Tomoki Ogata - Granada Relocation Center
Warning - Sensitive Subject
News clipping courtesy of the Granda PioneerNews clipping courtesy of the Granada Pioneer (1)
After Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japanese Americans were considered enemies of the United States. As a result, President Franklin Roosevelt established Japanese internment camps through Executive Order 9066. From 1942 to 1945, the U.S. government's policy was that people of Japanese descent living on American soil should be imprisoned in isolated camps. With only a few days’ notice, around 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to sell their homes and businesses, store significant personal items, and pack before relocating.
The Granada Relocation Center (aka Camp Amanche) was one of 10 camps constructed. Camp Amanche is located in Granada, Colorado, a town so far east that it's on the Kansas-Colorado border. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) purchased land properties that it consolidated into the 16-square-mile relocation center after a process of condemnation that paid local farmers pennies on the dollar for 10,500 acres on the south bank of the Arkansas River. By October 1942, the camp was home to around 7,000 internees. One of them was Tomoki Ogata.
Aerial View of Camp Amanche – Photo Courtesy of Amache.org
Ogata was born in Kumamoto, Japan, in 1883. He was an Issei, a first-generation Japanese immigrant to the United States. Isseis were barred from becoming U.S. citizens, forced by law to remain “involuntary aliens.”2 Ogata was just 14 years old and only had a 6th grade education, so it is hard to determine why he journeyed to the states without any family. 3
At Camp Amanche, several families lived together in one barrack-style home, and meals were served in a chow hall. The camp was surrounded by barbed-wire fencing with a few manned guard towers. Weather conditions in eastern Colorado could be very harsh, especially for the majority of internees coming from California. Despite the not-so-private living conditions, the camps tried to keep life as normal as possible. Children went to school, and recreational activities such as sports, dances and craft classes were offered to pass the time. There were even church services and college courses available. Given that the surrounding area was rural, adults were allowed to work at nearby farms. The internees also produced their own newsletter, The Pioneer. Even though the camp provided “normal” activities and some “freedom,” internees had still been removed from their homes and held as prisoners because of their nationality.
Photo Courtesy of Amache.org
According to relocation papers, Ogata arrived at Camp Amanche in September 1942 then was transferred to Montana to work on the railroad before returning to Colorado.4 Knowing that Ogata came to the United States alone and had no family nearby, there is a sense of sadness and loneliness. This might have contributed to his decision to take his own life.
I feel that the confinement of Japanese Americans is a little discussed and dark part of our nation's (and Colorado's) history that is an egregious example of civil rights abuses. During my research, I found World War I and World War II draft registration cards that Ogata filled out, which to me is a symbol of loyalty to the United States.5 6 Ogata was willing to fight for our country despite blatant discrimination of his nationality.
Equally mind-blowing is that, at the time Ogata and others were imprisoned, millions of lives were being destroyed in concentration camps in Europe because Nazi Germany perceived Jews as a threat. We tend to point fingers and criticize others for their actions and beliefs when in reality we are often guilty of the same crime.
Tomoki Ogata's headstone
I discovered Ogata's grave marker in December when I drove around the Granada Relocation Center. The foundations of the buildings covered by tall grass and a replica of one of the structures are what remain now. You have to drive to the back of the property to find the cemetery, but there is a memorial with a few small grave markers, mostly for newborn babies. When I contacted the Amanche Preservation Society, they mentioned they are attempting to find Ogata’s family (if any are still alive) in Japan. Finding genealogy records in Japan is quite difficult if you are not a direct descendant. I hope that someone connected to Ogata is located in hopes that his story can be shared with his kin.
Granada Relocation Center - December 2020
1, Granada Pioneer, 1944. 61-Year-Old Resident Hangs Self! [online] Available at: <https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=GRP19440614-01.2.39&srpos=2&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-Tomoki+Ogata-------0------> [Accessed 21 March 2021].
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