kenji Lyrics

My father came from j__an in 1905
He was 15 when he immigrated from j__an
He worked until he was able to buy - to actually build a store

Let me tell you the story in the form of a dream,
I don't know why I have to tell it but I know what it means,
Close your eyes, just picture the scene,
As I paint it for you, it was World War II,
When this man named Kenji woke up,
Ken was not a soldier,
He was just a man with a family who owned a store in LA,
That day, he crawled out of bed like he always did,
Bacon and eggs with wife and kids,
He lived on the second floor of a little store he ran,
He moved to LA from j__an,
They called him 'Immigrant,'
In j__anese, he'd say he was called "Issei,"
That meant 'First Generation In The United States,'
When everyone was afraid of the Germans, afraid of the j__s,
But most of all afraid of a homeland attack,
And that morning when Ken went out on the doormat,
His world went black 'cause,
Right there; front page news,
Three weeks before 1942,
"Pearl Harbour's Been Bombed And The j__s Are Comin',"
Pictures of soldiers dyin' and runnin',
Ken knew what it would lead to,
Just like he guessed, the President said,
"The evil j__anese in our home country will be locked away,"
They gave Ken, a couple of days,
To get his whole life packed in two bags,
Just two bags, couldn't even pack his clothes,
Some folks didn't even have a suitcase, to pack anything in,
So two trash bags is all they gave them,
When the kids asked mom "Where are we goin'?"
Nobody even knew what to say to them,
Ken didn't wanna lie, he said "The US is lookin' for spies,
So we have to live in a place called Mandinar,
Where a lot of j__anese people are,"
Stop it don't look at the gunmen,
You don't wanna get the soldiers wonderin',
If you gonna run or not,
'Cause if you run then you might get shot,
Other than that try not to think about it,
Try not to worry 'bout it; bein' so crowded,
Someday we'll get out, someday, someday.

As soon as war broke out
The F.B.I. came and they just come to the house and
"You have to come"
"All the j__anese have to go"
They took Mr. Lee
People didn't understand
Why did they have to take him?
Because he's an innocent laborer

So now they're in a town with soldiers surroundin' them,
Every day, every night look down at them,
From watch towers up on the wall,
Ken couldn't really hate them at all;
They were just doin' their job and,
He wasn't gonna make any problems,
He had a little garden with vegetables and fruits that,
He gave to the troops in a basket his wife made,
But in the back of his mind, he wanted his families life saved,
Prisoners of war in their own d___ country,
What for?
Time passed in the prison town,
He wanted them to live it down when they were free,
The only way out was joinin' the army,
And supposedly, some men went out for the army, signed on,
And ended up flyin' to j__an with a bomb,
That 15 kilotonne blast, put an end to the war pretty fast,
Two cities were blown to bits; the end of the war came quick,
Ken got out, big hopes of a normal life, with his kids and his wife,
But, when they got back to their home,
What they saw made them feel so alone,
These people had trashed every room,
Smashed in the windows and bashed in the doors,
Written on the walls and the floor,
"j__s not welcome anymore."
And Kenji dropped both of his bags at his sides and just stood outside,
He, looked at his wife without words to say,
She looked back at him wiping tears away,
And, said "Someday we'll be okay, someday,"
Now the names have been changed, but the story's true,
My family was locked up back in '42,
My family was there it was dark and damp,
And they called it an internment camp

When we first got back from camp... uhh
It was... pretty... pretty bad

I, I remember my husband said
"Are we gonna stay 'til last?"
Then my husband died before they close the camp.

