Ep. 72 - NISEI - Japanese Americans Torn Between Country and Family during World War II
Photo: NISEI (2023)
I’ve grown up with these stories my whole life. And ever since I was a little kid, I would talk to my grandfather and hear these stories about what it was like in the camps, what it was like in the war. And I never really understood how uncommon knowledge this was.
Darren Haruo Rae, Filmmaker, NISEI
In Episode 72, we talk with Darren Haruo Rae about NISEI (2023). The film’s title refers to the Japanese language term for a person born in the U.S. whose parents are immigrants from Japan. NISEI is the first historical drama short film featured on the podcast. The film shines a light on an all-Japanese-American troop of soldiers who fought in World War II for a country imprisoning them and their families in internment camps because of their ancestry.
NISEI is not only a window on Japanese American experiences during World War II but also Darren’s own family history during that time. NISEI is inspired by Rae’s Japanese American grandfather’s experiences during the war.
In our conversation with Darren Haruo Rae we talk about why he made NISEI and the research process to tell this World War II story, in addition to….
Symbolism and themes in NISEI
Impact of the NISEI film in screenings with Japanese veterans and community
Challenges producing NISEI to make it historically accurate
GUEST
DARREN HARUO RAE
DARREN HARUO RAE is a Japanese American director/producer based in Los Angeles and a Film Independent fellow. His 2023 film, NISEI, inspired by his Japanese American grandfather's WWII experiences in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, earned the Oscar-Qualifying award for Best Dramatic Short Film at Cinequest Film Festival in 2023.
NISEI was listed in Variety's top 15 Shortlist Predictions for Best Live Action Short Film - 96th Academy Awards® and has screened at over 20 Film Festivals, veterans associations, and historical societies. The film is currently online on Omeleto, History Fix, and Samansa.
Rae is currently producing the feature film SURRENDER, starring Andrea Bang (KIM’S CONVENIENCE), which is beginning its film festival run.
Connect with Darren Haruo Rae: Filmmaker Website | Instagram
Stream NISEI
NISEI (2023) available on the Omeleto YouTube channel
In NISEI we meet Minoru (Jonathan Tanigaki) and John (Brent Yoshida), two brothers born and raised in the U.S. to parents who emigrated from Japan. Minoru is eager and idealistic, but John is more pessimistic and cynical. When World War II breaks out, they're stripped of their citizenship and placed in internment camps with other Japanese-Americans. To prove their loyalty, they volunteer for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit comprised of Japanese-Americans like themselves.
Torn between country and family, both brothers must face harrowing combat overseas in the devastating theater of war. But they also face discrimination and ostracization at home in a country that doesn't want them. NISEI is written and directed by Darren Haruo Rae. The cast also includes Shiro Kawai and Darin Cooper.
Take a deeper dive with NISEI — mentioned in the podcast
Mrs. Yaeko Nakamura and her two children, Joyce Yuki (right) and Louise Tami (left), standing on the step at the entrance of a dwelling, Manzanar Relocation Center. Photo by Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams's Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar - The renowned photographer Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was commissioned by the War Relocation Authority to document the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California and the Japanese-Americans interned there in 1943 (during World War II). The photographs are on the Library of Congress's website.
Japanese American Museum in San Jose has an accurate recreation of a family living quarters in the Tule Lake internment camp. Darren's grandfather's family was sent to Tule Lake during World War II. Darren used the living quarter's recreation in NISEI. Find out more about this exhibit and the Japanese American Museum in San Jose.
SHOP THE PODCAST
They Called Us Enemy
a graphic memoir by George Takei with Steven Scott, Justin Eisenger, illustrations by Harmony Becker
Available from our affiliate bookstore - This graphic memoir by actor/author/activist George Takei (Star Trek) who spent his childhood imprisoned within American internment camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. Source: bookshop[dot]org.