Yuka Yasui Fujikura (1927-). As a child, Yuka enjoyed performing musical skits with her sister, Michi, and was called "The Mid-Columbia Japanese Shirley Temple." Yuka was a freshman in high school when she was evacuated with her mother and brother, Homer. After ten months in the Tule Lake camp, Homer moved her to Denver, leaving their mother behind. Yuka graduated from high school in 1944 in the top ranks of her class. She wanted to go to college, but did not want to be a financial burden to her family. She decided the University of Oregon would be her best option, as she was still an Oregon resident and eligible for in-state tuition. The West Coast was still "forbidden territory" for Japanese Americans, but Yuka was determined and petitioned to be admitted.

Yuka was the first Japanese-American student to return to the University of Oregon. She was met with hostility and unfriendliness, especially because of the rumors about her imprisoned father and brother, Min, being spies. (Yuka graduated in 1948, but there are no pictures of her in the yearbook.) After graduation, Yuka decided she wanted to go to medical school, like her brothers, Robert and Homer. In 1948 it was difficult for most woman to attend medical school, and even more so for a Japanese-American woman. After receiving many rejections, she decided to change her career path. Yuka applied to Yale for the master's program in public health nursing, and was accepted for fall of 1948. She received her masters degree in 1951, accepted a position with the New Haven Visiting Nurse's Association, and then received a Fulbright scholarship to study public health in Japan. In Japan, she married and started a family, then moved back to Portland. About ten years later, she earned her second masters degree in public health and her husband accepted a position in Hiroshima. Yuka divides her time between her home in Japan and in Maryland. When in the United States, she is an active volunteer with the Washington, D.C. area Planned Parenthood Program, working primarily with underprivileged young girls. She was a recipient of the Margaret Sanger award.

Listen to an oral history interview with Yuka: https://soundcloud.com/dividedfamiliespodcast/ep-stories-from-tule-lake-japanese-internment-camp-with-yuka-yasui-fujikura