Jean Shiraki Gize

Jean Hatsuye Shiraki Gize is the epitome of optimism and positivity. A thoughtful and reflective speaker, her experience as a child during WWII was more positive than most commonly heard stories, filled with a supportive network of good samaritans and loving parents. Both her mother and father were trailblazers in public service, as they were both the first Asian Americans to pass the civil service exam for their respective jobs, her mother for education and her father in landscape architecture. As she says more than once in her interview, "I'm very very proud of my parents." To say that she came from a patriotic family would put it mildly: one of her uncles and her own father volunteered for the 442nd and served in Europe, with her father being by Senator Daniel Inouye’s side when he was wounded by a grenade. At church, her mother was staunchly against sending clothing or supplies or gifts of sympathy to Japan to help their war effort and went against the majority, declaring “we are Americans.”

My name is June Shiraki Gize, and I was born on June the 16th, 1938 in Alameda, California.

You were born in June of '38, so you might not remember what life was like before Pearl Harbor very much, but can you tell me whatever you remember? 

Well, I've loved to do writing and so recently my father passed away. In fact, it was a year ago on April 20th. So as a result, I did a lot of research and prepared and obituary notice. And so because of that and because I had to go through my parents belongings, there was a lot of historical information that I gathered. And some of it is true recollection and some of it is things that my parents have told me through the years. 

I'm very, very proud of my parents. Both of them were born in the United States. They were born in Oakland and in Alameda. My mother was June Nakayama before she married my father. The Nakayama family came from Japan in the 1800s. My grandmother and grandfather came from the Nagoya area before 1890. My grandmother and grandfather came married to the United States. He was a pharmacist by training but when he came here, he, of course, could not do that. So he worked for the railroad.

My grandmother was an educated woman. She had a high school education. She went to this Queen's High School in the Nagoya area. And so she had very high expectations for her family. Both of the boys, my uncles -- one went to medical school [Joseph Nakayama] and the other one [Tyler Itaro Nakayama] went to pharmacy school. My uncle served in WWI as a doctor. My mom being a woman, sadly - and I think she was disappointed - in 1929 when she graduated, she could not go to college. The Depression, but also because of the lack of money. And I guess, you know, women did not, were not so lucky to get the education. 

So anyway, my mother had an extraordinary teacher, her named was Miss Rothin and Miss Rothin took a special interest in my mother in high school. My mother was a very bright woman and graduated with honors from Oakland High School. And so my mom was trained to be a secretary and this wonderful teacher dictated shorthand, helped her so she could do shorthand and practice, and mother miraculously was the first Asian American to pass civil service in 1929. 

How did you find out that she was the first Asian American woman?

She told me [laughs]. She was very proud of that. She was the secretary to the superintendent of adult education [in Oakland] from 1929 until she retired in the early '70s. 

And my dad's family is rather interesting, too. My grandfather came very early and he worked for a family in San Francisco. And they took a special interest in my grandfather. In fact, when the earthquake happened in San Francisco, my grandfather went to help the family, the Landen family. And. Mrs. Landen became the godmother of my father. 

Do you know what your grandfather's name is? 

 Shinzo Shiraki. He came in, I think it was  in the 1890s. 

Okay back to the Great Earthquake. 

He helped the family and rescued them because they were older at that time and he was a young man. So anyway, they became very special to my father's family. My father had three brothers and sisters --he had one brother, Harry. My father was the eldest. 

Okay, and your father's name? 

George Kiyonobu Shiraki. And then my aunt Mary, and then the youngest one is Ruth. My grandfather had an arranged marriage. His mother arranged the marriage with my grandmother and she was much younger than my grandfather, probably fifteen years younger. And she came about 1908. So that was very, very late. And he worked for the railroad as a cook. And then later he had his own nursery in the '20s and '30s, he had a nursery in Alameda and then in Oakland. And he raised flowers.

 And my father in the late '20s after he went to Fremont High school went to UC Davis and had training there as a landscape person, architect. And he started his own business. But before that, he had to in 1930, he had to quit college and come back and help the family because of the Depression. And then when he met my mother in 1936, he started his own business, landscaping. And after they got married, my dad--this leads up to just before the war. They got married and I was born a year later, and as a result, my dad had to make a more comfortable living. So it was interesting that Mr. Robinson had seen my dad's work and Mr. Robinson was the superintendent of Parks and Recreation for the Oakland Parks. And he saw my father's work and said, "Why don't you apply and work for the park and rec department?" So he took the exam and then became the first -- he told me very proudly that he became the first Asian man to pass civil service in the Bay Area, in the Oakland area. So, really very proud of my folks. 

