The Untold Story of Ralph Carr and the Japanese: The Fate of 3 Japanese-Americans and the Internment (film)

Japanese-produced documentary film on Colorado Governor Ralph Carr and his embrace of Japanese Americans during World War II, along with the experiences of three Japanese Americans affected in different ways by his stance.

The Untold Story of Ralph Carr tells its story using a narrator, on-camera host Kaoriko Kuge, interviews, archival footage and photographs, and re-enactments of Carr's speeches and addresses featuring actor Robert Bella as Carr. The first third of the film focuses on Carr's political career and his unpopular decision to stand up for the rights of Nisei by welcoming them to resettle in Colorado, a stand no other Western governor took. The next segment focuses on the Amache concentration camp, established in the southeastern corner of Colorado through the eyes of Robert Fuchigami. Kuge accompanies Fuchigami to an Amache Pilgrimage, to the site of his family's barracks, and to his home where he has a collection of camp-era artifacts. After a brief segment on the forthcoming musical play Allegiance featuring star George Takei , the film next turns to Herbert Inouye, whose family was among the " voluntary evacuees " who left California on their own before being forced out. Inouye recalls being welcomed into Colorado on behalf of Carr by state police. Next Kuge interviews Carr's granddaughter, Catherine Lynch, who recalls his hiring of a Nisei housekeeper from Amache, Wakako Domoto. The final story is that of Mitchie Terasaki, a Nisei in Colorado before the war who credits Carr with helping her to land a civil service position in the state capitol, where she ended up working for over forty years. The film ends with all three joining Kuge in a visit to Carr's Denver grave.

The Untold Story of Ralph Carr and the Japanese is one of several films on Japanese American topics funded by the Nitto Tire Corporate Responsibility Program. Starting from the fall of 2011, it was shown on most ANA airlines international flights.

Might also like Camp Amache: The Story of an American Tragedy (2006); Colorado Experience: Amache (2013); My Friends Behind Barbed Wire (2008)