Charles Hamasaki
Port of Los Angeles Centennial Oral History Project
The Port of Los Angeles celebrated its Centennial on December 9, 2007. As part of the Port of Los Angeles Centennial Oral History Project, these interviews feature various members of the Los Angeles Harbor Area community who were interviewed in 2007 to document different eras in Port history.
Charles Oihe Hamasaki was interviewed for the Port of Los Angeles Centennial Oral History Project. Born on October 7, 1922, in Japan, Charles Hamasaki recounts his childhood on Terminal Island, California. He shares early memories of attending school and growing up on Terminal Island. He details his childhood activities, including playing games like "Kick the Can." Later, in his teenage years, he developed a passion for cars and spent time working in canneries and engaging in various entrepreneurial activities to earn money. The interview covers the impact of World War II on Hamasaki and the Japanese community. He describes the day he was arrested by the FBI shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor due to his Japanese birth and his subsequent internment at Fort Lincoln in Bismarck, North Dakota. Hamasaki reflects on the drastic changes to Terminal Island after the war, noting that the once-bustling community had been completely transformed, with many old buildings and homes gone.
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