My earliest recollection of the Japanese American internment was of hearing my Obachan (“Japanese grandmother”) speak bitterly about what this country had done to her family. The war years (1942-1945) and the ensuing aftermath had dramatically altered her dreams for life.[1] No one in our family or community spoke much about “camp,” so I did not explore the subject until I became a university student. I read every book in the campus library and immersed myself in the world of Japanese American history. As a minister of the gospel, I now view these stories again through the lens of Christian faith.
The author of Hebrews reminded first-century Christians in his day that they were “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1). Saints of old from Abel to Abraham, Moses, and David motivated the church to persevere in faith (see 11:1-40). In like manner, successive generations have continued “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2).
Most Japanese American Christians who endured the internment have since gone on to glory, but their faith still exhorts believers today like that great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews. The following account will link their stories of faith to the golden chain of church history.[2] These Nikkei saints from the distant past began simply as names on a camp roster and faces in faded photographs. Yet as I learned their stories, their past came alive until I found myself connecting with their struggles. I wholeheartedly believe that we will one day see these brothers and sisters in heaven and hear their stories face-to-face.
My father, George Sugimura, was born in Seabrook, New Jersey, shortly after his family’s departure from the Manzanar Relocation Center. His was not a horrible childhood for an adventurous young boy, but his parents had to work 13-hour shifts (7-days a week) at the Seabrook Frozen Food Company.[3] With alternating night and day shifts, one parent would often be working while the other was sleeping. By God’s providence, my father began attending the Christian church in town and became a follower of Jesus. He grew in faith during his university years and met a young woman who would soon become his wife. My parents then raised three children in a Christian home and taught us the foundations of the Christian faith from an early age. Their stories also belong among that great cloud of witnesses.
[1] Isao “Henry” and Masako Sugimura, along with their children, Miyoko “Mary” and Takashi, were interned at the Manzanar Relocation Center from June 1, 1942 to June 10, 1945 as family number 5112. They lived in Block 27—Barrack 5—Apartment 3. Manzanar was situated in the Owens River Valley (near Death Valley, California) and was surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. Although he lived in America for many decades, my grandfather was not legally allowed to become a citizen until 1953. The following posts leading up to the 80th anniversary of the internment will honor my grandparents’ courage and strength in the face of adversity.
[2] This study mainly addresses the influence of Protestant Christianity and not other religions such as Buddhism, Shintoism, or Catholicism. It also focuses on the Japanese American experience on the U.S. mainland. A note on terminology: Issei refers to first-generation immigrants from Japan, Nisei to their second-generation children born in America, and Nikkei to all Japanese Americans inclusively.
[3] Charles F. Seabrook helped to resettle Japanese American internees by offering them employment in his farms and frozen food factories (Densho Encyclopedia, “Seabrook Farms,” accessed at https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Seabrook_Farms).
