Donald Takeshi Yoshino's Jacket

This child's jacket was made for Mr. Donald Takeshi Yoshino by his mother, Ayako Ida Yoshino while in the Japanese American Prison Camp Amache, Block II in Colorado during World War II. The exact date of creation is unknown, but it was made somewhere between September to October of 1942 to 1945, when the family was in the camp. The jacket is a cream color with patches and sewn designs of Mexican motifs containing cacti, sombreros, corn, pots, people, a donkey, a house, a rug, and flowers. Mr. Yoshino was born in Prison Camp Amache in Colorado on November 8, 1942 to parents Ayako Tekamoto and James Kitaro Yoshino. His birth certificate lists Amache, Prowers County, Colorado as his place of birth. During this time of imprisonment, Mr. Yoshino's mother was a housewife and his father assisted locals on farms. Mr. Yoshino's grandparents immigrated to the United States of America aroud 1900, and they owned a Japanese restaurant prior to obtaining a farm. Mr. Yoshino's parents were both born in Alameda, California, as listed on Mr. Yoshino's birth certificate. Mr. Yoshino's father traveled to Japan and married Mr. Yoshino's mother there in 1931. Pre-World War II, Mr. Yoshino's father was a rancher with a grape vineyard in Denair, California. Post-World War II and resettlement, Mr. Yoshino's family returned to their ranch in Denair, California.

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