<Begin Segment 20>

[Translated from Japanese]

AT: They put thread on cans, on the empty cans, and put a couple of them on the car to go rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle. In about three cars, they went around shouting, "Japan surrendered. They surrendered." They were going through the town of Salt Laki. Where I was staying. At that time, just by hearing it, our tears started shedding, and we even cried loud. "Oh, we finally lost as we expected." Because those people had been saying that Japan would win after all, we were in the bigger shock in this way because we were Japanese. They were announcing that Japan had lost. I think there were three cars. They put empty cans on their cars and made loud rattling sound. They went all around the town shouting, "Japan surrendered! Japan surrendered!"

The only that time... Japanese, those Kibei people had been saying, "Japan will win. Japan will win." Three, four people, and they sat on the sidewalk like this. They took out their handkerchiefs and did like this. I saw it from upstairs. I saw it from the second floor of the apartment building. I thought, "Oh, they are crying there. They are crying here, too," and I myself started crying, too. "Oh, after all, Japan couldn't make it." Terao said, "To begin with, I said that it was a mistake to bring the war to the U.S. What I said was right after all." Then, it was either the same evening or the evening of the next day. Terao used to talk with Kibei because they got along. And, after we had dinner, they came and said, "Is ojisan home?" I said, "Oh, he is here." They said, "We came to talk." I said, "Oh, sure, go talk to him." Then, they said, "Ojisan, what you said was the truth." [Laughs] They said, "We were the stupid ones. We came to apologize." I said, "You don't need to apologize. I appreciate that you were thinking so much of Japan. I grew up in Japan, too." When I said so, they said, "We were crazy. We thought Japan would win this time, too, because Japan had never lost the war before. We wanted them to win."

But, first of all, I heard that they didn't have any more bullets. Making bullets...The U.S. had enough money, but Japan even didn't have money. We also said that Japan was probably suffering. Because they had done it before. We said, "Japan only has this much. The U.S. is the country of this much resources. Japan made a big mistake by starting the war." "Once we start, God will help because it is the nation of God. Don't worry, we can win." So, Terao said, "God won't help a place like that," then, they said, "Even ojisan started saying things like that!" There was someone who yelled at him loud. [Laughs] But, later on, even he came to apologize by saying, "Ojisan, I am sorry. It was my fault." The Kibei people. Kibei thought of Japan more than anybody else. They had come to the U.S., and when they were taken by the Army, they said, "It is bad there. It is bad here," and didn't go out. There was a person who went out. He went out. Um, he went to near Chicago. He came back... Terao was consulting with young people, and he liked stuff like that, and since he was talking over matters, they came to visit him often. He came saying, "Ojisan, this time for sure I got to know that Japan is weak." When he asked how he found out, he said, "Well, when I went there, a huge amount of materials was piled up." He said that he had never seen as huge an amount of materials piled up in Japan. He said, "If this is the situation, it is no wonder that Japan was losing. Even if they kept their spirits high and bodies tough, they can't shoot if they don't have any bullets." We said, "That's right." Although that person was favoring Japan, at the end, he said, "Japan, I can't do any more. It's good that I am not going back to such a place, but the U.S. is such a big country, and it takes care of the people in the world. Japan, Japan can not afford to take care of others now." So he said. And, he was shedding tears.

But, even us, we wanted Japan to win at that time. We chanted sutras very hard and said all these things. But, we couldn't beat the real ability. So, Terao said, "After all, Japan needed money this much, and the U.S. had this much. Japan had had a war before, and they had already been suffering. So, don't say that they are going to win. Also, other countries are not favoring Japan much any more, and they are praising the U.S." Then, Kibei people started getting angry again and said, "Ojisan, there is no way that that's happening!" But, later on, Those Kibei, those who cried said, "Ojisan, um, sorry. We were wrong. We were misunderstanding. We are sorry." They came to apologize when the war was over and said, "Um, please talk with us again."

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.