<Begin Segment 48>

TY: [Jpn.] By the way, there was a limit as to how much you could take with you.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] You had four small children and the oldest was only nine or ten. Weren't you worried about the luggage? Did you worry whether you could pack everything you needed for your children in the limited space?

MK: [Jpn.] You mean, when we returned?

TY: [Jpn.] No, when you went to Pinedale.

MK: [Jpn.] When we went to Pinedale?

TY: [Jpn.] Yes. Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] Well, we couldn't take much with us.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] But someone took a sewing machine, I heard.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. So I think the government took care of some belongings.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah.

MK: [Eng.] Uh-huh.

TY: [Jpn.] You had to pack the luggage without knowing where you were going, or if the place was hot or cold, didn't you?

MK: [Jpn.] That's right. You took a chance.

TY: [Jpn.] You are right.

MK: [Jpn.] We didn't know. But even if you knew it would be that hot, then what could you do? We couldn't stay. We had no choice but to go. So the train we rode wasn't very nice. Of course, why should they give us a nice train? We were foreign enemies.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. We were guarded by the military police. For each one.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. But none of us would escape. I think that maybe people who don't like Japanese might come and attack us. It could be both ways. If the Caucasians find out that the Japanese are passing through, they might do something awful. So we had to close our windows. Uh-huh.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah. So you boarded the train without knowing where you were going...

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

TY: [Jpn.] Yes. Then, did your children ask questions, such as, "Why do we have to go?"

MK: [Jpn.] No, no, no, none of them ask such questions.

TY: [Jpn.] They just obeyed you?

MK: [Jpn.] Besides that's a complicated issue, isn't it?

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah.

MK: [Jpn.] That's a difficult issue between Japan and the U.S. So when they got older and understood the issue, they naturally asked questions. Uh-huh.

TY: [Jpn.] So, the children just followed your order?

MK: [Jpn.] Yes. Of course.

TY: [Jpn.] By the way, the Arakis... it was May 10th in 1942 that you were taken to Pinedale...

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] So your family, you, your husband, your four children and Hideo, a total of seven moved into the Pinedale Assembly Center.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah, that's right.

TY: [Jpn.] But the Arakis...

MK: [Jpn.] Separate.

TY: [Jpn.] Separate.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. I wanted to go to Minidoka, too, but...

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] But we couldn't, and we were taken to Pinedale. So we were separated.

TY: [Jpn.] So you wanted to go with the Arakis, didn't you?

MK: [Jpn.] But Mr. Araki told me that he thought I would also come there and so he was waiting for me.

TY: [Jpn.] Then you had contact with him.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. But I couldn't write that we were going to Pinedale, no, it was not Pinedale, we were going to Wyoming. I never could write that.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] Then the contact...

MK: [Jpn.] Mini... yeah. I wanted to go where the Arakis were. He was waiting for me. Yeah. Instead we ended up in a strange place. Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] Then, the Arakis were already in Minidoka.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] You already had contact with him, didn't you?

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

<End Segment 48> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.