<Begin Segment 58>

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah. Then, your husband and Hideo both worked at the mess hall...

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] And you took some classes...

MK: [Jpn.] I didn't have to do anything.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] But I, I had a child, Donald.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] I couldn't leave him alone sometimes. I had to go home early to take care of him. If nobody was home when he wanted to go home, he couldn't go home. Since I knew what time it was.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] I would go back right away.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Eng.] Uh-huh. Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] What kind of things did you make or do in your craft class?

MK: [Jpn.] At the beginning, you have to draw a chart. Do this way and that, and you add this way. Also you learn what tools you need when you start. You had to buy those on your own. They didn't supply us with those.

TY: [Jpn.] I see. Did those with sewing skills teach that type of things?

MK: [Jpn.] And the sewing machines...

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] The government supplied us. They set them up so that we could use them.

TY: [Jpn.] I see. And it was the first time for you to learn, wasn't it?

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. That's right. It was the first time. I learned it for the first time in my life.

TY: [Jpn.] By the way, is this...

MK: [Eng.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] Oh, this is...

TY: [Jpn.] This is...

MK: [Jpn.] Well...

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] There must be "seventy-three" somewhere. Se-oh, Seventy-three. [shows shirt collar]

TY: [Jpn.] Yes. That was your barrack number...

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah, my barrack number.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah. And this photo...

MK: [Jpn.] And...

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] Lake. Well, what did we write at that time? Hmm?

TY: [Jpn.] Oh, it's written here.

MK: [Jpn.] Lake... what is this? Lake what? This...

TY: [Jpn.] It's "Tule Lake."

MK: [Jpn.] It's "Tu" of Tule Lake. Tule. And "Lake" is... we wrote "Lake" here...

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] So it's written "Tule Lake."

TY: [Jpn.] And Barrack 73.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. That's right. It looks like that.

TY: [Jpn.] And are these signatures all done by those living in Seventy-three?

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. Everybody. The numbers... those living in seventy-three. And also, my husband worked in the kitchen and so some were from those.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] So those who worked there. There were people who worked there. So we got their signatures first.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] We all went around to get signatures. These.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] And after we got signatures, I thought I should make a shirt out of this. So I went to the camp...

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] And I bought this material...

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] And right away I made it.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] So this is my husband's size.

TY: [Jpn.] Oh.

MK: [Jpn.] This is the size he can wear.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] And then I thought... I had to buy a colored thread. So I returned to the camp and bought the thread. But then I needed buttons.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] And so I bought buttons there. Therefore all of these are from the camp. All of them.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah. Then those who worked in the kitchen and those who lived in Seventy-three...

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. We needed from the people who lived in the camp... I mean, barrack. If we didn't, we didn't have enough.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Uh-huh. And everybody was happy to do it for us.

TY: [Jpn.] I can see that. And the picture... there is a picture on the pocket. About the picture...

MK: [Jpn.] Oh, the pocket. This is, oh, Abalone Mountain.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] It's called Abalone Mountain because it looks like an abalone. So this one is Abalone Mountain.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] This one is the barrack at Heart Mountain.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] This is the barrack. This is a mountain at Heart Mountain. This is the barrack where we lived. And this is what, a soldier... what is this?

TY: [Jpn.] It's a watchtower.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah... shoe... shee... sheehoe... what is it written?

TY: [Jpn.] It's written "Suiho."

MK: [Jpn.] It must be "Shuho."

TY: [Jpn.] "Suiho".

MK: [Jpn.] What does it mean, "Shuho"?

TY: [Jpn.] I wonder if it is somebody's name.

MK: [Jpn.] "Shuho"? Why is "Shuho" written here? I don't understand.

TY: [Jpn.] And the mountain was at Tule Lake?

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. It's at Tule Lake. These are all at Tule Lake.

TY: [Jpn.] Was it Castle Rock?

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah. These are all at Tule Lake.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] And the one we made the other day, those were all done at Tule Lake.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] I didn't do anything at Heart Mountain.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah.

MK: [Jpn.] And so, this is done, isn't it?

TY: [Jpn.] Yes, that's right. Thank you very much. But this picture... a stamp is on the picture. There is an embroidery of a stamp. Did you have somebody draw that picture on the pocket?

MK: [Jpn.] That's not a real stamp, is it?

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah. It's an embroidery of a stamp.

MK: [Jpn.] It's a copy of a stamp.

TY: [Jpn.] Did you draw this picture yourself? The picture on the pocket?

MK: [Jpn.] Oh, yeah. That. By looking at a picture.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Well, there were many painters there.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] So I copied that. No, rather, I looked at it.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] I drew it in a smaller scale.

TY: [Jpn.] Oh, that's how you did it.

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

TY: [Jpn.] Then those wild geese you talked about earlier, those groups of wild geese...

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

TY: [Jpn.] They are drawn here.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah, wild geese. Yeah. They flew over us often. They made noises, "kah kah kah". They flew in formation. It was a beautiful sight. Since there wasn't much to admire there, that's about the only thing we could enjoy looking at.

[Interruption]

<End Segment 58> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.