Densho Digital Archive - Jimi Yamaichi Interview (denshovh-yjimi-01-0012)

<Begin Segment 12>

AI: Well, so tell me a little bit about what was the atmosphere of Tule Lake camp when you came in at that time? What was going on then?

JY: Well, it wasn't friendly, that's for sure, because we come from Heart Mountain, people came from Jerome, people came from Rohwer, from Gila. We're all mixed in one block, right? When we're in Heart Mountain, we knew each other because half of 'em came from San Jose. Even though we came late, "Oh, yeah -- ," so and so and so. We go to mess hall, we talked to each other, drink cup of coffee, sling the bull, but come to here, "Geez, who are they?" So you have to... kinda' gun shy. We didn't mix too well. Even through the camp life, when I went to Tule Lake reunion, a guy came to me and says, "Hey, aren't you Jim Yamaichi?" I says, "Yeah." He said, "Don't you remember me? We lived on the other side of Block 27." Well, the one side, we lived on the 0 number side, 07, 04 side. They were in the 12, 11, 16, number side. "Geez, we were next to..." so and so, and so and so. "I guess so."

So that's how close we were; we just didn't get too close to each other. 'Cause we didn't know... well we don't get involved because then that's when all this 'Wasshoi, Wasshoi' stuff was start coming up gradually, and Japanese school. They want to go to Japanese school, do this and that. So to get by to go to regular Japanese school, went to private Japanese school. That way there, my father won't be coerced to have me go to a Japanese school. Because I was the prime age to join that group, right, the Hoshidan group. So that's why I stayed away from some of the private Japanese schools on our block. And then Tanaka was a Japanese schoolteacher, so I went to his class, just to pacify the... my father said he doesn't... "Going to Japanese School?" "He's already going to Japanese school," right, that's the answer. So he wasn't coerced to send me to the regular, the big Japanese school. So like you asked me, well, wasn't unfriendly, we got to know the people gradually as time went along, but we never really got that close.