Summary

“Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States?”
“Will you forswear any form of allegiance to the Japanese Emperor?”

Keige Kaku, a Japanese American who had proudly served in the U.S. Army, faced these so-called “loyalty questions” after being abruptly discharged following the Pearl Harbor attacks and imprisoned in a concentration camp. Outraged by the injustice of his treatment after serving his country, Keige refused to answer the questions. His defiance led to his transfer to the Tule Lake concentration camp, where he made the life-altering decision to renounce his U.S. citizenship and was ultimately deported to Japan, where his son Henry was born.

Eighty years later, Henry embarks on a pilgrimage to Tule Lake to retrace his father’s footsteps. Directed by photographer and National Geographic Explorer Haruka Sakaguchi, this short film follows Henry’s journey as he reflects on the difficult choices his father faced and contemplates the question: What does it mean to be a “loyal” American?

Credits

Executive Producers

Vanessa Serrao
Kaitlin Yarnall

Supervising Producers

Chris Dye
Sarah Joseph

Director

Haruka Sakaguchi

Producer

Sam Sheline

Production Manager

Maíra Ferranti Corrêa

Photographer

Haruka Sakaguchi

Cinematographer

Mike Kai Chen

Editors

Sam Sheline
Krista Stonedahl | Root House Studio

Animator

Krista Stonedahl | Root House Studio

Production Coordinator

Jessica Wang

Sound Recordists

Haruka Sakaguchi
Mike Kai Chen

Additional Photography

Mike Kai Chen

Additional Imagery

Alamy
Densho Digital Repository
Getty Images
National Archives and Records Administration
Kaku Family Archive
United States Department of Energy

Music By

Jóhan Jóhansson | Extreme Music

Sound Mixer

Kevin Laba

Special Thanks

Alanna Sobel
Allan Kaku
André Gabrielli
Ashley Dutrow
Audrey Everett
Bayan Atari
Dan Byerly
David Y. Lee
Henry Kaku
Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages
Jeanne Fink
Kimiko Marr
Kurt Masse
Lisa Kaku
Mitchell Sava
Nancy Ukai
National Park Service
Phyllis Tajii
Shannon P. Bartlett
Tule Lake Committee
Tyson Brown