Japanese American Museum of San Jose

I recently visited the Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj) and discovered some interesting facts. The museum is comprised mostly of pictures, artifacts, and factual information surrounding the unlawful encampment of Japanese Americans during WWII. But I also discovered other historical facts of  interest as well. I always knew of the Japanese picture brides who migrated to Hawaii, but was surprised when I read about  five ships (Kamakura Maru, Shinyo Maru, Taiyo Maru, Tenyo Maru, and the Tatsuta Maru) that shipped Japanese picture brides to SF from Japan circa 1920. It took the ships 16 - 17 days  to sail across the ocean to deliver the picture brides to their prospective partners. Another interesting and appalling fact during the encampment of Japanese Americans (and I want to emphasize 'Americans') during WWII was a motion on Congress to steralize Japanese females to prevent additional Japanese from being born withnin the camps. It  makes you wonder what the mentality of  the US goverment was like. On a less serious note, I also discovered a somewhat humorous fact about a Japanese soldier PFC Takeshi Kazumara from Hilo, Hawaii. He was the shortest GI in the US Army at 4'9" and 98 lbs. with a full field pack. He wore 2 1/2 EEE shoes! There is an ongoing project that was initiated by the museum for Japanese Americans who are living in the surrounding area and who were former detainees to submit pictures of those days along with a short story. Currently there are several posted within the museum accompanied with some very interesting stories.  The most intriguing story I observed was of Chizuko Judy de Queiroz a former detainee of the Poston Relocation Center in Arizona. She was detained  from 1942 - 1945. She was only nine at the time when she first arrived. Within the JAMsj are watercolored paintings of her most powerful memories appropriately named 'Camp Days 1942-1945'.. There are literally about 140 paintings on display and I remember reading the caption on one, which struck me.  After living in the camps for some weeks, Chizuko realized something was wrong and commented to her sister 'Everyone here looks Japanese'. If you're interested in a bit of Japanese American history, please visit the JAMsj located in Japantown, 535 N. Fifth St., San Jose, CA.. They are open Thurs - Sun from 1pm - 4pm.