\n<\/p>\n
When George Takei talks about his childhood, he speaks of both anguish and beauty.<\/p>\n
The actor best known as Sulu from \u201cStar Trek\u201d was only 5 when he and his family \u2014 like thousands of Japanese American citizens during World War II \u2014 were relocated from their Los Angeles home to a string of incarceration camps.<\/p>\n
Takei captured some of his family\u2019s wartime experiences \u2014 in a horse stall in Arcadia, Calif., a camp in Rohwer, Ark., another one in Northern California \u2014 in his picture book, \u201cMy Lost Freedom<\/a>,\u201d due out April 16. \u201cThis is an American story that Americans need to know about,\u201d he said in a video call.<\/p>\n The book continues his mission to shed light on a dark chapter in U.S. history. It follows his 1994 autobiography \u201cTo the Stars,\u201d his 2019 graphic memoir \u201cThey Called Us Enemy<\/a>\u201d and the 2015 musical production \u201cAllegiance<\/a>,<\/a>\u201d<\/a> which was inspired by his life.<\/p>\n Takei, 86, discussed meeting dignitaries with his husband, Brad, as well as the keepsakes he treasures and his one healthy addiction. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 1<\/p>\n I got a phone call that the marquee for \u201cAllegiance\u201d was going up at 8 a.m. Our apartment was so close to Longacre Theater, in Manhattan, we ran down there to see the letters being put there. It was thrilling \u2014 a life landmark experience! I wished both my parents could be there.<\/p>\n 2<\/p>\n At Rohwer, my father arranged to borrow a record player from the camp administration every couple of months, and after dinner, the tables were dragged away, the benches were put off to the side, and the teenagers got to have a dance. My bedtime music was the music from the mess hall. I still get a lump in my throat when I hear big band music from the 1940s.<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n My parents loved sending me to summer school. There was a session in Tokyo at Sophia University. I think I was 17. One of the guys came up with this idea: \u201cThey allow people to climb up to the top of Mount Fuji. Would you guys want to do that?\u201d About a dozen of us said, yeah. When you begin, they sell you this staff. At each station they have an old man with a branding iron who\u2019ll mark the staff; that\u2019s proof that you reached the station. I have the whole staff with the final branding.<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Brad and I are a gay couple, I was raised in American prison camps, and we went to a State Dinner, in the White House<\/em>, as guests of President Clinton in 1999 to welcome Prime Minister Obuchi to Washington. And I got another<\/em> invitation from President Obama to greet Prime Minister Abe and his wife in 2015. Obama put us up on the dais, I was seated next to the first lady of Japan, and Brad was seated next to Nancy Pelosi. How about that?<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n A couple of years ago, we were in Australia, and Brad was dealing with jet lag by going to bed. My attitude is, you\u2019ve got to walk around and get the blood coursing, and a sense of the place where you are. I was walking along, and there was this street lamp advertising \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d at Sydney Opera House. So I rushed back to the hotel, woke Brad up and said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to go to the theater!\u201d It was a fantastic production.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 6<\/p>\nSeeing Your Work in Lights<\/span><\/h3>\n
Big Band<\/span><\/h3>\n
Mount Fuji<\/span><\/h3>\n
Dining With Presidents<\/span><\/h3>\n
Sydney Opera House<\/span><\/h3>\n
Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles<\/span><\/h3>\n