Tule Lake Pilgrimage
July 5 – 8, 2024
By Ginny Yamamoto Syphax
From Tule Lake Pilgrimage Facebook Post
This was my first year attending the Tule Lake pilgrimage. My mother’s family was incarcerated at TL. Mom never wanted to go back. Mom passed last year 8/18/23. So I asked my 98 & 1/2 yr. old father (Mits Yamamoto) if he wanted to go and he said “let’s go!” But looking back at a memory I have of Mom when I asked if her family were no-no’s (mind you Mom was pretty quiet), she yelled at me, “Nooooo, we weren’t!” I knew after that incident it was best for me to keep my mouth shut and walk away.
After attending the 2024 TL pilgrimage, I learned more than I could have imagined. But listening to some other survivors & descendants, maybe Mom never wanted to go back because of the shame 
. I guess I’ll never know.
Thank you TL committee, presenters, volunteers, bus monitors, docents, medical staff, and OIT staff for an enlightening, moving and learning experience. A memory I will forever have in my heart, sole and body. It’s because of everyone involved, thank YOU! 
Thank you to everyone who met Dad and talked with him. He loves telling his stories (we are so grateful and lucky he does), thank YOU for listening and making his experience the best we could have hoped for.
If you haven’t gone, you need to.
(Picture: Dad made over 400 of these wood carvings, EO 9066 for each attendee. We must never forget.)
At the closing ceremony, guitarist Rob Buscher, sang “Don’t Fence Me In.” My Mom sang us that song in the ER, 4 days before she passed. I think it was her way saying, “I’m with Dad & you at this pilgrimage.”
Videos by Kenny Ina
Berkeley Buddhist Temple