So with my dad working for the Park Department and the recreation department, he started over at Chabot golf course. What a nice place. And my mother worked for the Board of Education. And when they first got married, they lived with my grandmother in Oakland. But very shortly after, just before the war, they bought their first home in East Oakland. 

So was your mother working after she had you?

Yes, she did. And my grandmother Nakayama took care of me. I've got to say that at one point in time m y mother was superintendent of Sunday schools for the Oakland Methodist Episcopal Church on West 10th Street in Oakland, and that's where my parents met, they met at church. And she had at one point in time they were saying, you know, just before the war, they were talking about sending relief to Japan and for some reason there was, you know, a lot of misery about Japan. And my mother said, "We are Americans. We are not sending clothing to Japan." And I don't know if this was after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or what, but it was quite an issue that she took that kind of stand. And my mother said there is no way. She said, "We are Americans." And that was interesting because that church stored a lot of people's things. And when my mother and dad were married, they had, I think, four ministers marry. There were three Japanese-American ministers and one Caucasian minister, and they were all friends with my parents. So, I mean, it's just a wonderful--I just think it's a wonderful tribute to my parents.

So that led up to the time where my parents were in Oakland and when the business of the relocation came up and the notice of the paper saying that you'll have to go, it was really, truly amazing to me hearing my parents talk about that time and also the fact that I was reading a lot of the background there. They saved a lot of material from that time. Newspaper clippings, letters. The letters that were written from the Board of Education -- the women that were my mother's co-workers, they put together sort of a long chain letter where they pasted about 30 letters together and mailed them to my mother when she was in camp. And then a letter from the superintendent of the recreation department writing to my mother. 

So what you're trying to say is that before the war, your parents were active in the community, in the Japanese American community as well as the outside because they were employed by the city of Oakland or board of Education. So that kind of connection helped them along when they were incarcerated.

Yes. I guess that's one of the key things, is that I didn't say very much about my parents property, that they bought the house. But because of mother's connection at the Board of Education one of her co-workers, Eleanor Clark, her father-in-law was with the Federal Reserve , and I believe he was chairman of the Federal Reserve, and he arranged with the Bank of America to collect the mortgage money. And so my parents did not lose their home. 

Who paid the mortgage?

The people who rented the property paid the mortgage directly to the Bank of America. And it was arranged through Mother and Dad's connections. So my parents were very, very fortunate in that they were highly supported and people in the community were outraged that they were treated the way they were. I mean I can remember for a treat, everything was powdered milk, powdered eggs. And fresh eggs and all kinds of goodies would be coming in the mail to my parents. 

I bet your neighbors were a little jealous. 

Well, I don't know because I guess they might have shared them. My grandparents were there, my aunt and uncle. They were there. And both grandmothers were there. In camp, my dad and my Uncle Tyler volunteered for the 442, and I guess it was a big deal because there were some people who were not in favor of that. So it was courageous of them. My dad went in as a PFC, Private First Class. And my uncle went in but he was a medic because of his training. And so they both served in North Africa, Italy, France. And then I think they entered Germany, top. The other uncle who was a doctor was in Cincinnati practicing medicine, which is ironic [laughs]. He's practicing medicine and his mother and his brother were in a camp, but that's because he lived in Cincinnati. 

The other thing you were asking me about my memories prior to going into camp. The only thing I can truly remember, and you've got to figure out that when Pearl Harbor happened, I was not yet three and a half. But I do have some recollections because I can remember our new house and I can remember that hallway and I can remember the sirens. And I can remember rushing to that hallway and being very frightened in that hallway. It was the only part of the house that did not have windows. It connected the bedrooms, the bathroom, the kitchen and the dining room. And there we were in that hallway. And strange to think that I was between three and a half and four, and I can remember that. 

And then as far as camp, remembering camp, I have some memories of the potbelly stove and the tar paper and my mother had asthma and so I remember her being very, very sick after my father left for his service. And having to go to the hospital, that was really frightening. But I had my grandparents and my aunts and my other uncle there. 

