Biography:
George Fujio Shimane was born on August 7, 1919, in San Jose. He was the third of 10 children of Shinzo Shimane and Shizue Miura, farmers from Japan. Shimane attended San Jose area schools, graduating from San Jose High School in 1939. Upon leaving school, he continued working on the family farm, as well as helping out on his older brother’s farm. During the forced removal, Shimane arrived at Santa Anita on May 30, 1942, and then at Heart Mountain on September 13, 1942. As the family was so large, they were given two adjoining units: 23-11-BC. While in camp, Shimane took several jobs outside of camp, some locally in Cody and some as far afield as Montana and Utah. In February 1944, Shimane received approval for a trip to Montana to inquire about “Farming Possibilities.” Shortly after returning from this trip, he was ordered to report for his pre-induction physical. Shimane failed to appear and was arrested on April 7, 1944, the same time as his younger brother Chester. In all, four brothers from the Shimane family would be arrested for resisting the draft. They were tried together as part of the largest mass trial in Wyoming history in June 1944, found guilty of violating the Selective Service Act and sentenced to three years in the federal prison at McNeil Island, Washington. Shimane was released in July 1946 and pardoned by President Harry Truman on December 24, 1947. George Fujio Shimane died on August 9, 2015 in San Jose.