[3] After finishing high school, he moved to New York, where he found work as editor of the English-language section of the Japanese American News, a position he held for three years.
He took on various aliases in order to circumvent legal restrictions on the number of fights a boxer could participate in, and the physical strain soon caused irreparable damage to his retinas.
[2] On February 19, 1942 — a little over a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor — President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing military commanders to create security zones from which "any or all persons" might be removed.
Sakamoto led the Seattle JACL's Emergency Defense Council, working with government officials, translating regulations and military orders for those who could not read English, and organizing war relief efforts to promote American patriotism.
[2][7] In the Courier's final issue, published April 24, 1942, Sakamoto urged Japanese Americans to accept the forced removal without a fight, calling it their "patriotic contribution.
After the war, the family returned to Seattle, where, unable to finance a new start for the Japanese American Courier, they lived on government assistance until Sakamoto was able to find a job with the St. Vincent de Paul Salvage Bureau, a Catholic-run charity thrift store.