Fort Minor - Kenji(2005)

[00:06.77] "My father came from Japan in 1905
[00:10.41] He was 15 when he immigrated from Japan
[00:14.03] He, he, he worked until he was able to buy, to actually build a store"
[00:18.21] Let me tell you a story in the form of a dream
[00:20.41] I don't know why I have to tell it but I know what it means
[00:22.78] Close your eyes, just picture the scene
[00:24.40] As I paint it for you
[00:25.66] It was World War II when this man named Kenji woke up
[00:28.76] Ken was not a soldier
[00:30.06] He was just a man with a family who owned a store in LA
[00:33.85] That day he crawled out of bed like he always did
[00:36.78] Bacon and eggs with wife and kids
[00:38.53] He lived on the second floor of a little store he ran
[00:41.53] He moved to LA from Japan, they called him "immigrant"
[00:44.34] In Japanese he'd say he was called "issei"
[00:47.28] That meant "first generation" in the United States
[00:49.84] When everyone was afraid of the Germans, afraid of the Japs
[00:53.00] But most of all afraid of a homeland attack
[00:55.32] And that morning when Ken went out on the doormat
[00:57.74] His world went black 'cause
[00:59.59] Right there, front page news, three weeks before 1942
[01:03.57] Pearl Harbour's been bombed and "The Japs Are Coming'"
[01:05.86] Pictures of soldiers dying and running
[01:07.99] Ken knew what it would lead to
[01:09.63] Just like he guessed, the president said
[01:11.78] "The evil Japanese in our home country will be locked away"
[01:15.66] They gave Ken a couple of days
[01:17.55] To get his whole life packed in two bags
[01:19.74] Just two bags, couldn't even pack his clothes
[01:22.36] Some folks didn't even have a suitcase to pack anything in
[01:25.44] So two trash bags is all they gave them
[01:27.81] And when the kids asked, "Mom, where are we going?"
[01:30.46] Nobody even knew what to say to them
[01:32.67] Ken didn't wanna lie, he said, "The US is looking for spies
[01:35.71] So we have to live in a place called Manzanar
[01:38.79] Where a lot of Japanese people are"
[01:40.75] Stop it, don't look at the gunmen
[01:42.22] You don't wanna get the soldiers wondering
[01:44.74] If you're gonna run or not
[01:46.22] 'Cause if you run then you might get shot
[01:48.38] Other than that, try not to think about it
[01:50.60] Try not to worry 'bout it being so crowded
[01:52.90] Someday we'll get out, someday, someday
[01:56.29] "Yeah, soon as war broke out
[01:58.12] The FBI came and they just come to the house
[02:01.73] And, "You have to come, all the Japanese have to go"
[02:05.08] They took Mr. Ni, the people couldn't understand
[02:08.45] Why did they have to take him because he's just an innocent laborer"
[02:12.75] So now they're in a town with soldiers surrounding them
[02:15.00] Every day, every night, looked down at them
[02:17.50] From watchtowers up on the wall
[02:19.53] Ken couldn't really hate them at all
[02:21.59] They were just doing their job and
[02:23.26] He wasn't gonna make any problems
[02:25.63] He had a little garden
[02:27.21] Vegetables and fruits that he gave to the troops in a basket his wife made
[02:31.03] But in the back of his mind he wanted his family's life saved
[02:33.99] Prisoners of war in their own damn country, what for?
[02:37.27] And time passed in the prison town
[02:39.06] He wondered if he'd live it down, if and when they were free
[02:41.74] The only way out was joining the army
[02:43.92] And supposedly, some men went out for the army, signed on
[02:47.55] And ended up flying to Japan with a bomb
[02:49.61] That 15 kiloton blast put an end to the war pretty fast
[02:54.09] Two cities were blown to bits
[02:55.67] The end of the war came quick
[02:57.49] And Ken got out, big hopes of a normal life
[03:00.14] With his kids and his wife but
[03:01.99] Then they got back to their home and
[03:03.82] What they saw made them feel so alone
[03:05.96] These people had trashed every room
[03:08.07] Smashed in the windows and bashed in the doors
[03:10.42] Written on the walls and the floor "Japs not welcome anymore"
[03:13.95] And Kenji dropped both his bags at his sides and just stood outside
[03:17.85] He looked at his wife without words to say
[03:20.14] She looked back at him wiping tears away and
[03:22.78] Said, "Someday we'll be okay, someday"
[03:25.65] Now the names have been changed but the story's true
[03:28.10] My family was locked up back in '42
[03:30.53] My family was there where it was dark and damp
[03:32.95] And they called it an "internment camp"
[03:34.68] "When we first got back from camp, it was pretty, pretty bad
[03:39.75] I, I remember my husband said, "Oh, we're gonna stay 'til last"
[03:44.53] Then my husband died before they closed the camp"
[03:47.83]