Collection:
JDCM Education
Object ID:
EDU.0503
Accession#:
EDU
Credit Line:
Donated by multiple sources.
Object Name:
Label
Title:
Shonosuke Tanaka Panel
Date:
2014
Year Range from:
1941
Year Range to:
1951
Description:
Shonosuke Tanaka Family
by Alice (Tanaka) Hikido
My father, Shonosuke Tanaka, emigrated to the U.S. from Japan in 1900. Around 1912 he settled in Juneau and opened the City Cafe on South Franklin (where the Mt. Roberts Tram terminal is now). He returned to Japan in 1922 and married my mother, Nobu Fujita, in a marriage arranged by their families. They had five children, John, William, Teddy, Alice and Mary. We were all born in Juneau. Teddy passed away in 1939.
I was in the fourth grade when World War II started on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941. The next day I reluctantly went to school, apprehensive of the reaction of my classmates. I returned home to find FBI agents searching our home. When they were finished, they took my father with them. We learned that he was put in jail with other men who were born in Japan. Later they were then sent to a camp in New Mexico. This was a fearful time for us, especially for my mother who had always depended upon my father and couldn't understand English very well.
The rest of our family soon learned that we would share a similar fate. Bill and John, still in high school, closed the family restaurant and prepared for our departure. The school presented John's diploma to him in a special assembly. In April, we were given less than 24 hours to board a military transport ship. Our destination was the Puyallup fairgrounds near Seattle, Washington, which had been transformed into a temporary assembly camp. Bill's good friend, Tony Del Santo, who had just moved from Juneau to Seattle, wrote and said that he and his mother would visit him on a certain day. We eagerly went to the main gate to see them. They had to remain on the other side of the gate, but Tony's mother somehow passed over this wonderful homemade chocolate cake. Also while we were at Puyallup, we learned that John's senior class honored him at their graduation ceremony by leaving an empty chair for him, their class valedictorian. These acts of support boosted our spirits.
In the summer, we were sent to the Minidoka Camp in Idaho, our final destination. The camp was surrounded by a barbwire fence with guard towers, a stark reminder that we were prisoners. Finally in 1944, our father was transferred to Minidoka and reunited with us. When the war ended in 1945, John was serving in the army, and Bill had taken advantage of the loosening restrictions and had gone to Chicago.
My father and mother decided to return to Juneau. I was now twelve and eager to go home again, but Mary at five had no memory of Juneau. The Tanner family, our friends for many years, met our ship as we docked and invited us to stay at their Scandinavian Rooms across from the City Cafe until we could move back into our home. My father took out a loan from the B.M. Behrends Bank and made preparation to restart the City Café. Bill returned from Chicago to help my father and together they reopened the cafe in 1946. Later that year, John was discharged from the army, and added his effort. Other friends, John Hermle of the Home Grocery and George Messerschmitt of the San Francisco Bakery, extended credit until the City Cafe was able to pay their bills again. Very importantly, old faithful customers returned. This was a testimony of the supportive community of Juneau.
It was good to have the war years behind us. By 1950, my father had paid off the loan and entered into partnership with Katsutaro Komatsubara and Sam Taguchi. The three of them operated the City Cafe together until my father passed away in 1957.
Image Captions (All images provided by the Tanaka Family.):
Outing with Mrs. Tanner and Daughters, 1930. In 1st row: Walter Fukuyama. 2nd row: Ethel Fukuyama, John Tanaka, and Mary Fukuyama. 3rd row: Nobu Tanaka with baby Teddy, Louise Tanner, Mrs. Tanner, and Mume Fukuyama. 4th row: Hikohachi Fukuyama with baby Tom, Torao Kanazawa, and Shonosuke. Tanaka
Bill and Mary Tanaka in front of City Cafe, 1946
The Tanakas visiting the Hermles, 1948. 1st row: Mary Tanaka, and Jack Hermle. 2nd row: Alice Tanaka, Nobu Tanaka, Helen Hermle, Jean Hermle, and Josephine Hermle. 3rd row: Marcel Hermle, Andrew Hermle, Shonosuke Tanaka, and John Hermle
Alice (Tanaka) Hikido's 4th Grade Class at Minidoka, 1942
by Alice (Tanaka) Hikido
My father, Shonosuke Tanaka, emigrated to the U.S. from Japan in 1900. Around 1912 he settled in Juneau and opened the City Cafe on South Franklin (where the Mt. Roberts Tram terminal is now). He returned to Japan in 1922 and married my mother, Nobu Fujita, in a marriage arranged by their families. They had five children, John, William, Teddy, Alice and Mary. We were all born in Juneau. Teddy passed away in 1939.
I was in the fourth grade when World War II started on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941. The next day I reluctantly went to school, apprehensive of the reaction of my classmates. I returned home to find FBI agents searching our home. When they were finished, they took my father with them. We learned that he was put in jail with other men who were born in Japan. Later they were then sent to a camp in New Mexico. This was a fearful time for us, especially for my mother who had always depended upon my father and couldn't understand English very well.