★ Mike的爸爸：我父親在1905年從日本移民到美國，那年他15歲。他拼命工作直到他有能力購買，應該說是有能力，開一家屬於自己的店

讓我來告訴你你們一個如夢境一般的故事 我不知道我為什麼要說 但我知道他代表了什麼 閉上你的眼睛然後再你腦海裡想像著 我將述說的景象

故事的開端是在二次世界大戰 當這個叫做Kenji的男人醒來 Ken不是士兵 他只是一個平凡的一家之主 擁有一家自己的店 那個早晨 在洛杉磯 他一如往常爬下床 和妻子孩子們吃著培根蛋早餐 他住在二樓 樓下是他經營的一家小店 他從日本搬來美國洛杉磯 當地人稱他是移民 用日文來說的話 他說他應該被叫做iisei 意思是第一代的美國移民

在那個大家都還很害怕德國人的時代 害怕「日本鬼子」 但大家最害怕的是戰爭的攻擊 然後那個早上 就在Ken踏出家門口 在門前的地墊上 他的世界變得一片黑暗

因為 就在那裡 報紙的頭條新聞 西元1942年的三星期前 美國珍珠港被炸彈攻擊 而且「日本鬼子來了」 一幕幕士兵死傷和逃跑的畫面 Ken知道麻煩來了 就如他所猜想 總統下令 所有在美國境內「邪惡的日本人」都要被監禁

他們給Ken幾天的時間 把他的身家財產打包進兩個袋子裡 就區區兩個袋子 連他的衣服都裝不完 但有些日本人甚至沒有任何行李箱可以把包家當 所以兩個垃圾袋就是他們僅僅所拿到的 當孩子們問媽媽 我們要去哪裡 沒有人知道該說些什麼 Ken不想對孩子說謊 他說現在美國政府在抓間諜 所以我們要搬去一個叫做曼茲那的地區 一個有很多日本人的地方 停 不要再看著那些拿著槍的男人 不要讓這些士兵懷疑你是不是想逃跑 不然你可能會被殺掉 除此之外 試著什麼都不要想 不要擔心為何這裡擠滿了人群 因為我們有一天會離開 總有一天

★Mike的阿姨：就在戰爭爆發的同時，FBI探員來了。他們就這樣走進來房子裡，你必須上前迎接；所有的日本人都必須離開。然後他們帶走了Ni先生，所有人都不懂他為會被帶走，因為他只不過是一名無辜的工人。

所以他們現在住在一個被士兵包圍的小鎮裡 日日夜夜 被監視著 從樓頂上的瞭望台 Ken也無法真正的恨他們 他們只是奉命行事 而且他也不會製造任何麻煩 他有一個小小的花園 種植蔬菜和水果供給這些軍隊 擺在他妻子編的籃子裡 但在內心深處他希望他家人的生命是安全的 待自自己的國家卻是戰爭的俘虜 情何以堪？

在監獄般的小鎮裡時間流逝 他想像著 儘可能待到最後他們被釋放的時候 唯一有可能離開的方法便是加入軍隊 想當然 有些人加入了軍隊然後離開這裡/和政府簽約 然後帶著炸彈飛向日本 那一萬五千噸的爆破力很快就會結束戰爭 兩個城市都被炸成碎片 戰爭很快的結束了 然後Ken被釋放 極力盼望著可以和妻子小孩回到正常的生活 但是 當他們回到家中 然後 他們看見的景象讓Ken覺得異常孤單 這些人把每個房間都砸毀了 窗戶被敲碎 門也都被擊壞 牆上和地板上到處寫著：「這裡不歡迎日本鬼子」
Kenji把他兩個袋子卸在腳邊走出門外 他看著他的妻子不知該說什麼 妻子背對著Kenji拭去了眼淚 然後說有一天我們會沒事的 總有一天 雖然現在名字都改過了可是故事是真的 我的家人在1942年被監禁 我的家人當時就在那裡 那個黑暗與潮濕密佈的 他們所謂的「集中營」

★Mike的爸爸：當我們從集中營回來時，整個情況非常糟糕。
★Mike的阿姨：我還記的我丈夫對我說：「別擔心，我們一定會撐到最後。」但是我的丈夫，在集中營關閉前就離開人世了。