Internment of Kingston’s Japanese families
This month, the Kingston Historical Society features the Saturday, May 1942 relocation and internment of the Kingston-area Japanese families.
The accompanying photo is of the house once belonging to the Mukai family. This family lived on Highway 104 and raised chickens. They owned their farm. This was probably because their oldest American-born son was able to purchase the land in his name as soon as he became of age. (Japanese citizens were not allowed to own property nor were those born in Japan allowed to become citizens.)
Nine Japanese families lived in Kingston before World War II. They were the Mukai’s, Takasaki’s, Kamine’s, Ohashi’s, Takahashi’s, Yamashita’s, Kamikawa’s, Fukuzawa’s and Ukegawa’s.
The Ukegawa family, who lived on the road now named Shorty Campbell, moved before World War II selling their farm to the Fukuzawa family in the name of their oldest American child, Yukie.
Yukie Fukuzawa Yumbi describes the shock, awe, and fear felt by the members of her family upon hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Her booklet, “From Cherry Blossoms to Strawberries,” copyrighted by Yukie and printed in 2006, details some of these feelings.
Her parents were concerned about their extended families remaining in Japan.
Immediately after Pearl Harbor, individuals known to have frequent contact with the country of Japan or belonging to certain organizations or who even taught Japanese were apprehended and sent to Missoula, Mont. No Japanese from Kingston were in this roundup.
All guns, cameras, and radios were confiscated by local law officers upon orders from the federal government.
Yukie was required to drop out of her freshman year at the University of Washington because of the curfew and travel restrictions imposed. The Japanese had to be in their homes from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and could not travel farther than five miles from home.
On Feb. 19, 1942, the executive order requiring the removal of all Japanese west of the Cascades was issued. Notices were posted that families would only have five days to prepare to leave home. Each family member was allowed only one suitcase. Army trucks would be coming that would take the Japanese on the first leg of the evacuation.
The large camouflaged, windowless army trucks picked up the families in Kingston on a Saturday in May 1942.
The Fukuzawa family was the only Japanese family to return to Kingston after World War II was over.
Kingston Historical Society news
The Kingston Historical Society was organized in the fall of 2002.
Since then we have been meeting from January through October at the Kingston Community Center.
We have gathered a large number of old photographs and published the Glance at the Past in the Community News since the fall of 2004. We continue to gather stories and pictures and now have a rotating display at the Kingston Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center. We have republished “Little City by the Sea,” a brief history of Kingston written and first published by Harold F. Osborne in 1990. (A few copies are still available.)
We have a collection of early maps and several interesting display boards for use at community events.
As President of the Society, I feel we need to review our focus and purpose. We will be defining and clarifying this during the business portion of our meetings in the next few months.
We look forward to you joining us and sharing your ideas.
You can also make your input by dropping a note to the Kingston Historical Society at P.O. Box 333, Kingston, 98346.
Visit the Kingston Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kingston (off Highway 104 across from the Kingston Community Center) to view the rotating displays provided by the Kingston Historical Society.
