--- title: Minidoka: A Japanese-American Internment Camp Revisited description: One young man documents his journey to visit the site where his family suffered during the World War II-era internment of Japanese-Americans canonical: https://time.com/5531184/minidoka-internment-camp-doc/ author: Gina Martinez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-19T21:25:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T00:53:55.000Z article:section: History og:title: Minidoka: A Japanese-American Internment Camp Revisited og:description: Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive Order that made internment of Japanese-Americans possible on Feb. 19, 1942 og:url: https://time.com/5531184/minidoka-internment-camp-doc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56d3adcd4299b604/6989455eb21a9c29065001ed/minidoka.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: Japanese Relocation Center School og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Minidoka: A Japanese-American Internment Camp Revisited twitter:description: Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive Order that made internment of Japanese-Americans possible on Feb. 19, 1942 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56d3adcd4299b604/6989455eb21a9c29065001ed/minidoka.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Inside One Man's Trip to the Idaho Camp Where His Great-Grandparents Were Held During World War II > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=f829f2a3-a271-42a0-960d-877890821677&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=f829f2a3-a271-42a0-960d-877890821677&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Back to Minidoka [Watch (HLS stream): Back to Minidoka](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GIc6J1PV.m3u8) (13:39)  _Published 2019-02-19. Joseph Shoji makes a pilgrimage from Seattle to Minidoka National Historic Site to retrace his family's history of internment during World War II._ by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:53 AM UTCPublished: Feb 19, 2019 9:25 PM UTC Joseph Shoji makes a pilgrimage from Seattle to Minidoka National Historic Site to retrace his family's history of internment during World War II. by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:53 AM UTCPublished: Feb 19, 2019 9:25 PM UTC On Feb. 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed [an Executive Order](https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=74&page=transcript) that allowed the forced removal, internment and incarceration Japanese-Americans. Now, nearly eight decades later, one young man has documented his journey to visit the site where his family suffered. In total, the infamous Executive Order 9066 led to the rounding up of 120,000 Japanese-Americans, [most of whom were U.S. citizens](https://books.google.com/books?id=n0P04JuMSM8C&pg=PA804&lpg=PA804&dq=senator+robert+taft+on+japanese+internment+1942&source=bl&ots=pcrgSzdYwG&sig=7NLveZbGFcgSsj3SVZCdGZiR7fI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiu6LDk%5Fq7QAhWF2yYKHfmJB4YQ6AEINTAE#v=onepage&q=senator%20robert%20taft%20on%20japanese%20internment%201942&f=false). Signed following the bombing at Pearl Harbor, amid fears that anyone with Japanese ancestry could turn on the nation, the order authorized the military to designate certain regions as “military areas” from which “any or all persons may be excluded.” That wording led to thousands of Japanese-Americans being removed from their West Coast homes and [placed in camps for years](http://time.com/4652340/japanese-segregation-portraits-1944/). Directed by Megumi Nishikura, the short documentary _Minidoka,_ from Blue Chalk Media**,** follows Joseph Lachman, a Seattle-based manager at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, a non-profit Asian-American advocacy group, as he makes his pilgrimage to the Minidoka National Historic Site in South Central Idaho. Though it is now a National Historic Site, decades ago Minidoka served as the camp where Lachman’s great-grandparents were among some 9,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. (What happened during this period is commonly referred to as “internment,” but many people today [prefer](https://densho.org/terminology/) the word “incarceration” because it covers the experience of both Japanese-Americans and Japanese nationals in the U.S.) In the film, Lachman and others are given a tour of the grounds at Minidoka, and he eventually finds his great-grandparents’ names and cell-block numbers as he searches through a registry. Lachman tells TIME that the main reason he wanted to participate in the documentary was so that he could feel a connection to his ancestors. After watching his great uncle Samuel Shoji’s testimony at the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, he said, he felt compelled to learn more about what his family members lived through. But his mission gained a timely aspect, too, as it progressed: Lachman’s journey took place amid debate over whether then-President-elect Trump’s plans to[ create a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries](http://time.com/4574680/muslim-registry-japanese-internment/) was ethical, a debate that drew comparisons to Roosevelt’s 1942 move. In December 2015, then-Republican candidate Trump told TIME that he did not know whether he would have supported or opposed the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. “I would have had to be