Wartime Memories

Prefecture: Kanagawa

  • Mami Park

    E12K, Mami Park ‘94, Mrs Yamamoto, Neighbor, c 1925, Kanagawa: Kawasaki-shi, Chiba Around the time when Japan was about to enter the Second World War, the lives of the Japanese began changing. The government put into action programs to teach the people the types of actions they would have to know and use during a…

  • David Sancho

    E14Sp, David Sancho ‘94, Tamaho Shimizu, Grandmother, 1918, Nagano, Kanagawa: Kawasaki-shi I interviewed my maternal grandmother at Honmoku Hospital in Yokohama, in November 1992. She was born in 1918 and is 74 years old. Q: Where were you living during the war?A: I lived in Kawasaki, but I moved back to my hometown, Komoro in…

  • Yukie Ohba

    B09, Yukie Ōba (Ohba) ‘86, Mother, 1935, Kanagawa: Fujisawa-shi The best way to learn the history of a country is to ask the people who lived through it. To learn more about World War II, I interviewed my mother in May 1985. She was born in 1935, so she was a little girl during the…

  • Tomoko Wakabayashi

    B13, Tomoko Wakabayashi ‘86,  Michie Nishioka,  Grandmother, c 1927,  Kanagawa: Ōiso-machi, Shizuoka My grandmother lived through World War II, so I was curious about her experiences. I interviewed her in May 1985. Q: How were Japanese men drafted into the military? A: First they received a red, or rather pinkish, letter issued by the government…

  • Yumiko Ishii

    C01, Yumiko Ishii ‘87, Grandmother, 1922, Kanagawa: Ninomiya-machi, Tōkyō In May 1986, I interviewed my grandmother, who is 64 years old. She explained her experiences during World War II. Q: How old were you when the world war began?  A: I was 19. Q: Where did you live then?A: My family all lived in Ninomiya…

  • Hirozane Sugihara

    G10, Hirozane Sugihara ‘99, Yoshihiko Morikawa, Uncle, 1938, Kanagawa: Kamakura-shi In November 1997, I decided to interview my maternal uncle, named Yoshihiko Morikawa. He is 59 years old and works for a medical equipment company. He lives in Kamakura with his wife, his two sons, and their cat. I remembered the times when I was…

  • Sophia Ikeda

    H09B, Sophia Ikeda ‘00, Yuriko Kosakai, Neighbor, 1924, Kanagawa: Kamakura-shi, Tōkyō During the Second World War, many people were killed and many lives were affected. It was not a good time for anyone, because it created many memories that people don’t want to remember. I interviewed my next-door neighbor. Her name is Yuriko Kosakai, and…

  • Kyōsuke Kikuchi

    H13, Kyōsuke Kikuchi ‘00, Kaichirō Yamada, Great-uncle, 1909, Kanagawa: Fujisawa-shi On November 8, 1998, I interviewed my great-uncle, Yamada Kaiichirō. He was born on May 5, 1909, so he lived through the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, as well as World War II. I asked him about the earthquake, and he described it to me…

  • Lisa Ferrie

    L02U, Lisa Ferrie ‘04, Kisaburō Matsuda, Neighbor, 1925, Tōkyō, Gifu,  Kanagawa: Yokosuka-shi I interviewed Kisaburō Matsuda, who was born in 1925 and is 77 years old. He is my neighbor and a friend of my mother. Q: How old were you when the war started? A: I was sixteen years old when it started, but…

  • Miyu Nagashima

    U04, Miyu Nagashima ‘20, Grandmother, 1929, Kanagawa: Kamakura-shi, Yokohama: Kanazawa-ku I interviewed my grandmother at home on October 15, 2018. She was born in 1929 and is 89 years old. This is her story during World War II. My family had a sushi restaurant in Kamakura, near our house. Although not as successful as my…