Jim Tanimoto

ʻWhat they did to us is a perfect example of discrimination.ʼ

For many Japanese, it’s a version of the same story: discrimination based on race, even though they’re U.S. citizens.

That applies to Jim Tanimoto, 95, of Gridley.

He’s second generation – his parents immigrated to America and he was born here.

In 1941, people of Japanese ancestry along the West Coast, were moved to internment camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Tanimoto was one of them.

“We were evacuated July 9; they shipped us out of Gridley,” he said. “... July 10, we arrived in Tule Lake and we were assigned to block 42.”

They were given what were called loyalty papers and threatened with a fine and jail time if they didn’t cooperate. Two questions made residents of Block 42 hesitate. Tanimoto felt that one of the questions infringed on their rights as citizens and the other assumed that, even for those who had never been to Japan, they had ties to Japan.

“Nobody ever questioned this other than the fact that we were prisoners,” Tanimoto said. “We didn’t do nothing; we were American citizens ... Our civil rights were taken away.”

The 36 people who didn’t sign the papers in Block 42 were taken to county jails. They were then moved from county jail to a vacant Civilian Conservation Corps camp.

Four people went to the Supreme Court and, eventually, Executive Order No. 9066, which put all these people in the camps, was overturned.

Tanimoto said that the government just picked on one nationality, the Japanese.

“There was 300,000 German aliens in this country during the war that were treated like citizens,” he said. “There were 700,000 Italian aliens and they were treated like citizens, there was only 120,000 Japanese on the west coast and they were treated like enemies. “What they did to us was is a perfect example of discrimination.”

On current immigration debates, Tanimoto said that the people who are coming from bordering countries should go through the proper channels to legally enter the U.S.

Tanimoto’s father came to the U.S. when the Japanese government started recruiting soldiers of a certain age. He had to apply with the Japanese government to get permission to leave the country before coming to the U.S. and entered as a legal immigrant.

“He applied to move out of Japan as a teenager to get the better living (conditions) and not be recruited into the military service,” he said.

His father moved to Hawaii and worked on a sugar plantation for many years before returning to Japan and marrying Tanimoto’s mother. They then moved back to the U.S.

Tanimoto was born in Marysville and has lived in Gridley for most of his life.

Tanimoto’s father passed away when he was 70 years old and his mother passed away when she was 84 years old. Both lived through internment.

This Fourth of July, Tanimoto isn’t doing much besides a barbecue. He has spent six or seven Fourth of July holidays sharing his story for a gathering of people who were at Tule Lake. However, due to medical concerns, the Tule Lake Committee put age restrictions on those who can attend without a “chaperone.”

“This year I should be up there, but they’re up there now and I’m not because they turned me down,” he said.