Shane Konno, a.k.a “ShayShay,” unfolds the 80-year family secret that he’d always pondered about. This revelation is through a kimono he found in their grandfather’s house. Konno’s grandfather died in 2013. But little did he know his grandfather was considered a hero when the government imprisoned Japanese Americans in Japanese internment camps during World War II.
Konno found a kimono in the storage with “University of Michigan” imprinted on the lid, and the name “Sadame Tomita” written on it, followed by the digits 07314 underneath. Moreover, Konno’s uncle told him this was his late grandfather’s name and the family’s registration number for the Japanese-American camps.
Both Konno’s grandfather, a second-generation Japanese American Nisei, was a teenager when the Americans had put him in Japanese internment camps during the war.
Konno’s grandmother, whom his grandfather had met after the war, never talked about what happened to her partner. Konno’s grandmother didn’t even use her real Japanese name but used her American name, Helen, instead.
This tragic event in Konno’s grandparents’ lives made him wonder: Why keep secrets from your own children? Why did my grandfather hide these kimonos in the hopes of covering up their names?
The trauma that can’t be undone — things uncovered about Japanese internment camps
During the Stop Asian Hate candlelight vigil last summer, many Japanese Americans were present, who also had mind-boggling questions about their descendants. Unfortunately, some also never got the answers they had been searching for for a long time.
Admittedly, Konno knew his dad and uncle were keeping things from him. The first Japanese immigrants, Issei, and the third-generation Japanese Americans, Sansei, had undergone enough trauma to keep their mouths shut.
They say, “For Dad’s generation, it’s not hard for them to not ask too many questions. The trauma happened to their parents. To them, this isn’t a piece of history that you can read.”
This is also in line with the Japanese term “shikata ga nai,” which means “it can’t be undone.”
In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt implemented Executive Order 9066 that allegedly evacuated Japanese Americans from west coast communities. It’s to prevent spying against the American government.
Though no Japanese Americans were indicted of treason or espionage, most of these laws were driven by fear, war hysteria, and racism. As a result, over 120,000 Japanese Americans were relocated from their homes to internment camps. This included thousands of elderly and children.
If they had Japanese descent, they’d be sent many miles away from home, and each family would sleep on horse stalls in these camps.
Heroes go to the extent to protect their loved ones
President Ronald Reagan offered an apology and a $20,000-reparation to each Japanese American, which made them happy.
Konno had realized the severity of the situation, in which pain and suffering were dominant. He claims that his grandparents were trying to protect their loved ones. They feared that if the Americans knew their loved ones were even of ¼ Japanese descent, they would also be sent away.
“My family wasn’t just a part of the Japanese American community, but they were helping to lead too,” they said. “When I read the full passage, I felt quite sick.”
Konno realized “my own family helped make that horrible decision to destroy these sentimental items – and it was all for nothing because they were forced into these camps anyway”.
And this is the reason why they burned Japanese belongings and hid away the beautiful, silky kimonos that Konno found.
Recently, Konno drove to the former Japanese internment camps to pay his respects. It’s now a museum operated by the National Park Service located in the mountains of California.
Seeing the conditions of the camp sent chills down his spine, thinking how his grandfather made this prison his home for years.
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