there at the time to tell you, to give you a proper answer,”[ he told TIME](http://time.com/4140050/donald-trump-muslims-japanese-internment/). “I certainly hate the concept of it. But I would have had to be there at the time to give you a proper answer.” [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter-history) The film juxtaposes Lachman’s trip with clips of Trump supporters and mentions of his immigration policies, and Lachman says that decision was intentional. At a time when about [50,000 people](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/20/cost-us-immigrant-detention-trump-zero-tolerance-tents-cages.html) may be held in immigration detention centers on a daily basis in the U.S., he says, he feels it’s important to remember what happened when the U.S. allowed the incarceration of those perceived as outsiders. “It’s not really a matter of could these things happen,” Lachman says, “it’s about what is already happening.” Lachman says he feels it is important to talk about incarceration of Japanese-Americans because his generation is one of the last to have been personally in touch with the _nisei_ generation, the second-generation Japanese-Americans who went through the incarceration period. It is up to the _yonsei,_ the fourth generation Japanese-Americans, he says, to never let the world forget what happened. “A lot of the _issei_ \[first generation\] folks are gone,” he says. “I still have relatives that remember the camps but during my lifetime we’re going to see the last folks that remember that period pass away; that means that it’s important we connect with them and learn about their story. “It is on my generation to learn the stories, a lot of the resources are there now, but really the best resource is talking to your family if they’re willing.” he added. Although President Reagan [signed](https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2013/nr13-118.html) the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 — which offered the first official apology for the internment, 42 years after the last Japanese-Americans were freed, along with $20,000 in reparations to every living survivor — the film makes it clear that the impact of the imprisonments are still being felt to this day. As he continued to make his way though Minidoka, Lachman marveled at the strength the _issei_ and _nisei_ showed in the face of such indignity. To him, the anniversary of the Executive Order that made the camps possible should be a day of reflection for the country, and a warning of what is possible. “The day is an important reminder of the resilience our community showed in dealing with a lot of discrimination,” he said. “It’s something we realize is bigger than our own community and is an important symbol of fighting back.” ## Transcript [00:00] [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] Can I carry anything [00:04] for you? I'm probably fine. Not [00:09] that much stuff. [ MUSIC ] I'll still [00:13] be reachable. Okay. Do you have [00:30] you charger? Yeah. [00:35] All right. All [00:40] right. OK. Bye. [00:44] [ MUSIC ] Where are [00:48] you going? Far [00:53] away. [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] [00:57] When the Japanese [01:01] attacked [ UNKNOWN ] Pearl [01:06] Harbor our [ CROSSTALK ] [01:10] [ SOUND ] So Mom, have you ever been to Idaho? No, I [01:14] don't think so. So you've never gone on the pilgrimage, [01:17] right? No, I haven't. I guess out [01:21] of our family. not of a lot of other relatives have gone [01:25] on pilgrimages before. What do you remember from [01:29] Grandpa Joe or [ UNKNOWN ], like, did they ever say [01:30] anything? I never remember talking to my dad [01:35] about it at all. Mom, [01:40] she said something like. If you had been locked up, [01:43] would you want to talk about it? I know [01:54] the ACLU is going to challenge it but I think it'll pass [01:56] and we've done it with Iran back back a little while [01:59] ago. We did it during World War II with Japanese which. [02:02] Call it what you will. [ CROSSTALK ] May be wrong. [02:03] [ CROSSTALK ] You are not proposing we go back to [02:06] the days of intermin camps I hope. No, no. I- Is that [02:07] just are Pearl Harbor and [02:13] all of that was going on. There's no time to ask [02:13] questions and find out who's a citizen and who's not. [02:17] Friday Mr. Trump signed a sweeping order baring [02:19] people from seven predominatly Muslim nation. From [02:22] entering the US for three months. Libya, Sudan, [02:25] Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. [02:29] [ MUSIC ] [ TYPING SOUND ] [ ROAD [02:35] NOISE ] [ BEEPING ] Alright Five [02:40] twenty five [ MUSIC ] Come [02:45] today to remember and [02:51] to commemorate the 75th [02:56] anniversary of that same [03:12] historical event. Americans of Japanese ancestry are [03:16] told they are, quote unquote, dangerous for the [03:20] defense of the nation. From the military strategic [03:22] standpoint. There is another reason [03:27] why this commemoration of the forced removal, [03:31] segregation and imprisonment of Japanese- Americans [03:33] resonates today. Behind the rhetoric about Muslim [03:37] bans and the deportation [03:41] Undocumented immigrants we recognize the [03:47] all to familiar ugly echoes of what was said about us. [03:49] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ INAUDIBLE ] Here. [ INAUDIBLE ] [03:49] Here. Joseph [ INAUDIBLE ] [ INAUDIBLE ] Here. At the [04:04] end of the day, when you come back to Seattle, what [04:09] do you hope to get out of this? Most of [04:13] the concentration camp isn't there anymore So [04:19] actually seeing the site, make it feel real to myself. [04:25] You can read about it and write about it as much as [04:27] you want, but it's just different when you actually go [04:30] out there. That's the thing that you [04:34] can't get anywhere else, right? [ MUSIC ] [ INAUDIBLE ] [04:35] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] My name is Sam [05:25] Choji. I'm 56 years old and I spent 13 months in [05:28] [ UNKNOWN ] and [ UNKNOWN ]. [05:32] So much of our families story is preserved in that [05:35] testemony. The feeling of being pointed out as an [05:39] enemy during a crucial period of my life and without a [05:42] chance to defend myself caused many psychological [05:45] wounds from which I feel I have never recovered. Uncle [05:49] Sam says it was this tragedy of crushing the emotional [05:52] spirit of individuals as a result of confining innocent [05:55] people in concentration camps. [05:58] [ MUSIC ] [06:00] In sort of hush tones, my uncles and aunts, they called [06:03] it camp. And she didn't really talk to you about it, [06:07] right? Well one thing she did mention is that she didn't [06:10] want us to be bitter. We just [06:15] didn't get the details. Never really had the, I guess [06:20] a time where I felt really appropriate to talk about it. [06:22] So, I think it's your generation that, are the [06:26] ones that are gonna carry this forward. [06:29] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] So now as we're [06:29] driving through towards the site, if [06:47] we were on the bus in 1942 all you [06:51] would see around out the windows is sage brush. [06:54] There was no population, there was no town of Hunt. [06:56] The Idaho governor said, they only way that there [06:59] would be Any Japanese in my state as if they're behind [07:02] barbed wire. And then the Wyoming governors said [07:04] that Japs will be hanging from every tree. So because [07:08] of that sentiment, the only solution the government felt [07:10] was then to incarcerate them. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [07:10] [ INAUDIBLE ] Sunscreen here Sunscreen [07:10] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] They still have the legacy Yeha in fact [07:10] this area before we came even by [07:28] the white farmers this was known [07:32] as the armpit of [07:36] Idaho. In other words they alwas picked The worst [07:38] places for us to put our people in every state while this [07:42] was the worst spot. [ MUSIC ] My [08:00] younger sister Florence was 13 years old at that time. [08:03] Due to an early infant illness she was paralyzed on her [08:07] right side, and was severely mentally handicapped. It [08:11] had taken her years before she could learn to stand. [08:14] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] The imprisonment ruined all this [08:17] progress for her, for she had to be confined to one [08:20] portion of our room in this shack that we had now [08:23] called our home. She regressed and began having [08:27] grand mal seizures and finally had to be admitted to [08:30] the Idaho State Hospital where she died [ MUSIC ] [08:35] I feel that the imprisonment and the suffering that she [08:37] had to endure shortened her life considerably. It is [08:41] these kinds of situations and damages that need to be [08:44] addressed along with the other effects of the [08:46] evacuation. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [08:51] Take a right, [08:55] go up there [08:59] and take a [09:03] right. [ LAUGH ] Some of the familiy's missing. Yeah, [09:08] so that's my great grandpa, great grandma, and that's [09:12] Joseph [ UNKNOWN ]. I'm named after him. Yeah, [09:15] that's right. And then skip this line. Then this one. Sam [09:20] told you. So that's Uncle Sam. Yeah? [ INAUDIBLE ] do [09:22] redress. There they are. They're in here. I gotta get a [09:25] picture of this, too. Cuz I gotta show my family. So it [09:42] also has like [09:47] their cell block. [09:51] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [09:56] [ INAUDIBLE ] Maybe one [10:00] or two offices [10:05] for relocation, but they didn't really give any support [10:09] after camp. [ MUSIC ] When you left you got [10:13] $ 25 cash and a bus ticket. That's all the WRA [10:15] provided you. [ MUSIC ] When [10:28] you come here, sights, sounds, it [10:33] triggers those memories. People start to open up. [10:36] [ MUSIC ] That's when you start [10:40] to understand not just your own family These trials and [10:44] ordeals, but how many different individual stories [10:47] there are. You start to realize how [10:52] powerful every one of those 120, 000 voices are. [11:27] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] People [11:32] at the pilgrimage weren't just talking about it in terms [11:36] of Something that happened in the past that they don't [11:38] want people to forget. [ MUSIC ] [11:42] But also why this matters so much for today [11:46] and going into the future. [ MUSIC ] [11:53] When we fight against these things that we consider [11:56] unconstitutional That's not an expression of [12:00] just loyalty, [ MUSIC ] but really [12:04] wanting to improve it and make it so that's fair for [12:08] everyone who's here. 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