<Begin Segment 36>

TY: [Jpn.] By the way, from 1937 to 1938, when your oldest daughter Lilly was five or six years old, your father returned to Japan, didn't he?

MK: [Eng.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] I see. Then...

MK: [Jpn.] Well, that was before the war.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes. Did your father plan to come back to the U.S. at that time?

MK: [Jpn.] No, no, no. See, he believed that if he had stayed here, he would be killed.

TY: [Jpn.] Oh.

MK: [Jpn.] He thought he would be killed if he had stayed in the U.S.

TY: [Jpn.] During the Pacific War.

MK: [Jpn.] A little more... if a war started...

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] If he were in the U.S., he thought he would be killed. Because he was a Japanese soldier. Everyone would be killed.

TY: [Jpn.] Which war did your father fight?

MK: [Jpn.] Oh, that was the Imperial Guards. The Imperial Guards mean, but I wasn't told about it.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] The last time my brother returned, he told me so. He said, "Our father was an Imperial Guard." I said, "Is that right? But I never heard of it." The Imperial Guards were the very top. I said, "They may not be right next to the Emperor, but they guard the Emperor." I wonder why he never mentioned that to us while he was in the U.S. He was here a long time. I told my brother, "I never heard of it." When my brother came from Japan...

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] Well, he came here once from Japan. He came here once.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] I told him. I said, "But I never heard of it," but he said it was true. I believe what my brother says. But I don't know much about it, so I don't talk about it.

TY: [Jpn.] Then your father was concerned about his own past while he was living in the U.S.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] So, if the U.S. and Japan fought a war...

MK: [Jpn.] Maybe, maybe because he was a soldier before, he thought he was in danger if something happened. But I have no idea.

TY: [Jpn.] He didn't say anything like that. I see.

MK: [Jpn.] He just said he was going back because he would be killed if he stayed here. [Laughs]

TY: [Jpn.] Really?

MK: [Jpn.] I remember that very well.

TY: [Jpn.] Oh, he said so and...

MK: [Jpn.] Uh-huh. So he said he didn't want to stay here even for one more day.

TY: [Jpn.] Then did he hear something from somewhere? Do you think?

MK: [Jpn.] Well, that information came long after my father died. So I am not sure.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] So I don't know anything about it.

TY: [Jpn.] Did he subscribe to a Japanese newspaper?

MK: [Jpn.] No. No. I don't know anything about such a thing.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] So I don't want to hear about that type of thing.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. When he was in Japan, he was really...

TY: [Jpn.] Well, yes...

MK: [Jpn.] If he was really... it could be true, but he never said so.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] So my family was not poor.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] They don't take anything from a poor family. You see. They check your family history and other things. That one.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] See? The Imperial Guards.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah.

MK: [Jpn.] Really. Besides, you have to have a good body. Also you have to have a good character. Otherwise you won't pass. Of course your family has to have money. So if you meet those three criteria, then... of course, they take only three men from each prefecture.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. So if he was chosen, then I wonder why he didn't tell us if he really was an Imperial Guard.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] I don't know. I don't believe it.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] Then will you tell us more tomorrow?

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] Then we are done for today.

MK: [Jpn.] Thank you very much.

TY: [Jpn.] Oh, no. Not at all.

MK: [Jpn.] Thank you for doing this for a long time when it is so hot. I put you through hardship for me.

TY: [Jpn.] Oh, no. I had fun.

MK: [Jpn.] Thank you very much. I don't know how to thank you enough. Thank you very much.

<End Segment 36> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.