Kenji Fort Minor

[Intro: Mike's father]
"My father, came from Japan, in 1905
He was fifteen when he, immigrated from Japan
He, he, he worked until he was able to buy
To actually build a store"

[Verse 1: Mike Shinoda]
Let me tell you a story in the form of a dream
I don't know why I have to tell it, but I know what it means
Close your eyes, just picture the scene
As I paint it for you
It was World War II
When this man named Kenji woke up
Ken was not a soldier, he was just a man
With a family who owned a store in L.A
That day, he crawled out of bed like he always did
Bacon and eggs with wife and kids
He lived on the second floor of a little store he ran
He moved to L.A. from Japan
They called him immigrant, in Japanese
He'd say he was called "issei"
That meant first generation
In the United States when
Everybody was afraid of the Germans, afraid of the Japs
But most of all, afraid of a homeland attack
And that morning, when Ken went out on the doormat
His world went black, 'cause
Right there, front page news
Three weeks before 1942
Pearl Harbor's been bombed and "The Japs are Coming"
Pictures of soldiers dying and running
Ken knew what it would lead to
And just like he guessed, the president said
"The evil Japanese in our home country
Would be locked away"
They gave Ken a couple of days
To get his whole life packed in two bags
Just two bags, he couldn't even pack his clothes
And some folks didn't even have a suitcase
To pack anything in
So two trash bags, is all they gave them
And when the kids asked mom, "Where are we going?"
Nobody even knew what to say to them
Ken didn't wanna lie
He said, "The U.S. is looking for spies
So, we have to live in a place called Manzanar
Where a lot of Japanese people are"
Stop it, don't look at the gunmen
You don't wanna get the soldiers wondering
If you're gonna run or not
'Cause if you run, then you might get shot
Other than that, try not to think about it
Try not to worry 'bout it being so crowded
'Cause someday, we'll get out
Someday, someday