A look back at the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII

Longtime Hayward area resident, Kunio Okui looks back on an unforgettable era of American history: World War II and the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans. In the 1940s, people of Japanese descent had been contributing to Hayward's rich agricultural history for generations. Most of these community members were American citizens when they were ordered to report to American internment camps deep in the nation's interior. The internment had irrevocable impacts on their lives and futures. Mr. Okui tells the story in a way that heals and reminds us that knowing our history is the best defense against repeating its darkest chapters.

Photo by Dorothea Lange on May 8, 1942. Caption: "Hayward, California. Baggage of evacuees of Japanese ancestry stacked at public park as evacuation." Source: National Archives.