<Begin Segment 27>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: Okay. So after the war, in March 1946, you returned to Seattle from Crystal City.

YI: Uh-huh. Forty what?

TY: Forty-six.

YI: Forty-six. That's right.

TY: Almost a year since the end of the war.

YI: We returned in '46.

TY: Why didn't you return to Seattle right after the war ended?

YI: When?

TY: Well, the war ended on August 15, 1945. You didn't return to Seattle for almost seven months.

YI: We were still in Crystal City. After we left there, we immediately returned to Seattle.

TY: Why didn't you leave right away?

YI: Huh?

TY: Why didn't you leave Crystal City right away?

YI: To where?

TY: Why didn't you leave Crystal City right away?

YI: .....

TY: When the war ended, you were allowed to return to Seattle. What was the reason that you and your family still stayed there for almost a year?

YI: No. The reason was... after we were allowed to return, people left one after the other for Seattle. Nobody remained there.

TY: Then how did you return to Seattle from Crystal City?

YI: It was by train. The government sent us home by train. Everybody.

TY: How did you feel when you left Crystal City?

YI: Well, I wonder how I felt. Since I had a baby and small children, I was busy taking care of them. But my husband was with us this time and so I didn't worry. When we left for the camp, he wasn't with us, but many people helped us.

TY: So you joined your husband and returned to Seattle with all your family members. Right after you returned to Seattle, where did you go?

YI: There were two houses behind the temple, owned by the temple. They were old. We lived there. In those days most people didn't have a place to stay and so we rented to others, too. Many people together. There was this big house where three or four families lived together. That was the way (we lived) for a while.

TY: By the way, the temple was rented out to the Marine Corps during the war, wasn't it?

YI: Uh-huh.

TY: Did they rent those houses, too? Who was using those houses?

YI: Oh, the rented houses. I wonder who used them. I don't know much about the rented houses.

TY: But when you returned, were those houses ready to be lived in?

YI: Yes. Though they were old-style houses.

TY: By the way, when the Marine Corps left the temple, I heard that it was messy and things were missing...

YI: That's right. The temple didn't have flooring material installed yet. The other areas were fine. The temple had a big hall and so it was used for big events. They used the temple's gym. They still do now. There are no big halls in Seattle.

TY: Then is it not true that the Marine Corps left the temple in a mess? Wasn't there any problem while you were away from the temple?

YI: Well, there were some dirty areas left behind.

TY: I heard there was some graffiti on the walls.

YI: Some of the belongings that (Japanese) people had left at the temple were missing. I have no idea who took them. I left brand new shoes in a trunk, but they were missing when I opened the trunk. But fortunately the typewriter was not stolen. My husband was happy.

TY: Because he needed that for his work.

YI: My guess is that those black people opened our suitcases. Those soldiers.

<End Segment 27> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.