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BN: And then was it always, was it pretty set that you were going to go back to Alameda?

MT: Well, when we were moving from Merced Assembly Center to Colorado, we had a, kind of an idea we were going to a place in Colorado, they didn't really tell us where we were going. Instructions, don't get off the train when you stop and you have to go benjo, they stopped, you had to go benjo, the benjo was always full and it was never cleaned. So they would go on the lee side of the train and it would be in a field somewhere, you could do your, even the women and the men were doing their shishi and everything out there, you know, and get back on the train. But don't get off the train, don't pull up the shades, and I think that was, I got to thinking about that. I think they thought that if they knew that whole train was Japanese, somebody might blow it up, who knows, some fanatic? So I think that was for our safety. But we're going through Arizona, I remember, through Arizona, and hot, and we're at a train stop. We put up the shade because, to get the air in there, there's no AC in those things, get some air in there. And another train pulls up, and so they were kind of looking in there. And they're lifting up their shades, and they're Japanese, next train. So we're all looking in there and we start talking to each other, "Where are you guys going?" They said, "We think we're going to Arkansas." Said, "Where are you going?" "We think we're going to Colorado." And so my father said, "Where are you from?" They were from Turlock Assembly Center. So my father said, "Is there anybody from Alameda there?" A guy pops his head out and says, "Yeah, I am. I'm Yamasaki from Alameda," and my father had hired his two sons before the war. So they were close friends. And so they had kept in touch, and Jerome, they didn't close 'til later, but we were going home first. So he had written my father and said, "My house" -- and he had a son that was old -- so he had the house. But we've told them that we're coming back in a couple months so they're getting out. We had a Japanese pavilion at the World's Fair, they bought one of those homes. He said that house is empty. When you go back, stay in that place until we get back and then you can figure something out. So we were fortunate that we were going to Alameda, we wanted to go back to Alameda, we understood there's going to be a hostel, we could live at the church or something, but because of the Yamasaki family we were able to have our own little cottage. It was nice. Then within the year, we were out of there.

BN: Then you mentioned you were among the first Japanese families to come back to Alameda.

MT: Yeah, we were one of the first.

BN: That there was, because of that, maybe you experienced more anti-Japanese stuff.

MT: It was terrible. Yeah, I guess, you know, you get bumped in the hall.

BN: This is at school?

MT: Yeah, and they would bump you in the hall and they'd say a snide remark, they'd have snide remarks. But I used to say, they best day I had is when people ignored me. [Laughs] Basically it was true, best day. And then they used to chase me home from school. But that only lasted about three weeks, and then people started coming back. So we had about three or four people my age. And out of the three or four, two of them had never, were not Alameda people. It just said there was a hostel they could go into and so they came over. But they were my age, so it was good. So we looked out for each other, it was nice.

BN: Yeah, there were enough of you. What grade were you in at this point?

MT: I came in as a freshman.

BN: As a high school freshman?

MT: High school, yeah, ninth grader. And I thought it was nice, I came into high school to register, and I had to go see the Dean of Boys, Mr. Schreiber, and I remember Mr. Schreiber from... Porter school was right across the street from there. And so Mr. Schreiber's name used to pop up even, the Dean of Boys, and I think he was the assistant principal at one time. But he looked at me and he said, "Mr. Takano," he said, "Nice to have you back." I thought, wow, that's nice. I wish he told the kids, the other students. [Laughs] But anyway, it was a nice welcome back.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.