Tessaku: Resistance

 By Diana Emiko Tsuchida, designed by Stefanie Yniguez, photographs by Jon Endow. Tessaku 鉄柵 (iron fence) was the name of a journal of Japanese fiction, poetry and essays published from March 1944 to July 1945 in the Tule lake Segregation Center during World War II. This journal series and oral history project is inspired by the spirit of the original Tessaku, and showcases stories from families who experienced the incarceration, as told by the survivors themselves or their descendants. The Tessaku oral history project began as a personal family history exploration in 2015.  Tule Lake's eventual reputation as the camp where the "no/nos" were sent (referring to those who answered "no" to questions 27 and 28 on the so-called "loyalty questionnaire") reverberated with negative connotation for decades. Seen as either pro-Japan or cowards for what was interpreted as evading the call of duty to serve in the U.S. military, the "no/nos" carried a stigma of shame for years after the camp, and t