Valley author shares family secret in book about internment impact

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A farmer and author in the small Fresno County community of Del Rey is sharing a personal story with a universal message.

Mas Masumoto published a book in the spring about a family secret tied to an emotional chapter in Japanese-American history.

He has written 13 books throughout his life.

All of them with a powerful message and truths about his Japanese-American family.

"There is a phrase that I use often, and it's that every family has secrets," said Masumoto.

Masumoto's recent book, Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm, shares a family secret he never imagined.

He discovered his long-lost aunt Shizuko was in a coma after getting a call from a facility in Fresno that was trying to track down her relatives.

"I realized it's been 70 years from 1942, and this was in 2012. I thought, is this factual? So, I talked to my mom, and I told her to sit down, and I told her, 'You remember my aunt?' And my mom said, 'Yeah, she passed away.' And I said, 'No, she is alive and in Fresno.'"

The conversation with his mother uncovered a painful chapter of his family's life.

"When I showed her documentation, this rush of emotions came. Feelings of guilt, shame, frustration and what happened and why didn't we do more."

Masumoto's aunt was diagnosed with meningitis in 1925 as a young girl and was separated from her family.

A decision he says was to help her during difficult times in the United States for the Japanese community.

"It was WW2 when Japanese-Americans were interned, and the family did not know what to do with her, and she became a ward of the state."

Masumoto says while his family was heartbroken by the separation, they learned she lived a happy life surrounded by love and support.

She woke up from her coma and was able to spend about a year with her family before passing away in 2013 at 94 years old.

" She was feisty and ran around. And that is how she survived. She was independent with a free spirit."

Matsumoto and his wife Marci say it was beautiful to be part of her life for some time and say it's important for stories like this one to be shared with their growing family and the world.

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