Interview with Chiho Tomita, 1985 October 8-December 28
Scope and Contents
Audio recording of interview with Chiho Tomita (1890-1988), with abridged English transcript (49 pages). Tomita immigrated to the United States in 1907, and married Matsuyo Osawa in 1918. They worked on a farm in Odell, south of Hood River, Oregon, and later had five children. Tomita discusses his early life in Fukushima, Japan, including his family’s silkworm farm and his education. He shares his reasons for immigrating to the United States, and talks about his journey. He discusses adjusting to life in Portland, Oregon, talks about jobs he had there, and describes working in apple orchards in Hood River. He talks about his marriage to Matsuyo Osawa and about raising a family. He speaks about the Japanese American community in Hood River, and about the Japanese Methodist Church. He discusses purchasing an apple orchard in 1937, and talks about running it. He shares his experiences after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, including preparing his property before the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. He describes the train ride to the Pinedale Assembly Center in Fresno, California. He describes living conditions at Pinedale, and at the Tule Lake incarceration camp in California and the Minidoka camp in Idaho. He discusses working on farms in Ontario and Nyssa, Oregon, while his family remained at Minidoka. He shares his feelings about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during the war. He discusses returning to the Hood River Valley after the war ended, and the discrimination that Japanese Americans experienced. He closes the interview by talking about becoming a U.S. citizen in the 1950s, about his activities at the time of the interview, and about his hopes for future generations of Japanese Americans.
Dates
- Creation: 1985 October 8-December 28
Creator
- From the Collection: Tamura, Linda, 1949- (Interviewer, Person)
- From the Collection: Noji, Mamoru, 1918-2006 (Translator, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Extent
10 audiocassettes (8 hr., 4 min., 26 sec.)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: Japanese
From the Collection: English
Repository Details
Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240
libreference@ohs.org