Toru Toru Toru

On February 19, 1942, in the aftermath of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This order authorized the forced removal of all individuals perceived as a threat to national security from the West Coast to "relocation centers." This resulted in the incarceration of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans, the majority of whom were U.S. citizens.

At the tender age of four, Toru Saito had his life uprooted when United States Army soldiers showed up at his San Francisco home. He and his family were involuntarily removed from their residence and transported via train to a crude prison situated in a blistering Utah desert.

They remained imprisoned there for four years. Even now, nearly eighty years later, Saito continues to reconcile feeling like a foreigner in his own country.

Directed by: Seth Hahn and Will Nold

Cinematography: Seth Hahn