<Begin Segment 46>

TY: [Jpn.] By the way, was Hideo... was he at the Arakis?

MK: [Jpn.] At the Arakis.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes, he was there, but he was supposed to be at the Kurosus according to the papers when he entered the U.S...

MK: [Jpn.] Huh?

TY: [Jpn.] He ended up going to Pinedale with the Kurosus, didn't he?

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. That's right.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah.

MK: [Jpn.] Uh-huh.

TY: [Jpn.] And so, if he had remained in Japan...

MK: [Jpn.] He didn't have a chance to come to the U.S. Because the war started. If he had remained in Japan. Uh-huh. Because he was in the U.S., we could see each other. But I feel really sorry for Hideo. He had to stay in a place he hated for four long years. It must have been difficult for him.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] He missed his Mom. He wanted to go back to his Mom.

TY: [Jpn.] By the way, what did Hideo say? How did he react when the war started?

MK: [Jpn.] Huh?

TY: [Jpn.] Hideo.

MK: [Jpn.] Hideo?

TY: [Jpn.] Yes, when he heard about Pearl Harbor.

MK: [Eng.] Uh-huh, uh...

TY: [Jpn.] What kind of things did he say?

MK: [Jpn.] He didn't say very much.

TY: [Jpn.] Oh.

MK: [Jpn.] Shocked. I guess he was shocked.

TY: [Jpn.] Probably so.

MK: [Jpn.] The biggest problem was that he wouldn't be able to go home.

TY: [Jpn.] Because his family and friends were all in Japan.

MK: [Jpn.] Yes, exactly.

TY: [Jpn.] That must have worried him.

MK: [Eng.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] Well, when that incident, when Pearl Harbor was bombed, Lilly was nine years old and Roy was eight years old...

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes. In addition, you had other younger children.

MK: [Eng.] Uh-huh.

TY: [Jpn.] Donald, the youngest child, was two years old...

MK: [Eng.] Huh?

TY: [Jpn.] He was only two years old, wasn't he? Donald was only two.

MK: [Eng.] Yeah --

TY: [Jpn.] Only a baby. Then you had to go to Sunny -- no, Pinedale.

MK: [Eng.] Uh-huh.

TY: [Jpn.] How did you find that out?

MK: [Jpn.] Well, you get a notice.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] So we follow the order. We do. Even if you don't know anything about it.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] That's government business and we follow the government order.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Eng.] Uh-huh.

TY: [Jpn.] But were you surprised when you received the notice? Or were you mentally prepared to receive it?

MK: [Jpn.] No, of course, we were surprised.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. Nobody expected that.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. Nobody imagined anything like Pearl Harbor could ever happen.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] So, of course, we were shocked.

TY: [Jpn.] Were you also shocked at the notice which forced you to move to camp?

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] But, were you mentally prepared to go?

MK: [Jpn.] Well, you could at least buy food since then.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] But you couldn't do anything else at all once it began.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] So you learned that you were going to Pinedale. You said you received such a notice.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] Then how did you prepare for the move? I understand that the notice gave restrictions as to the luggage.

MK: [Jpn.] No. We got rid of everything we didn't need.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] Also, we cleaned the inside of the house as much as we could. We moved everything into one room of the house and locked it.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] And then as much as possible... I told you before that we left our car with our neighbor.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes, you did.

MK: [Jpn.] So there wasn't anything more. You can't take the land with you.

<End Segment 46> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.