Densho Digital Repository - Kiyoko Masuda Interview (Densho ID: ddr-ajah-1-1)

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KM: Then the war broke out, and it was a time, of course, very frightening for everybody. And then the 9066 was posted, and my folks, from what I understand, went to San Jose and stayed with my mom's side of the family for a bit and then the family decided that they did not want to go to camp. And so I think they went to Colorado. And so my parents didn't want to do that, and so they went to an assembly center, I think, in Florin first. And from there they were sent to assembly center in Fresno. And they were there for about five months, and then they were sent to Jerome, Arkansas. And then Jerome, Arkansas, that camp closed, and they were sent to Gila, Gila River, Arizona, and that's where my sister Misao was born, in 1944. Now, the camp years, we've got pictures of my dad and all these men chopping down trees. They had to clear some of the forestration there, so they could plant. And then my father was also, I think you called them block managers, where he was responsible for a community of, I think, three hundred families in Jerome. And he said it was really hard work and very, it was a lot of responsibility, because he was the spokesperson for the head office, yes.

BS: So when you describe this happened or that, if you make sure you tell us which camp that was? If they did something in Jerome and later on did something in Gila, we just need to know those things. Okay.

KM: Okay. And, of course, he was the block manager in Jerome. And I really don't know, remember too much about camp life. But I remember there was a, I guess they had talent shows and things. And I remember, I was just three or four, I remember going up on the stage and singing, "Mama's little baby had..." what was it? "Mama's little baby had..." what was that?

JF: I was going to say shortening?

KM: Yes, I think so. And then from Jerome, when we went to Gila, my dad was asked to be a block manager again, but he declined. And I remember Gila. I remember crossing a bridge, because we had to get milk for my new baby sister Misao. And I remember the Issei men catching, I heard that they'd catch rattlesnakes and then making rattlesnake sashimi. And then, of course, with the skin, they made things, so I thought that was rather interesting. Then after the war...

JF: Oh, Kiyo, may I interrupt you?

KM: Of course.

JF: I really was impressed by this story, or fascinated by the story of your father in the draft, military. Can you tell that story?

KM: Yes, of course. When he was in Jerome, he was interviewed by a government lawyer, and he was asked if he would fight for the United States. And my father said no because, "I'm incarcerated like this and I've lost my rights. But if I were asked to fight as an American citizen, I would." And he said he asked the interviewer, "Would you, if you were in my position?" And the interviewer said, he didn't say anything, he just put his head down. So I thought it was very brave of my dad. Not brave... my father was very honest, and that's one thing that he believed was his Japanese side. That he was ethical and he used the word "Confucian ethics," so anyway...