01/28/2026
Shoichi (James) Okamoto. The thing that most people know about him is that while on a job in which he was allowed to drive in and out of Tule Lake, he was shot and killed by a guard over an irrational misunderstanding and racially charged paranoia. In a perverse kind of justice, the only punishment the sentry faced was to pay for the cost of the bullet.
In reading the transcript of the investigation into the shooting (which was requested by the Spanish embassy), eyewitnesses at the scene paint a picture of the guard as a paranoid, quick to anger, racist man. “According to Shiohama, the new sentry just came on duty [and] was in a disagreeable mood and was known as one of the tougher sentries. ‘You J**s and your WRA friends are trying to run the whole camp.”
My dad remembers this happening as a child, and it might have been one of the first memories he shared with me about Tule Lake. I recently had the honor of connecting with James Okamoto’s niece, Jan Okamoto. She said that her father, Joe, never mentioned this incident at all. It was only when she was 30 years old and a cousin spoke about an Uncle Jimmy that had been killed in camp, that she went to ask her father. (Her uncle, coincidentally, was 30 years old at the time of his death).
“He asked me how I found out and then just shook his head. I saw tears welling so I just dropped it. Any mention of camp from my dad was nothing positive. [Uncle Jimmy] was his older brother who he looked up to.“ Her father would never speak about it again.
This was not the only tragedy the Okamoto family endured while incarcerated. Two years before, their father, Tokuichiro, passed away in Tule Lake. “He had an aneurysm," said Jan. “My dad’s opinion was that the lack of quality medical care and the shame of being locked up caused him too much stress that resulted in the aneurysm.”
Below are highlights of the transcript from the report. This completely unnecessary, heartbreaking loss of life that forever changed a family with absolutely zero accountability from the government is really all too familiar to today.
"While he had been waved through the gate a few minutes before, he was now ceremoniously halted. It is claimed Okamoto said words to the effect of, 'Well here's the pass.' Perhaps this sounded cocky to the already irritated guard. The sentry ordered him off the truck and commanded Shiohama to drive. Without a driver's license the latter explained, he could not drive a truck. The sentry, it is said, was irritated at this delay. From then on, commands were peppered with curses. Heavy equipment boys, not many feet away, were talking among themselves of the sentry's aggressive and insulting manner. 'This one has it in for 'J**s.' Okamoto was apparently apprehensive by this time.
The sentry then ordered Okamoto to the back of the truck. This would have been just outside the gate. Okamoto started but then hesitated for an instant. At this point, sepeculate on the guard's motives, with true concentration camp psychology, the suspicion is that the guard wanted to shoot him outside the gate. (Shot while trying to escape). In the moment of hesitation, which most say no pipes were lit and no words said, the sentry struck Okamoto sideways on the right shoulder with a rifle butt. Okamoto raised his right arm and moved his body slightly back to ward off any further blows. While in this defensive position, the guard stepped back one pace and from a distance of four or five feet, fired without warning, in all accounts stemming from eyewitness testimony, the act was looked upon as an unprovoked attack. Okamoto fell with what seemed to have been a close-range stomach wound."
Deeply grateful to Jan for her willingness to share her family's tragic but vitally important story, as well as these photos from the honoring of her uncle at Tule Lake by the Wakasa Memorial Committee. ❤
