<Begin Segment 33>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: By the way, in 1980s, the American government issued a letter of apology to those who were sent to the internment camps and started the payment of compensation money.

YI: That's right. There is some kind of a stone park, near a river. Mr. Murata created it. There is writing on it by President Reagan. I think that is an apology; saying, we are sorry that we put you in the camps. He was the President.

TY: Many people participated in a movement for that, didn't they?

YI: I heard so. Well, they said such things... but whenever you claim something, you will face the opposition.

TY: That happens whenever a lot of people are involved.

YI: Yes. If you really think about it, you cannot know if it was good or bad that we went to the camps. If you had been left alone in town, you never know what could have happened. So some said we needed to be protected. Others said we were enemies. They all had different opinions. Anyway, one thing is that we didn't have to worry about food. Some people were so poor while we lived in town and didn't know how they could feed the children. Once in camp, you didn't have to worry about food. The government fed us. Some people had a better life. [Laughs]

TY: [Laughs] True.

YI: I heard such a story. "So-and-so had a tough life in town but here in this camp he doesn't have to worry anymore," they said.

TY: Really, there are so many different opinions.

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.