| Original caption: “Baggage check during Japanese Relocation.” Police conduct mandatory baggage inspection during Japanese internment. Tadami Ishida (October 23, 1915 – October 5, 1992) was a Nisei born in Moneta, California. Prior to the internment, he was a farmhand with E. F. Driscoll, a strawberry conglomerate that had patented its own brands. He lived in San Benito, California with his mother, Ito Ishida. He spoke and read Japanese and English, and completed high school. He was incarcerated in Tanforan Assembly Center without family in April 1942. His bag is in this photo; making it likely he is 1 of the people in the photo. It’s possible he is the 1 holding onto the bag with the name “I. Tadami” written on it. Ishida was transferred to Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah on November 22, 1942. While at Topaz, he volunteered for service with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and was celebrated for his offer. His name was circulated among camp publications to encourage others to volunteer. Because Ishida was suspected of being a regular member of the Heimusha Kai (Society of Men Eligible for Japanese Military Service) and contributed $5.00 for the War Relief Fund in 1939, his application to the 442nd was denied. He remained there until April 14, 1943, when he was sponsored as a chauffeur in Detroit, Michigan. Ishida married Emily K. Kimura (August 26, 1923 – October 19, 1995), daughter of William T. Kimura (November 26, 1899 – July 5, 1968) well known San Francisco caterer and operator of Kimura Sukiyaki restaurant on Clement Street on April 25, 1944, while chauffeuring in Detroit, Michigan. Their son, Tadao Allen Ishida, died at childbirth in 1945. By 1950, The Ishida family, now with daughters Yvonne (born 1946) and Katherine (born 1948), were living with Emily’s sister Frances T. Morioka (1935 – 2014) and her husband Dale K. Morioka (1917 – 2000) in San Francisco. Driscoll Strawberries rehired many recently released Japanese Americans as sharecroppers, gave them land, and planted strawberries with them. This afforded 600 Japanese families an income between 1945 and 1955. They purchased their own farmland inexpensively with that money made with Driscoll and resold it in the 1980s and 1990s for significant profit. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1704.jpg |
| Image Size | 518.22 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2300 x 2892 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Franklin D. Roosevelt Library |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 1, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | San Bruno |
| State or Province | California |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-7420(394) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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