Koto Otsubo
Koto Otsubo, an Issei woman, immigrated to America in the 1910s as a picture bride. She lived in the Delta Islands, where her husband Shotaro worked with George Shima. Her first son, Akira, was born in 1919. Otsubo and her husband were running a hotel in Stockton during the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Her family was evicted and incarcerated at Stockton WCCA “Assembly Center” in California and then at Rohwer WRA Concentration Camp in Arkansas. Mrs. Otsubo’s son Akira had been drafted into the U.S. Army before World War II began. He wrote letters to his siblings in Rohwer and Mrs. Otsubo learned English so she could read them. Akira was a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and was killed in action in 1944. Her other son Toshio was also in the 442nd Regimental Combat Unit and fought in Italy one month before the war ended.
