Wartime Memories

Author: Glenn Scoggins

  • Erica Tanaka

    K10, Erica Tanaka ‘02, Emiko Watanabe, Grandmother, 1933,Yokohama: Naka-ku, Kanagawa: Hakone-machi, Miyagi On the evening of November 5, 2000, I interviewed Mrs Emiko Watanabe, my maternal grandmother. She explained in detail her experiences and her memories of World War II. She is 67 years old presently, and therefore she was in grade school, eight years…

  • Mayumi Murabayashi

    N06F, Mayumi Murabayashi  ‘07, Leonora Gajudo, Grandmother, 1927, Philippines My maternal grandmother is Leonora Miranda Gajudo. She lives in the Philippines, and I talked to her on October 12, 2005, when I called her on her 78th birthday. It was in the year 1943 when it all happened. The sadness, anger, frustration—all the negative and…

  • Yuuka Nakasone

    N07, Yuuka Nakasone ‘07, Kayoko Nakasone, Grandmother, 1935, Nagano My grandmother, Kayoko Nakasone, was ten years old when World War II ended. She was born in 1935 in Nagano. Because World War II occurred such a long time ago, her memory is not clear. However, she has a general idea of the hardships that she…

  • Marina Ōhashi

    K07, Marina Ōhashi ‘02, Shinpei Ōhashi, Grandfather, 1929, Yokohama: Nishi-ku I interviewed my grandfather, who lives close to me. His name is Shinpei Ōhashi, and he is 71 years old now. I interviewed him in his shop, Ōhashi Shōten, on November 8, 2000. I started off the conversation by asking the question, “Do you remember…

  • Eri (Elly) Nonaka

    K06, Eri (Elly) Nonaka ‘02, Hideo Nonaka, Grandfather, 1920,  Tōkyō, Yokohama: Naka-ku The only person that I am really close to who is old enough to answer my questions is my grandfather. His name is Hideo Nonaka, and he is 80 years old. He lives right in front of my house, so it was really…

  • Yumi Moriguchi

    K05, Yumi Moriguchi ‘02, Fumiko Nakano, Grandmother, 1913, China, Korea, Nagasaki, Yokohama: Naka-ku On November 5, 2000, I interviewed my grandmother, Fumiko Nakano, who is 87 years old. My grandmother wasn’t directly involved in combat in World War II, because she was living in Kyūshū, but she had an interesting experience in China before the…

  • Manish Ramiah

    N08I, Manish Ramiah ‘07, Kinko Kaitō, Family friend, 1929, Tōkyō, Niigata On Saturday, October 29, 2005, I interviewed Mrs Kinko Kaikō, a survivor of World War II about her personal experiences during the war. She lives near our house, and my mother often meets her on the way to Nishi-Nippori Station, where they chat a…

  • Shin’ichirō Tanaka

    N09, Shin’ichirō Tanaka ‘07, Ryūji Katayama, Grandfather, 1931, Kanagawa: Fujisawa-shi, Aichi, Tōkyō My grandfather’s name is Ryūji Katayama. He lives in Fujisawa city in Kanagawa. I interviewed him on October 27, 2005. Q. What is your age? How old were you during the Second World War?  A. I am 73 years old. I was born…

  • Noboru Itō

    N02, Noboru Itō ‘07, Yukiko Azuma, Grandmother, 1930, Ōita On October 29, 2005, I interviewed my maternal grandmother at her house. Her name is Yukiko Azuma, and she is 75 years old. Q: How old were you when Japan entered World War II? A: The year was 1941, right? So I was about 11 years…

  • Pamela Bernard

    K01B, Pamela Bernard ‘02, Tomohisa Ōishi, Uncle, 1935, Yokohama: Nishi-ku, Kanagawa: Hadano-shi I interviewed Tomohisa Ōishi, who is my uncle, my mother’s oldest brother. He is 65 years old and was born in 1935.  During World War II, he lived in a place called Sengen-chō, not far from Yokohama Station in Nishi-ku. When war broke…