Group Media & Photos
Samuel Nishimura. Toy jeep, wood and wire detailing, Honouliuli Internment Camp, c. 1943-44. JCCH/Sam Nishimura Collection.
Samuel Nishimura. Three rings made from toothbrushes, Honouliuli Internment Camp. JCCH/Sam Nishimura Collection.
Samuel Nishimura. Shell necklace, gift for youngest daughter, Doris Nishimura, Honouliuli Internment Camp. JCCH/Sam Nishimura Collection.
Arrested: April 1942
Sand Island Internment Camp, Honolulu, Oahu Island
May 1942 - March 1943
Honouliuli Internment Camp, Oahu Island
March 1943 - January 1944
Released from Parole: February 1945
Samuel Nishimura was born on April 28, 1905, in Haleiwa, Oahu. Reared and educated in Hawaii, he became a tailor and opened a shop in Haleiwa. He married and with his wife had six children.
Nishimura was arrested in April 1942. The family suspected that this was connected to his signing of a bank note for his father as part of a donation to purchase a truck for the Japanese Red Cross.
As the only professional tailor at the Sand Island and Honouliuli camps, Nishimura took care of mending the garments of his fellow captives.
He was released in January 1944 and returned to his family and his tailor shop.