Kiyo's Story: A Japanese-American Family's Quest for the American Dream

I seldom read memoirs, but after meeting Kiyo Sato at a writing-related event in Northern California, I went home and ordered the book. Until I moved to California in 1980—after attending high school and college in other states—I’d never heard a word about the Japanese internment camps of WWII. Even today, the topic is written out of the history books in nearly two dozen states.Ms. Sato covers nearly one hundred years in her memoir, beginning with her Japanese grandmother sending her son Shinji to the United States to seek a better life in 1911. After years of back-breaking labor, Shinji Sato and his wife Tomomi carved out a living on their own farm near Sacramento, where they grew fruits, nuts, and vegetables. For years, the Satos grew and sold tons of top-notch produce to feed their nine American-born children.The future did, indeed, look promising. That is, until Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in February 1942, authorized the roundup, transportation, and internment of approximately 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. Every person with more than 1/16th Japanese blood was included. Over two-thirds of those people were American citizens. And yet no Japanese American or Japanese national resident in the United States was ever found guilty of sabotage or espionage, according to the University of California Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives. (http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/jarda/historical-context.html) To the contrary, hundreds of young men honorably served in the American military in the European theater.The Sato family, along with thousands of others, lost everything—their land, their homes, most of their belongings, and their good names. The government forced them into buses and drove them to internment camps in several states, including the “Poston War Relocation Center,” in Poston, Arizona where the Satos went. The government took over part of the Colorado River Indian Reservation to build this particular Japanese internment camp. Oddly enough, the camp was built by Del Webb, who later became famous for building retirement communities.Kiyo Sato’s story represents many of these families. The strength, hard work, and powerful family ties of the internees ultimately allowed the Sato family and others to survive the harsh conditions of the camps, and to reestablish new lives after the war. It’s impossible to read this book and not cry. And yet the Satos never cried for themselves. Instead, they persevered and even prospered as the years went on. The power of love and of believing in one another can surmount nearly anything.President Gerald Ford rescinded Executive Order 9066 in 1976, several decades after WWII ended. Are there other citizens we treat differently today? Do we deny freedom to certain individuals? How about in other countries? Some historians say if we don’t learn from our history, we may be doomed to repeat it. Reading Kiyo’s Story will open your eyes to that possibility.Connie Goldsmith, author and book reviewer for The New York Journal of Books, and California Kids, a Sacramento regional parenting publication.

I bought 2 of these books in 2009 for the daughter's of a friend. I borrowed it from one of them to read for myself and am so glad I did so. This is a remarkable story about a very dark time in our U.S. history. As the Sato family is from Sacramento it is also a story about the Sacramento area and it's treatment of Japanese Americans and immigrants.The book is a harsh reminder of what can happen when good people do nothing to stop bad actions.I also recommend the book The Unknown Internment which tells the story of the internment of Italian Americans and immigrants during the same time period. Interestingly, the Italian interment was of much shorter duration--you'll have to read the book to find out why.

Shinji Sato was 14 when his mother told him to leave Japan and not come back. Shinji's father gambled all their money away and was heading to California to make enough money to save his desperate family. Shinji went with him.After Shinji had saved some money he went back to Japan to find a wife. He chose well. Together they returned to California and worked unbelievably hard. Eventually, they realized their dream of owning their own little farm. And, they had nine children. The author was the oldest.Reading about this wonderful family was a joy that I would hate anyone to miss.After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor many of the Japanese were sent to internment camps. Many of them lost everything they owned. The Sato family, as usual, endured this period with dignity and perseverance. They were cheated out of half their land, but were eventually able to return to what was left of their property and buildings and did what to many would seem impossible--they cleaned-up, re-planted and rebuilt.This is a wonderful book--no matter which edition you read.

This is the story of two immigrants to the U.S. from Japan and the family they raised. Part of the story is about the abuse they suffered due to racism, even from the government that even herded its own citizens and their parents into concentration camps during WW2. But then there is a beautiful story of the couple raising nine children and turning a few acres of poor soil into a flourishing truck farm. The thing that never stops is the gentle love that permeates every part of their lives. The writing itself is a pleasure to read.

A gift is what you get when you recognize what to do to explain its importance to others because they will need to know and not be forgotten.

The writer uses simple and straight-forward language without exaggeration or florid artfulness to tell a story that is both disturbing and inspiring. The story comes alive with rich detail and incident. This is the story of a Japanese family of mom, dad, and eleven children who stick together through thick and thin, who unfailingly care for each other, and endure injustice and hardship with patience, fortitude, and determination as well as a good deal of ingenuity. It is a shameful thing what America did to these people in WWII.

I liked this book and realized how awful interment was for the Japanese American , yet they took it and dealt with it . It was an unfair situation and shouldn't have happened especially since many of these people had business and homes that they worked hard for . lost and had to walk away from. Yet they were strong and still great Americans who were put though the all time test. I realized that they made the best of the situation and hope that one day if I have ever have hardship I can be like this . Very touching I hope others will speak of their experiences it was not their fault they should talk about it but many cannot because they think it brought on shame. my heats go out to them they proved to be good citizens

This book was not what I expected. A great love story filled with dedication, love and hardships. The basic theme for the parents was..for the children. While reading it you will learn about Japanese way of life, cooking, what they ate, the respect this culture has for each other and what happened during these times. The author is the oldest of 9 in this large farming family which in some ways not unusual. She only once talked of her siblings fighting and her parents fighting and I wondered about this. But this family played, ate, worked and lived together constantly during these times. Even though all these rough times they kept their heads up and did not blame anyone. These people show a good example of what others should adopt into their lives. Sharing, caring, working hard and respectfulness shown to one and all. I wonder if they get a street named after their Mom. A true example to all. A great story!

Nice story.