<Begin Segment 8>

JT: How did you get from San Francisco to Alameda in 1941? The ferry or the train?

KT: The ferry, I think.

MT: The ferry was, the bridge was already made.

JT: In 1936, okay. And what made you decide to go back to Alameda for school every day? Were you one of those...

KT: Because I wanted to be in my class and the ban didn't affect me, because we were citizens.

JT: And you played in the band?

KT: Oh, no, not band.

JT: Oh, the ban. Oh, because you were not an alien.

KT: Yeah.

JT: Oh, so you were allowed to go to Alameda High? Do you remember how it felt to be back at Alameda High after Pearl Harbor? Were the other students...

KT: I guess I was the only one that commuted to Alameda. Most people went, like Dan's family went to some friends in the country.

JT: Right, boy. And how long did that last?

KT: Not very long. Because by then, April, San Francisco had to evacuate to Tanforan.

JT: Do you remember that?

KT: Oh, yeah.

JT: How did you feel about having to... because you were already a senior in high school.

KT: I know.

JT: That must have been awful, made your life topsy turvy, turned it upside down. And how did your parents react to the news that they had to leave?

KT: Oh, I think that they expected that by then, because other, like Manzanar was opened up.

JT: And where was your brother?

KT: He was...

JT: He was already out of high school?

KT: Yeah. I think he must have gone to either San Francisco State or...

JT: Oh, he was in college. And what about Mariko, your sister? She was younger, she was in grammar school.

KT: Yeah.

JT: So she had to pack up and go, too. Do you remember getting to Tanforan?

KT: Oh, well, we were, Tanforan, a lot of people were stuck in the horse stables. But we were fortunate because they had built these cabins...

MT: Barracks.

KT: Barracks, yeah, on the parking lot. So that was nicely paved.

JT: Oh, so you didn't have to sleep in the horse stables?

KT: No.

JT: You were lucky, you were lucky. And then do you remember what happened, how long you were at Tanforan? It wasn't long. Well, it must have seemed long.

KT: About September or so, April, May, June, July... about five months.

JT: Yes.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2021 Densho. All Rights Reserved.