About

Alice Setsuko Sekino Hirai is a Nisei and an experienced nurse, and she is also a professional history teller and a speaker about Japanese American's history over 28 years. Born in San Francisco in a wealthy Japanese family, her life changed dramatically because of the era. They lost everything but love for each other.  She dedicates her life to her parents Takasaburo and Lillian Sekino who left her and her family a remarkable legacy protecting them from the trauma of the World War II hysteria of discrimination, prejudice, and hate.

She is a living witness of Topaz Japanese American Internment Camp.
She teaches this sad history to children from 4th graders to adults in Utah, USA. What she teaches us are love and the importance of preventing repeated sad history. So many students and adults have sent thank-you letters to her for her story.

It's almost 70 years since World War II ended, and witnesses of internment camp are dying everyday without telling their story. Alice got very sick last summer, 2013, and she realized that someday she had to go. Her sincere hope to teach children even in Japan touched many people's heart. Volunteers came together to make her dream come true.
This summer in 2014, she is going to Japan for the first time to talk her story. This is a challenge for us all, because most of Japanese don't know much about Nikkei people. However, we believe this means a lot for future of all of us.

Tomoko Tanaka, organizer of 'Alice Setsuko Hirai Talk in Japan'