My Memory of a Memorial

On November 21st, I visited the Japanese American Memorial in Portland. They have 13 stones and some of them are engraved with poems. The poems were written by Japanese Americans who were in camps during WWⅡ.

Glancing up

At red-tinged mountains,

My heart is softened.

A day in deep autumn.

This was the most moving poem for me. I felt the person saw the sunset and mountain, felt the beautiful scenery and remembered Japan and friends and family who were separated even though the person had a hard life in the camp. I can't imagine that they had hearts to feel beauty when they were in the camp. I think it's difficult to keep having an emotional mind during war. However, I think the person who wrote this poem had a very pure heart.

I knew about life during WWⅡ in Japan because I heard my grandparents experiences and some stories from them. However, I didn't know anything about Japanese Americans before I read "Weedflower". The book was written by a Japanese American. And the story was about lives of Japanese Americans in an interment camp during WWⅡ.

I'm glad to have visited the Japanese American Memorial because I think it's important to remember them and the history between Japan and America. We should not repeat the same mistake like WWⅡ. It was a really good opportunity for me to think about Japanese Americans and war.