<Begin Segment 15>

[Translated from Japanese]

AT: But, I was thinking that I didn't like taking train from the depot there, but I went with my friends for the first time. Well, they came to pick us up from the depot. "How many more hours are we riding the train?" "We don't get there unless we ride two and a half more hours, to Idaho." "I don't like this. I am bored." So I said and laughed with friends. I never went by myself. I often went with my friends. We went. Then, they came there by car to pick us up. When we went there, there was nothing but sage brush. We were driving like this through the places where dust was rising enormously.

TY: You had heard about it, hadn't you?

AT: Yeah, already. They were tires of this size, they were there, and they were always going through the sand. It was a sandy place. It was sandy soil and green dirt. Brush. There was so much. But, during the two, three years they lived there, Japanese turned it into a beautiful garden.

TY: If I remember correctly, they made a Japanese garden, didn't they?

AT: Yeah. We drove by there a long time ago, it was written that there used to be a camp and Japanese used to live here. This big sign was out. It was out. And, during the nighttime, if wind blew, dust. This much. There was this much dust. Even if we closed the windows, dust blew in. When I said, "Oniisan, this dust on the floor is all garbage," I was told that it was all sand. There was just so much of it.

TY: Even if you kept sweeping every day, it piled up, right?

AT: It didn't work. Sand, you couldn't tell if it was sand or other stuff. And, in the morning... toilet [Ed. note: Mrs. Terao used the term "benjo", which was used commonly among Japanese American, both men and women.] wasn't attached to the house. I had to go outside. So, in the morning, I said, "Good morning," and went to toilet. Then, I couldn't go straight, straight like this. Toilet was where I had to go a little to the side. Toilet was outside. And, on the way back, I took the wrong way, and I walked back straight and walked into someone's house. [Laughs]

TY: But, they were all the same buildings, right?

AT: Yeah, yeah.

TY: I am sure it was easy to get lost.

AT: When I said, "Oh, I am sorry. Here, toilet, I came here after I went to toilet." Then, they said, "It's all right. Mr. Terao's is one row behind." [Laughs] I said, "That's right." Because the buildings looked the same. And, toilet was outside.

TY: Was the line long as I assume?

AT: Huh?

TY: You had to wait for your turn, right?

AT: Toilet?

TY: Yes.

AT: No, those who could wait, wait was standing.

TY: Oh, is that right? I mean, there are time periods when it gets crowded, like early in the morning.

AT: No, well, when it is crowded, sho ga nai, right? But, I thought America did such a stupid thing. Spending such a huge amount of money. Among Japanese, there wasn't even one person who did bad things. They were scared, I bet. There is nothing there today. Instead, Japanese evacuated, and just, what, a paper is posted. A while ago, we went to visit there.

TY: You returned there once?

AT: Yeah. We went around the places we thought we had passed before. We passed there. There was a notice board standing there. It was written that it was the original site where Japanese were held.

TY: What did you think about the camp after living there for a week?

AT: I thought it was not a place to live. But, sho ga nai, right? Since we evacuated to other place, to Salt Laki, we didn't experience it. But, at other place, our children went to school right after we evacuated to Salt Laki. It was because my cousin was there.

TY: Those who went into the camp were there at least two to three years, weren't they?

AT: Yeah.

TY: Did you participate in any activities like dance party at the camp?

AT: I didn't go into the camp.

TY: Yes. While you were staying there for a week.

AT: Oh, no, no.

TY: They didn't have things like that?

AT: I was busy visiting everybody.

TY: I see.

AT: The twenty, high, the furthest one in the highest number lived in the twenty-two, one in the eighteen, and somebody lived in the five. Also, there were people in the one and the two. It was a quite distance to walk. It was especially hard because I had to walk in the cloud of dust.

TY: Do you remember that your friends lost weight and such things?

AT: Huh?

TY: That your friends lost weight.

AT: No, no, I didn't sense that.

TY: So you didn't think of such things. Nothing like they were worn out or anything?

AT: But, among them, there were some people who said it was carefree and they liked it.

DG: Uh-huh.

AT: And, they said that it was very good because the buses were going out of the camp. Many people went in, though. They took turns to cook rice. And, then, the water jar, they were still leaving them there to take out. With that, it seemed that it was hard to draw water in the beginning. But, those Issei suffered a lot. Those who were called in, those who entered the camp. We were okay because we just went to visit.

TY: That's right. They came all the way from Japan...

AT: They said even if they tried to farm, they couldn't. Because of this sagebrush.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.