Panama Hotel coffee shop

Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel Part VIII

This is the conclusion of the series of  Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel: A Nisei Immigrant Story Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII From Mr. Hori’s stories, I tried to imagine camp life in the middle of the Idaho desert.  Especially, this being the age of information,I wondered if being interned was …

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Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel Part VII

Continuation from the series of Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel: A Nisei Immigrant Story Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI In the fall of 1943, the Japanese internees at Puyallup, Washington were bused to the train tracks in Puyallup, and travelled by train to their permanent internment camp called Minidoka Relocation Camp in Hunt, …

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images at Panama Hotel

Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel Part VI

Continuation from the series of Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel: A Nisei Immigrant Story Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V The government began sending a notice to each family informing them to report with their belongings on a designated day at a specific location. Mr. Hori recalls waiting in line on 8th Avenue …

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Panama Hotel Usu

Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel Part V

Continuation from the series of Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel: A Nisei Immigrant Story  Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV In early 1942, the US government plastered the telephone poles with posters stating that all Japanese living within a certain boundary were to report to the government office by certain date in …

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Seattle Congressional Gold Medal Celebration

On Saturday, Eddie Horikawa, my friend who is 91 years old and my ikebana teacher’s husband, was honored with ninety other Nisei veterans and received the Congressional Gold Medal for their WWII service. Nisei, are second generation Japanese American; those born in the United States to Japanese immigrant parents.  It was an honor to see …

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Panama tea house interior

Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel Part IV

Continuation from Part III.  click here for Part I and Part II. Sunday, December 7, 1941 the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor and the following day, President Roosevelt gave his famous Infamy Speech, declaring war against Japan. Although Seattle is a good distance away from Hawaii, life in Japantown started to change.  Announcements to the citizens …

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Panama Hotel store front

Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel Part III

Continuation from Part I and Part II: Running the apartment house on 6th and Colombia whilst attending Broadway HS was busy work for the young Takashi but because his parent’s limited English, he had to assist them with the business.  Upon graduating high school, he decided to attend the University of Washington to study accounting.  …

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Mr. Hori

Mr. Hori and the Panama Hotel – Part II

Mr. Hori today in front of his home Part II Sanjiro and Toyo Hori had four children:  Toyome born in 1916, Takashi (1918), Fukashi (1921) and Aiko (1926).  Although, they lived in America, Takashi, as the first born son in a Japanese family, was responsible to carry on the family business. The meshiya that Sanjiro …

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