Archives West Finding Aid

In 1936 Tatsuya Tsuruyama arrived in Los Angeles, California. He returned to Japan in 1940 to marry Miyo Karubi. Later that year, the couple moved to San Jose, California, where their first son, Shigenobu, was born on July 3, 1941. On May 29, 1942, the Tsuruyamas were sent to Santa Anita, California as part of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. On September 1, 1942, they were sent to Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming, where they spent the initial part of their incarceration before being sent to Tule Lake in 1944. On October 22, their first daughter, Ruri was born. On May 17, 1944, the Tsuruyamas were transferred to Tule Lake Relocation Center in Northern California. On November 20, 1944, their second daughter, Mari was born. By August 15, 1945, the family left Tule Lake and travelled to Santa Fe, New Mexico before moving to Portland, Oregon. By January 13, 1946, the family moved again to Uraga, Japan.

Executive Order 9066:

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the incarceration from 1942 to 1946 of approximately 120,000 adults and children of Japanese ancestry, many of whom were United States citizens. They were expelled from their homes and placed in incarceration camps without due process and in violation of their civil rights. These camps were euphemistically referred to as “relocation centers” or “internment camps”. After decades of advocacy by the Japanese American community, in 1988 the United States issued a formal apology and began redress to survivors of Japanese incarceration during World War II.