Forms part of the Japanese American Oral History Project.
Collection is open for research.
George Ichiro Azumano was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1918. In 1940, he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Oregon. In 1941, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, but was discharged because of his Japanese heritage; he was subsequently among more than 120,000 Japanese Americans who were expelled from the West Coast by the U.S. government during World War II, and was incarcerated at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho. In 1943, he and Alice Ise Inuzuka were married; they later had four children. After the war, Azumano returned to Portland with his family. He opened Azumano Insurance and Azumano Travel. He was part of Oregon's first trade delegation to Japan in 1962, helped to form Portland's sister-city relationship with Sapporo, Japan, and served on the Oregon Tourism Commission. He served on the board of the Japanese American National Museum and was active in several other associations, including the Japanese American Citizens League, Oregon Nisei Veterans, Rotary International, the Japan America Society of Oregon, the Portland Chamber of Commerce, and the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. In 1976, he remarried to Nobuko Mori. Azumano died in 2013.
Sources: Vital records in Ancestry.com; information provided by Azumano in his interview; Azumano's obituary in The Oregonian, December 23, 2013.
Forms part of the Japanese American Oral History Project.
Oral history interview with George I. Azumano, by George Katagiri, SR 950, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with George I. Azumano was conducted by George Katagiri at Katagiri's home in Portland, Oregon, in four sessions, from March 12 to November 10, 1992. The interview was recorded as part of the Japanese American Oral History Project, which was conducted by the Oregon Historical Society to preserve the stories of Japanese Americans in Oregon. In addition to the audio recording, a transcript of the interview is available.
In this interview, Azumano discusses his early life as a second-generation Japanese American in Portland before World War II; his college experience at the University of Oregon; and his service in the U.S. Army during World War II. He talks about his family's experience of incarceration by the U.S. government during World War II, describes living conditions at the Portland Assembly Center and at the Minidoka War Relocation Center, and talks about working on farms and in the Minidoka camp's employment office while incarcerated. He discusses returning to Portland with his family in 1946; talks about his businesses, Azumano Insurance and Azumano Travel; and speaks about his involvement with the Japanese American Citizens League and other organizations.
Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA,
In the first interview session, conducted on March 12, 1992, Azumano discusses his early life as a second-generation Japanese American in Portland before World War II, including his education, the grocery store his family owned, and his recreational activities. He briefly talks about his college experience at the University of Oregon, then discusses his service in the U.S. Army during World War II.
In the second interview session, conducted on June 4, 1992, Azumano discusses his family background in Japan, then speaks further about his early life, including his family's experience during the Depression, his memories of attending Japanese language school, and playing sports. He revisits many of the topics he discussed in the first interview session, particularly his experiences at the University of Oregon and in the U.S. Army. He talks about his family's experience of incarceration by the U.S. government during World War II. He describes living conditions at the Portland Assembly Center and at the Minidoka incarceration camp, and talks about working on farms and in the camp's employment office while he was incarcerated.
In the third interview session, conducted on June 10, 1992, Azumano continues to discuss his experiences of incarceration at the Minidoka camp and his work at the camp's employment office. He also talks about working at the Tooele Armaments Depot in Utah at the end of the war, and his marriage to Alice Ise Inuzuka. He discusses returning to Portland with his family in 1946; talks about his businesses, Azumano Insurance and Azumano Travel; and speaks about his involvement with the Japanese American Citizens League.
In the fourth and final interview session, conducted on November 10, 1992, Azumano continues to discuss his businesses, Azumano Insurance and Azumano Travel. He describes his daily routine, and talks about his involvement with several Oregon organizations, including the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), St. Vincent's Hospital, and Willamette University.