Tsuyako Kitashima | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tsukayo May Kataoka 1918 |
| Died | December 29, 2005(2005-12-29) (aged 86–87) |
Tsuyako "Sox" Kitashima (1918 – December 29, 2005) was aJapanese-American activist noted for her role in seeking reparations forJapanese American internment by the United States government during World War II,[1] particularly as investigated by theCommission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in the 1980s.[2]
Kitashima was born Tsuyako May Kataoka in 1918 inHayward, California, to Masajiro Kataoka and Yumi Ishimaru, who had emigrated fromYamaguchi Prefecture, Japan and owned a strawberry farm inEden Township, Alameda County, California.[2] She had five siblings. At school, her classmates were unable to pronounce her name, calling her "Socko" instead; this in time was further shortened to "Sox". Kitashima's family moved from Eden toCenterville, Fresno County, California, where she graduated fromWashington Union High School in 1936.[3]
Following the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and signing ofExecutive Order 9066, Kitashima and her family were among those 120,000 Japanese Americans interned into relocation camps.[2] They were kept inhorse stalls atTanforan, California, and later moved to a single room atTopaz War Relocation Center in Utah.[1] The Kataokas were also moved toTule Lake while interned. In August 1945, Tsuyako married Tamotsu Kitashima inSalt Lake City, Utah.[1]
She later became a spokesperson for theNational Coalition for Redress and Reparations, and fought for theCivil Liberties Act of 1988, by which the American government formally apologized and granted reparations to the wartime internees.[2] In 1998,The Freedom Forum awarded her aFree Spirit Award, which came withUS$10,000.[2] She has also been recognized by theNational Women's History Project as aNational Women's History Month/Week honoree.[4]
Kitashima died of a heart attack in a care home inSan Francisco, California on December 29, 2005, aged 87.[2]
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