BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
This past week, Maya, Grace and I visited Bainbridge Island
which is the “homestead” of the Kitayama Family. We went to visit Auntie
Yo and my cousins to show my girls where the Kitayamas came from. For
those who have never been to Bainbridge, you have to take a ferry out of Seattle
across Puget Sound on a 30-minute ride. Bainbridge was once a sleepy
little island where the main industry was strawberries. Today it is an
expensive bedroom community for Seattle with incredible water scenery to match
our Sunset Beach.
THE FARM
Around the early 1920’s, Grandma and Grandpa Kitayama
rented a greenhouse on the south part of Bainbridge Island to raised tomatoes,
potted plants and 6 children. It was there that the boys started their
love of growing. It was a tough life but they managed to support
themselves until Dec 7 1941 and Pearl Harbor Day.
Here is a photo
of the farm today which the girls visited, it’s just a field.
And
here is a photo when the family was there just prior to WWII.
RELOCATION
On March 30 1942, Japanese Americans on Bainbridge were
ordered by the US government to be ready for “relocation”. They
were the first group relocated in the USA because of the proximity to Bremerton
Naval yards across the sound.
The Kitayama family was part of this
group which was marched onto a ferry to be taken away; not really knowing what
their future held while being escorted by armed US soldiers. They were
taken by ferry, bus and train to Manzanar, a camp located in east California,
not far from Death Valley.
BAINBRIDGE JAPANESE AMERICAN EXCLUSION MEMORIAL
Maya, Grace and I visited the recently opened Bainbridge
Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on the site of the ferry dock
which took the Bainbridge Japanese Americans away.
Just like most of my parent’s generation, we didn’t hear much about their experiences and they didn’t bear grudges. They dealt with the circumstances and went on to make huge contributions to their communities, industries and a good future for their families.
LESSON
The message at the memorial is, Nidoto Nai Yoni, translated
as "Let It Not Happen Again".
The lesson I hope my girls
learned from their grandfather, grand aunts and uncles...when bad things
do happen, how you adapt is most important.
~RHK