But you were the only child at that time within your family?

Yes, exactly. In fact, I was the only child, period. Well, my sister later was born after the war, but none of the brothers and sisters were married. And the one that was married, they didn't have children. But they were very loving. That's one of the things I remember is that my Uncle Tyler, who was an artist and was a pharmacist. He and my dad were very clever, but a sled was built in the snow. And then the stilts was fun, you know? They built stilts. But the other funny thing is I read a note that my mother wrote, I came across it going through my dad's papers. And she's writing to a friend at the Board of Education and she says, "George was busy building partitions here but now, he loves to cook you know, and so he's now volunteered to cook in the mess hall. So he's now occupied." So he always found things to do. But then my father also worked off the relocation center and worked in the sugar beets outside of that camp.

You know, I hear that that's the worst, the most physically demanding job ever. 

And because he had worked with, you know, had been trained. Can you imagine a UC Davis person trained then going off and doing sugar beets? Heavy labor. But then my father volunteered for service. There was friction--

Lots of friction. 

Well, when there are a lot of people there's friction, you know. I think part of the thing is not only are you uprooted from your environment, but Japanese American people are, I think or maybe all people [laughs] all people are used to having their own bathrooms and their own kitchens and our house was really a brand new house and very nice. 

Oh, it wasn't just brand new to you, it was just built. 

It was just built. 

Oh, my gosh. 

New lawn. Hardwood floors [laughs]. And it was a lovely little--not big, not pretentious, but it had two bedrooms and one bath and it was their house. And you figure coming out after the Depression and being able to do that and both of them employed and then this to happen. So coming back to that, one of the things that I really did not like as a child was the openness of the bathrooms, the lack of privacy.

And you've got to figure it was desert area. The weather was inclement: snow, mud, no sidewalks. It's just lack of vegetation to speak of. I mean all I could think of when I think of that time is the dust, the dust. When the wind blew and the mosquitos and the barb wire and the tar paper and the soot and the lack of privacy, I mean, can you imagine? Here I was four and five, and it bothered me terribly. Well, you figure I came from this nice house [laughs]. And even at three, I knew it was a nice house. Is that strange? 

No. You were an observant child. 

And what's really ironic is I was supposed to start kindergarten there. And, you know, I've been a teacher for 35 years. I really enjoy teaching. But I didn't like kindergarten, I hated it. 

Do you remember what you hated? 

I don't know. I just didn't like it. It was just a terrible program, I guess. And I imagine there were some very kind teachers. I just think about how the teenagers must've felt. The people who were around my aunt's age who were teenagers, it must have been devastating for them. I was so young, but the teenagers and the young adults, the ones that were getting off, beginning to college and they couldn't do that. And thinking about people who normally would be working. I think one thing that actually I feel now that I'm older, I realize that we were very positive because my parents were positive because their friends outside were so supportive. And I've got to believe that my parents were really positive people because you know, they--they just were. They just were and so encouraging.

Did you make any friends? Do you remember? 

Well, you know what I did, I must have because I have pictures of me and two other little boys about my age. So I must have, you know. But mostly I remember my mom being there. 

Well did she ever talk to you about the feelings she had? Being husbandless in this desolate camp? 

No, she never did. Isn't it amazing? She really never did. She was always saying how fortunate we were, you know, and you think about it, oh my--good grief. But I think she was resourceful. And her attitude helped her. And my dad really was a very interesting...at his funeral. This one woman, this Kajiwara. She told about how Dad when he was in service, one of his comrades in arms who was the brother of my mother's good friend, Amy, died. And so he took the time on leave to take a photograph of the grave and write a note to Mr. and Mrs. Kajiwara in Oakland and sent the picture and they were just so appreciative. And this is something that was said almost 60 years later at my dad's funeral about what he did during WWII, taking the time to do that for them. 

You pointed out that your uncle, one of your uncles, was a medic. What was your father? Was he in combat? 

He was in combat. Now he cooked, you know, but at one point, this is a funny story. He cooked so well that they wanted him to cook for the officers. And my father says "no way." So [laughs], as he said, he was busted and he was put in as a rifleman. Anyway, that's a family story. 

So he became a rifleman?

Uh huh, he became a foot soldier just like everybody else because he wouldn't cook for the officers. 

