Written and Produced by Erin Okamoto Protsman and Theresa Carilli, Ph.D
How could more than 120,000 Japanese Americans have been incarcerated in concentration camps during World War II without due process? This documentary, profiles the Okamotos, a local Japanese American family who shares their experiences and feelings about being incarcerated. They discuss the negative and positive aspects of their incarceration, their initial reactions of their imprisonment, day-to-day life in the camps, how they feel today about the “internment,” as well as what it means to be Japanese American in this country.
This powerful and haunting account of the Japanese American internment raises issues about ethnicity in America today. Like the 120,000 other Japanese Americans who lived on the West Coast during the outbreak of World War II, the close-knit Okamoto family was sent to concentration camps for over three years without due process, simply because they resembled the foreign enemy who attacked Pearl Harbor.
The Okamotos generously share a dark chapter in their lives so that others will learn the lessons of history and then never forget the devastation prejudice has caused these and many other American citizens. Unfortunately, it could happen again. Running time: 44 min.
