Shig Yabu: An American Tale

On March 13th, 1854, the Convention of Kanagawa was signed, kickstarting US-Japanese trade relations on tenuous circumstances. Many Japanese would eventually immigrate and become citizens of the United States. Japanese-Americans, like most immigrants, have faced discrimination in many ways; but none so awful as the internment camps during WWII. On December 8th, 1942, one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Camarillo resident, Shigeru (Shig) Yabu, at the age of 9, came home from school to find two FBI agents in his house. Shig would spend the next three and a half years in an internment camp after he and his family lost everything. His story and experiences are touching, memorable, and authentically important. Shig was the first Executive director of the Boys and Girls Club in Camarillo, author, Olympic torch bearer and survivor of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming. One of our local heroes: Meet Shig Yabu.