Yeah. If he had cooked for the officers, he could have been much safer behind the lines, not in the front line. But he refused.

Yeah. He was much decorated. He had a Purple Heart and several Bronze Star. He had, I think several citations in what they call clusters. And then the other thing that was amazing is there's a story about how he attacked -- this is what he got the Bronze Star for -- this German tank and he ran up and put a grenade into the opening and threw it in there, and saved a lot of people's lives. And also, he was one of the people that took Daniel Inouye off the field of battle when he was injured. So my dad was a brave man. 

Wow, yeah. 

Mother and I left the camp early. We left in May of 1944, actually, Josephine Duvenick of Los Altos, she and her husband Frank were Quakers and they had been active before the relocation in protesting the relocation of Japanese Americans. And they also wanted to help with resettling. And so she had written an advertisement. And my mother responded to it in the Topaz paper to this. And my mother wrote back to her and said she would be interested. So my mother and I were the first ones to come back to the peninsula area in May of '44, over a year before the war ended. 

Wow. 

When I spoke on another forum, they asked me why I could not remember. But since then, I realized what had happened is that when I was in camp and I was about five years old, a young boy exposed himself to me. And I found it very frightening. And my mom was very understanding woman so I told her and I guess she became very frightened and was going to get me out of camp. 

That's upsetting.

Yeah, it must have been upsetting to me because I blocked it out of my brain for almost 60 years. 

You just figured this out in the last few weeks?

Well, the last year or you know, I don't know if it was our conversation or the last couple of weeks or what prompted this realization. But I didn't even remember that--put it together--what prompted my mother to act so quickly on that and take that chance. The people in camp, my grandmothers had said that she would be putting herself in a dangerous situation, that probably she might be shot because, for her and racial bigotry. A Japanese person coming back to the Bay Area before the war had ended. It would be foolhardy. So my mother left the camp at 2 o'clock in the morning and hopped on a train with me and we went back to the Bay Area without the family even knowing that we were going.

Oh, so she just stowed away in the middle of the night. 

That's right. She must have had some assistance. 

Right there might even have been a guard with you on the train, too. 

Well, I don't know about that. 

So your grandparents and your aunts must've been just flabbergasted the next morning.

They were. I think my grandparents were more worried about my mother's safety because my dad must've known about it and encouraged her. The Dubniks have been inspiring people. I don't know if you know part of their background, but they are humanitarians. They have been interested in people of color. They have been doing humanitarian things for half a century or more. And so bigotry and racial bigotry could not begin because people would know each other's people because she did that. You've got to figure I mean, the marches were into the early 60s. Are we talking about the civil rights? Civil rights? So this was in nineteen forty five. They were way ahead. They were way ahead. And the interesting thing about it was that she was kicked out of the camp association because she had African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Caucasian Missy Amy Josephine Doob.

And it was kicked out of what the campus association, American Camp Association, because her camp had children of different racial backgrounds together in the camp. 

They thought that was indecent. 

Yeah. You've got to figure out miscegenation laws were on the books at that time. This family, it was a big deal to have helped Japanese-Americans. Now, in 1944, she went to the PTA at Los Altos Elementary School and there was only one at that time. It's no longer there. And she went to the PTA women and said, "You should meet June. You have a very special opportunity. Her daughter is going to come to this school in the fall. And she's had all this to deal with, and her husband is fighting in Europe, just like your husband." And they welcomed us with open arms. So I had a very pleasant first grade experience in Los Altos. So she really set the tone. And what was interesting, too, was that since my mom was first and she went back to Oakland in the summer of 1944, she was there for just a little while and my aunt came after. And she took care of me. My aunt Mary and my mother went back to work for the Board of Education and opened the house and lived by herself starting in Oakland. And I was with my aunt at the Duveneck.

What a brave woman. I can't believe that. 

Yeah, she was a very brave woman. 

I can't believe doing that when there were just so much hate. 

This was before the war ended. So that was my experience after camp. And it was not easy for my folks and all of the people. I feel really sorry for those people who had bitter experiences because our experiences were wonderful. I mean, considering. I mean there are a lot of people supporting my parents emotionally and otherwise because my father got full credit for his being in the army. He went right back to this job. And his house.

Interview conducted by Grace Megumi Fleming. JAMsj thanks Grace for allowing the museum to archive and share these oral histories