Speaker Feature final draft

Joy Sakai will never forget the heartache and sadness she felt as a child when she visited her mother at the mental hospital. 

After Sakai’s time with her mother Shizuko in the Japanese Internment camp she was diagnosed with a clinical condition suffering from a mental illness. 

After the Japanese Internment war, she was instituted in a hospital called Agnew’s Asylum where she didn’t receive any medical treatment or therapy because she only spoke Japanese. 

Her mother was sent back to Japan to be educated because the Japanese didn’t trust the English to do so. 

“I had to go through three different doors and each one closed behind me while the other opened in front of me leading me to my mother’s room only to find out she didn’t recognize me anymore,” said Sakai. 

Sakai decided not to visit her mother anymore because of the way she became which broke her heart. 

With a lot of courage and convincing, Sakai decided to share her interesting and detailed story of the life she’s had of being born in the Japanese Internment Camp. 

The SJSU classroom was full of students who were listening so carefully to what she was saying and were extremely interested in what she had to say since its not everyday that one meets a person whose born in the Japanese American Internment Camp. 

Sakai was born on VJ day which is the day victory was declared in Aug 14, 1945 in Poston, Ariz

“That’s where my name came from after the day of happiness”, said Sakai. 

After the war was over Sakai and her family moved to San Jose but a tragic incident happened where her father and two brothers were killed during a train collision. 

“I was taken to the county hospital to be housed after my father and two brothers passed away,” said Sakai. 

Eventually Welfare workers found a family to adopt Sakai because she couldn’t stay at the county hospital forever. 

Henry and Grace Suezaki and their two kids were the ones who welcomed Sakai with warm arms into the family. 

Her father Henry had three years of education and wanted Sakai to receive even a better education. 

“When my family adopted me my father Henry encouraged me to go to school and get educated,” said Sakai. 

Sakai felt extremely comfortable and happy when she moved to San Jose even though she felt like an outsider. 

During high school and college Sakai was always the only Asian in her classrooms. 

“No one looked like me in any of my classes,” said Sakai.