The rest of our family soon learned that we would share a similar fate. Bill and John, still in high school, closed the family restaurant and prepared for our departure. The school presented John's diploma to him in a special assembly. In April, we were given less than 24 hours to board a military transport ship. Our destination was the Puyallup fairgrounds near Seattle, Washington, which had been transformed into a temporary assembly camp. Bill's good friend, Tony Del Santo, who had just moved from Juneau to Seattle, wrote and said that he and his mother would visit him on a certain day. We eagerly went to the main gate to see them. They had to remain on the other side of the gate, but Tony's mother somehow passed over this wonderful homemade chocolate cake. Also while we were at Puyallup, we learned that John's senior class honored him at their graduation ceremony by leaving an empty chair for him, their class valedictorian. These acts of support boosted our spirits.
In the summer, we were sent to the Minidoka Camp in Idaho, our final destination. The camp was surrounded by a barbwire fence with guard towers, a stark reminder that we were prisoners. Finally in 1944, our father was transferred to Minidoka and reunited with us. When the war ended in 1945, John was serving in the army, and Bill had taken advantage of the loosening restrictions and had gone to Chicago.
My father and mother decided to return to Juneau. I was now twelve and eager to go home again, but Mary at five had no memory of Juneau. The Tanner family, our friends for many years, met our ship as we docked and invited us to stay at their Scandinavian Rooms across from the City Cafe until we could move back into our home. My father took out a loan from the B.M. Behrends Bank and made preparation to restart the City Café. Bill returned from Chicago to help my father and together they reopened the cafe in 1946. Later that year, John was discharged from the army, and added his effort. Other friends, John Hermle of the Home Grocery and George Messerschmitt of the San Francisco Bakery, extended credit until the City Cafe was able to pay their bills again. Very importantly, old faithful customers returned. This was a testimony of the supportive community of Juneau.
It was good to have the war years behind us. By 1950, my father had paid off the loan and entered into partnership with Katsutaro Komatsubara and Sam Taguchi. The three of them operated the City Cafe together until my father passed away in 1957.
Image Captions (All images provided by the Tanaka Family.):
Outing with Mrs. Tanner and Daughters, 1930. In 1st row: Walter Fukuyama. 2nd row: Ethel Fukuyama, John Tanaka, and Mary Fukuyama. 3rd row: Nobu Tanaka with baby Teddy, Louise Tanner, Mrs. Tanner, and Mume Fukuyama. 4th row: Hikohachi Fukuyama with baby Tom, Torao Kanazawa, and Shonosuke. Tanaka
Bill and Mary Tanaka in front of City Cafe, 1946
The Tanakas visiting the Hermles, 1948. 1st row: Mary Tanaka, and Jack Hermle. 2nd row: Alice Tanaka, Nobu Tanaka, Helen Hermle, Jean Hermle, and Josephine Hermle. 3rd row: Marcel Hermle, Andrew Hermle, Shonosuke Tanaka, and John Hermle
Alice (Tanaka) Hikido's 4th Grade Class at Minidoka, 1942
People:
Shaw, Albert
Hikido, Alice (Tanaka)
Pekovich, Andy
Marriott, Betty Echigo
Fischer, Brent
Lundy, Connie
Gray, David
Belcher, Dixie Johnson
Matsumoto, Fumi
Chaney, Greg
Kumasaka, Haruo
Pekovich, Janet Borgen
Homan, Janie Hollenbach
Triplette, Jackie Honeywell
Triplette, Jim
Shackelford, Marjorie Alstead
Darlin, Marie
Kanazawa, Mark
Bennett, Marsha Erwin
Abo, Mary (Tanaka)
Albright, Nancy (Fukuyama)
Wanamaker, Randy
Sumada, Reiko
Grummett, Karleen Alstead
Grummett, Roger
Inouye, Ron
Wayne, Rose (Komatsubara)
Kito, Sam, Jr.
Hikido, Alice (Tanaka)
Pekovich, Andy
Marriott, Betty Echigo
Fischer, Brent
Lundy, Connie
Gray, David
Belcher, Dixie Johnson
Matsumoto, Fumi
Chaney, Greg
Kumasaka, Haruo
Pekovich, Janet Borgen
Homan, Janie Hollenbach
Triplette, Jackie Honeywell
Triplette, Jim
Shackelford, Marjorie Alstead
Darlin, Marie
Kanazawa, Mark
Bennett, Marsha Erwin
Abo, Mary (Tanaka)
Albright, Nancy (Fukuyama)
Wanamaker, Randy
Sumada, Reiko
Grummett, Karleen Alstead
Grummett, Roger
Inouye, Ron
Wayne, Rose (Komatsubara)
Kito, Sam, Jr.
Search Terms:
WW2
Japanese
Internment
Japanese
Internment
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