.77]