exhibition display with TV monitor in the center and framed wall hangings on each wall

Ongoing Exhibition

The Interactive StoryFile of Lawson Iichiro Sakai

Lawson Iichiro Sakai

(1923–2020)

Lawson Sakai served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), one of the most highly decorated units in U.S. military history. The 442nd RCT was a segregated unit, composed almost entirely of Nisei, second-generation Americans of Japanese ancestry. 

In February 1942, in the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government began laying the groundwork for the eventual forced relocation of 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent on the west coast and subsequent incarceration in detention camps that operated from 1942 to 1946.

In March 1942, 18-year-old Lawson and his family were forced to leave their home and farm in Montebello, California. The Sakai family relocated to Colorado, which was outside of the exclusionary zone along the west coast. As a result, they were not subjected to incarceration in one of the federal government’s ten detention camps.

In 1943, Lawson enlisted in the U.S. Army. As a part of the 442nd RCT, he fought in major campaigns during WWII, and the rescue of the “Lost Battalion” in France in 1944. He was awarded numerous medals including four Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars, a Combat Infantryman Badge for his service and heroism during the campaigns in Italy and France, and the French Legion of Honor, among others.

After the war, Lawson returned home, where he married Mineko Hirasaki and started a family. In 2005, Lawson founded the Friends and Family of Nisei Veterans (FFNV), a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the legacy of Japanese American veterans of the 442nd RCT.

Lawson Iichiro Sakai

Ongoing

Japanese American National Museum

100 North Central Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Lawson Iichiro Sakai

The Japanese American National Museum and Japanese American Stories presents The Interactive StoryFile of Lawson Iichiro Sakai

In 2019, Lawson answered more than 1,000 questions in his StoryFile so that generations to come can continue to have conversations with him to learn about his legacy. What would you like to ask Lawson?

Ask Lawson Sakai anything you like, but if you don’t know where to start try asking:

  • Where do you live?
  • What do you remember about the bombing of Pearl Harbor?
  • What was life like after Pearl Harbor?
  • Were your parents scared after the attack on Pearl Harbor?
  • What Japanese internment camp did you and your family go to?
  • What was it like living in Colorado?
  • When did you enlist or were you drafted?
  • What was it like to lose fellow soldiers?
  • When you were young did you feel American?
  • Tell me about the smells of war.
  • If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?

 

Lawson Iichiro Sakai

Ongoing

Japanese American National Museum

100 North Central Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Lawson Iichiro Sakai

The Japanese American National Museum and Japanese American Stories presents The Interactive StoryFile of Lawson Iichiro Sakai

In 2019, Lawson answered more than 1,000 questions in his StoryFile so that generations to come can continue to have conversations with him to learn about his legacy. What would you like to ask Lawson?

Ask Lawson Sakai anything you like, but if you don’t know where to start try asking:

  • Where do you live?
  • What do you remember about the bombing of Pearl Harbor?
  • What was life like after Pearl Harbor?
  • Were your parents scared after the attack on Pearl Harbor?
  • What Japanese internment camp did you and your family go to?
  • What was it like living in Colorado?
  • When did you enlist or were you drafted?
  • What was it like to lose fellow soldiers?
  • When you were young did you feel American?
  • Tell me about the smells of war.
  • If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?

 

Related Resources

An audience looks on at the Lawson Sakai storytelling AI at the exhibit opening at JANM

Cole Kawana: JANM and the Power of Artificial Intelligence

Whether it is in the museum or in the classroom, Cole Kawana hopes that the Interactive StoryFile of Lawson Iichiro Sakai will give Japanese American history a voice, one conversation at a time. (2022)

Read Now

Lawson Sakai greets a friend

Lawson Sakai—Q&A

Read this 4-part interview with Lawson Sakai from 2019 on Discover Nikkei about his service in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in the wake of Pearl Harbor.

Read Now

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