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Fort Minor |
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Kenji |
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My father came from Japan in 1905 |
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He was 15 when he immigrated from Japan |
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He, he... he worked until he was able to buy this patch |
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And build a store |
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|
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Let me tell you the story in the form of a dream, |
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I don't know why I have to tell it but I know what it means, |
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Close your eyes, just picture the scene, |
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As I paint it for you, it was World War II, |
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When this man named Kenji woke up, |
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Ken was not a soldier, |
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He was just a man with a family who owned a store in LA, |
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That day, he crawled out of bed like he always did, |
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Bacon and eggs with wife and kids, |
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He lived on the second floor of a little store he ran, |
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He moved to LA from Japan, |
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They called him 'Immigrant,' |
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In Japanese, he'd say he was called "Esay," |
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That meant 'First Generation In The United States,' |
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When everyone was afraid of the Germans, afraid of the Japs, |
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But most of all afraid of a homeland attack, |
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And that morning when Ken went out on the doormat, |
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His world went black 'cause, |
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Right there; front page news, |
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Three weeks before 1942, |
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"Pearl Harbour's Been Bombed And The Japs Are Comin'," |
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Pictures of soldiers dyin' and runnin', |
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Ken knew what it would lead to, |
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Just like he guessed, the President said, |
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"The evil Japanese in our home country will be locked away," |
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They gave Ken, a couple of days, |
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To get his whole life packed in two bags, |
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Just two bags, couldn't even pack his clothes, |
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Some folks didn't even have a suitcase, to pack anything in, |
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So two trash bags was all they gave them, |
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When the kids asked mum "Where are we goin'?" |
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Nobody even knew what to say to them, |
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Ken didn't wanna lie, he said "The US is lookin' for spies, |
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So we have to live in a place called Mandinar, |
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Where a lot of Japanese people are," |
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Stop it don't look at the gunmen, |
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You don't wanna get the soldiers wonderin', |
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If you gonna run or not, |
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'Cause if you run then you might get shot, |
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Other than that try not to think about it, |
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Try not to worry 'bout it; bein' so crowded, |
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Someday we'll get out, someday, someday. |
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|
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As soon as war broke out |
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The G.I came and they just come to the house and |
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"You have to come" |
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"All the Japanese have to go" |
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They took Mr. Lee |
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People didn't understand |
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Why did they have to take him? |
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Because he's an innocent (neighbour/labourer?) |
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|
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So now they're in a town with soldiers surroundin' them, |
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Every day, every night look down at them, |
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From watch towers up on the wall, |
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Ken couldn't really hate them at all; |
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They were just doin' their job and, |
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He wasn't gonna make any problems, |
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He had a little garden with vegetables and fruits that, |
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He gave to the troops in a basket his wife made, |
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But in the back of his mind, he wanted his families life saved, |
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Prisoners of war in their own damn country, |
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What for? |
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Time passed in the prison town, |
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He wanted them to live it down when they were free, |
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The only way out was joinin' the army, |
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And supposedly, some men went out for the army, signed on, |
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And ended up flyin' to Japan with a bomb, |
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That 15 kilotonne blast, put an end to the war pretty fast, |
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Two cities were blown to bits; the end of the war came quick, |
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Ken got out, big hopes of a normal life, with his kids and his wife, |
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But, when they got back to their home, |
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What they saw made them feel so alone, |
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These people had trashed every room, |
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Smashed in the windows and bashed in the doors, |
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Written on the walls and the floor, |
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"Japs not welcome anymore." |
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And Kenji dropped both of his bags at his sides and just stood outside, |
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He, looked at his wife without words to say, |
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She looked back at him wiped the tears away, |
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And, said "Someday we'll be okay, someday," |
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Now the names have been changed, but the story's true, |
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My family was locked up back in '42, |
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My family was there it was dark and damp, |
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And they called it an internment camp |
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|
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When we first got back from camp... uhh |
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It was... pretty... pretty bad |
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|
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I, I remember my husband said |
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"Are we gonna stay 'til last?" |
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Then my husband died before they close the camp. |
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