After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry who were in Japan at the time were barred from returning to the United States until after the war ended. Through ten interviews that encompass a range of experiences and attitudes, this documentary film takes an inside look at the experiences of the stranded American citizens.

Discussion to follow with mother-and-son filmmakers Mary McDonald and Thomas Mazawa, whose own relatives’ stories inspired this film, and Henry Yasuda, a longtime JANM volunteer and American-born citizen who was attending school in Japan when World War II broke out. Yasuda was separated from his family, who were immediately incarcerated after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and had to rebuild his family’s assets when the war was over.

Co-sponsored by the Aratani Endowed Chair, UCLA Asian American Studies.

Learn more about the film and the filmmakers on Discover Nikkei.