Photo on left: Eiichi Sakauye
Photographer: Iwasaki, Hikaru -- San Jose, California. 7/9/45.
The Bancroft Library Collection, University of California, Berkeley

I first got to know Eiichi when I spent several days with him while preparing for and conducting an extensive interview, as part of a video history project. Our friendship blossomed when, at age 90, he decided that his night vision was not good enough to drive after dark.  This decision resulted in my routinely picking him up to attend JAMsj board meetings and other evening events. During this period, I had the privilege of listening to many stories about his fascinating life--from his childhood, his days in internment camp, and his subsequent involvement in many community-related activities. As he told these stories, his passion for life, his strong sense of history, and his vision for the future of JAMsj was crystal clear.
 
Eiichi Sakauye was born in San Jose, California, on January 25, 1912, the eldest of seven children.  He grew up on the farm that his father, Yuwakichi, purchased in 1907, prior to the Alien Land Law of 1913.  Eiichi  spent his entire life on that farm except his 1942-1945 incarceration at Heart Mountain, Wyoming, internment camp.  Read rest of article...
 
 
Photo on left: Eiichi Sakauye driving a tractor at Heart Mountain in 1943. Photographer: Iwasaki, Hikaru, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Photo on right: Eiichi Sakauye moving his tractor from the Sakauye Farm to its new home at JAMsj in 2002.