so my mother was born in northern california in oakland. >> host: valerie matsumoto is a professor at ucla and booktv is on location at the university of california los angeles talking with professors about their books. you didn't know we were going to do your family history prior to getting into your book i'm a which is called "city girls." during world war ii world war ii, were your parents? >> guest: my mother's family was first incarcerated in the center and then they were sent to the topaz camp in utah. my father's family was sent to the santa anita family center and they ended up in the largest of the camp in arizona. as luck would have it, both of those began as racetrack. so in both camps people that seem only just recently vacated by the worse. >> host: did your parents -- did they talk about this? >> guest: my father did not talk about it. but my mother has told me many stories about her experiences. >> host: who were the city girls you are talking about in your book? >> guest: the city girls are the urban japanese-american second-generation who got to have falsified that my

. >> host: professor valerie matsumoto 1920 through 1950 your fascination coming japanese americans did not get citizenship intel 1950 to? to make just a first generation because of the birthright citizenship so if they could gain title to news of the and they could participate. >> host: total california girls? >> guest: absolutely. this group was founded under the auspices of the union church affiliated with the ywca they had parties and dances they're very good dancers and also very active with social surface -- service. to talk about clubs in general think about that twenties a and '30's were a difficult period of racial inclusion and for young people there were not always welcome and extracurricular activities and organizations. but in terms of well level of acceptance. but i think the fact there were 400 used clubs. >> host: what is a long-term effect? >> guest: these were not just in southern california they went from los angeles of the way choose san diego but it was tremendously important wondering why they could rebuild during world war ii. i think of course, the hardships i th

. >> host: professor matsumoto, you said 15,000 letters were sent by one girl. nisei were about to serve in the army, but otherwise interred. is that a fair assessment the situation for japanese-americans in world war ii? >> guest: yes, on the japanese-americans who lived in the western coastal states in the southern third of arizona were all incarcerated. during the war men were in fact recruited and drafted from the camp. so there are many, many ironies of the situation and there are many brave and who agreed to go in brave men who also resisted. so it is a very, very interesting and complex intense situation. >> host: when its effort to japanese-americans society carefully integrated into american society? >> guest: well, that's a really good question. do you believe american society is now fully integrated in terms of race? >> host: i don't answer questions. i just ask them. yes go i thought it was the prerogative of the interviewer. if you're interesting to think about the trajectory of american history and the different generations. and i think that we can

nhk world's miki matsumoto looked below the surface to find out why. >> reporter: it's 8:30 a.m., the peak of the morning rush hour, but there's hardly anyone to be seen. that's because they're all under ground. >> translator: it's cooler down here. >> reporter: there is a maze of underground passageways running under the city. they're especially useful in the hot summer or the freezing winter. these women are heading into the basement food section of a department store. but that doesn't seem to be their destination. this underground passage connects the department store to the shop next door. >> translator: i use them to avoid the sun. >> translator: i don't want to sweat because my makeup will run. >> reporter: children go to and from their schools this way. >> translator: the streets have many busy intersections. it's safer to use the passageways. >> reporter: space is at a premium under ground. even the delivery trucks have to be lower than usual. this truck was custom built because of the low ceiling in the underground parking lot. it's hard for the delivery teams in such a cramp

. >> this year, carol matsumoto was the only one that voted to keep cameras and she believes they're a deterrent. >> cameras are rolling. they're going to stop. i bet you're going to see them stop. >> south san francisco had a troubled relationship with the cameras from the beginning the counsel forgot to ratify the contract as required by law. by the time they caught this mistake, cameras had been up half a year. the city had to refund a million dollars to thousands of drivers who were ticketed. >> happening now, a police conference is drawing a protest. take a look at video from sky 7 hd. you can see the group said the urban shield convention glori glorifies the police. >> they are out with shields to confront people. it's hardly the model of public safety that we need. >> society says we're going to demilitaryize the police. if you want to wait for the military to come in to stop your mall shooter, i don't think that is going to be acceptable solution. >> urban shield is attracting officers from around the bay area. >> following up on that big fire, business where it started is a

. >> this year, carol matsumoto was the only one that voted to keep cameras and she believes th're a deterrent. >> cameras are rollg. they're going to stop. i bet you're going to see them stop. >> south san fncisco had a troubled relationship withhe cameras from thebeginning the cnsel forgot to ratify the contract as required by law. by the te they caught this mistake, cameras had been up half a year. the ci had to refund a million dollars to thousands of drivers who were tketed. >> happening now, a pice conference is drawing a protest. take aook at video from sky 7 hd. you can see the group said the urban shield convention glori glorifies the police. >> they are out with shieldso confront people. it's hardly the model of public safety that we need. >> society says we're going to demilitaryize the police. if you want to wt for the military to come in to stop your mall shooter, i don't thin that is going to be acceptable solution. >> urban shieldis attracting officers from around the bay area. >> following up on that big fire, business where it started is a loss you can see how this b