Alice Tsukuno - Video Biography

RJ with Alice Tsukuno and her son Steve

It was really a special day for me to meet Alice Tsukuno and her son Steve. We drove over to meet Alice at her new home in Seattle to record her video biography. Her son Steve had purchased the Video Biography for his mother at an auction benefiting the Eastside Domestic Violence fundraiser.

Alice did a super interview. I learned so much about how life was in Seattle in the years prior to World War II. Then Alice told me how she and her family were evacuated to camps during the War. Her parents lived in Seattle so they were sent to camps in Puyallup and then to Idaho. Alice got married to Junior whose family lived out of town, so she and Junior were sent to camps down near Fresno. Then she and Junior went to live in Chicago until the end of the war, working for a family for $45 per month.

After the war, Alice and Junior came back to Seattle and opened up a grocery store, which they had for over 28 years.

I was very inspired by my interview with Alice. She is a kind and articulate person who lived a wonderful life during some interesting times. She has no regrets and just appreciates her time spending with her children and grandchildren.

Fumiko Hayashida - 99 years old

Fumiko Hayashida

I had the great fortune to be able to spend a couple of hours with Fumiko Hayashida, interviewing her for a video project. Fumiko is 99 years old and still full of life, laughter, and great wisdom. She told me great stories about her life living in the Northwest. Fumiko told me the incredible story about how she was pregnant with two small children with her husband when she was told to "evacuate" to the internment camps down in California. I asked Fumiko if she held any animosity to America for what happened to her. She said she always trusted the US Government and just wished the war was over faster. She and her children and husband lived for three years in a camp in the desert. I was deeply moved by my experience interviewing Fumiko. She is a very wonderful person.