TRANSCRIPT:
This transcript was edited for length and clarity.
Luis Hernandez: Monday is Victory Day in Rhode Island, commemorating the surrender of Japan in August of 1945 that led to the end of World War II. Rhode Island is the only state in the country to celebrate the holiday. While some see it as a way to honor the military sacrifice of Rhode Islanders during the war, others want to abolish or rename the holiday, saying it’s a painful reminder of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the incarceration of many Japanese Americans during the war. Among those calling for a change is Ken Nomiyama, a Newport resident and a third generation Japanese American who was born in one of those internment camps in California during World War II. Ken, it’s such a pleasure. I really appreciate the time. Thanks so much for joining me.
Ken Nomiyama: You’re very welcome.
Hernandez: Ken, Rhode Island has celebrated Victory Day every year since 1948. Why do you think the time has come for the state to do away with this holiday?
Nomiyama: Well, number one, it has been on the books since 1948. Up to now, people have not objected to it very much, but people like me are coming forward and saying that maybe it’s time for this holiday to end. I’m Japanese American. It’s more important to me than many people that this holiday come to an end. And I say that because, you call it Victory Day and the official name is Victory Day, but unofficially, and to a large part of the public, it is known as Victory over Japan Day. I do not consider it to be racist. It’s racial. I say it’s racial in that it is targeted to Japan, to the Japanese, and by association to the Japanese Americans in this country.
Hernandez: You were born in a Japanese incarceration camp in California in World War II. The stories that you’ve heard from your parents, your experience, your family’s experience; remind people what that was like.
Nomiyama: The U.S. government decided that the Japanese living in America were a threat after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, therefore there was a hysteria on the west coast of America. It was decided that because the Japanese were a threat to American security, that all of the Japanese were to be incarcerated. Therefore, 120,000 Japanese were taken away from Washington, Oregon and California and put into 10 incarceration camps throughout the U.S. They were surrounded by barbed wire, guarded by the U.S. military with bayoneted guns, rifles, tanks, with guard towers. It was a prison within the United States to incarcerate the Japanese.
Hernandez: I don’t know how much you remember at that stage of your life, but from your family’s perspective, how did that experience shape your family and then of course, your own life as you, as you got older?
Nomiyama: It did have an effect on my family. After the war, they moved back to California, and my father, for the rest of his life, was a gardener. He took care of wealthy people’s property, cutting grass, cutting hedges, and that’s the way he lived. He considered himself to be a second-class citizen. This feeling stayed with him and my mother through the rest of their lives. What happened during the war was a traumatic experience. I think it had an effect on how they thought about themselves and how they lived the rest of their lives. So it had a very large impact on the way they thought about themselves and the way they lived.
Hernandez: What about for you? What have you experienced in the way that Americans viewed you? As time passed, how did that change?
Nomiyama: Well, what happened during the war was that that first generation of Japanese Americans coming to America – that would be my grandfather’s generation, and my father’s generation, and my mother – they were called Nisei, second generation. They were born in America, so they were American citizens. They suffered. After the war, moving back to California, things began to change. People started trying to get back to a normal way of life, and prosperity started to come to the foreground. Houses were being built. Automobiles were being built. The economy was moving forward, and therefore, that animosity that had existed towards the Japanese began to disappear. I benefited by that. I’m a third-generation Japanese American. I went to public schools in California. I went to the University of California. That kind of opportunity was there for me because of the suffering that my parents and my grandparents went through. My life was more peaceful, more serene, without the hostility that my parents faced in their lives.
Hernandez: I wondered how often you have this conversation because you, you know, there are supporters of Victory Day who note that the holiday’s legal name is no longer associated with the victory over Japan and that the intention of the holiday is to honor Rhode Islanders who served in the war to liberate Europe and East Asia and the Western Pacific. I’m wondering how often you run into people who tell you that. How do you respond to supporters who say, “Hey, it’s not what you think it is?”
Nomiyama: The people who I’ve talked to about this do not consider or connect Victory Day with victory over Europe – over Germany and Italy. The connection is victory over Japan, even though the official holiday is considered to be more of a celebration of World War II victory. The victory over the European enemy is forgotten, I would say, for the most part. The conversation, in my mind, in my conversations, has always been about victory over Japan.
Hernandez: What do you say to folks who believe, look, we respect and honor our military veterans and the veterans groups who believe that eliminating Victory Day would be disrespectful to them; to the men and women who sacrificed during World War II. How do we answer that question? How do we deal with that?
Nomiyama: I understand that feeling. I believe that there should be a continuation of the honor to the Rhode Islanders who did sacrifice during World War II. I do not want to erase that memory. I’m not trying to diminish the sacrifices that were made by the Rhode Island families and just do away with the holiday for the sake of creating this vacuum and that feeling of celebration, of memory, of honor of those who did suffer during the war. There must be some way to find a middle ground on this where we could respect both the Rhode Islanders who suffered and to respect the Japanese who are being targeted with this holiday.
Hernandez: Pawtucket State Representative Jennifer Stewart did introduce legislation this past year that would have changed the name of Victory Day to Peace and Remembrance Day. It did not pass. What do you think about that? Is that the solution?
Nomiyama: It seems to be the way we’re headed, rather than to do away with the holiday, to change the name of the holiday. And maybe that’s the proper way. My objective is just to take away the Japanese being targeted. I don’t think this is a battle that’s going to be won immediately. It’s a long-term issue that needs to be heard for people to be convinced. I believe there’s still very strong resistance in the community. It’s a matter of sitting down, talking, and figuring a way to come to a happy conclusion.
Hernandez: I’ve been speaking with Newport resident and third-generation Japanese American Ken Nomiyama. Ken, I really appreciate the conversation. Thank you so much.
Nomiyama: Thank you, Luis.
