<Begin Segment 75>

TY: [Jpn.] By the way, you said earlier that your household items had been used.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] When you returned. Of course you would expect dust and dirt... even if you were living...

MK: [Jpn.] They say they asked to take care, but they asked Caucasians. All of them. There wasn't a single Japanese. It is foolish to trust them, isn't it?

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah.

MK: [Jpn.] Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and so we should think we are the enemy foreigners living here, but we don't think that way. We want to think the old friends are still good friends. We should say "Thank you" for taking care of our possessions. There is nowhere else to go. When you ask them to keep your things, you still get those things back. Whether they used it or not, whether they are still new or old... anyway, it's not that they disappeared totally.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] So it's best not to worry about such small matters.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah.

TY: [Jpn.] So you just returned...

MK: [Jpn.] That's right.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] Isn't better to be glad that we have healthy bodies and could come home. Yeah. But we all are greedy. "I wish I took those with me instead leaving them with them." " I could have taken them with me," people say. That's not true at all. Who could have taken furniture with him? We could take only our bodies. It's only natural that we lost some possessions. This is shikata ga nai. Uh-huh.

TY: [Jpn.] So you returned to your own home after four years.

MK: [Jpn.] That's right.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] Therefore, if you expect to see nothing, it would be better. It is bad to expect everything there.

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] See? Uh-huh. Yeah. But...

TY: [Jpn.] Yes.

MK: [Jpn.] But there are many Caucasians who kept things in good condition. Even Caucasians.

TY: [Jpn.] Yeah.

MK: [Jpn.] There are some Caucasians who are very conscientious.

TY: [Jpn.] It all depends on the individual, doesn't it?

MK: [Jpn.] Yeah, it depends on the individual. When I heard that story, I was impressed and thought the Caucasians were great. Yeah. The Caucasians have a different basis than the Japanese. The Caucasians are very simple. Simple. What do you think of your Caucasian friend? Don't you think they are simple? Simpler than Japanese? If you grew up in Japan, probably you are not very complicated, are you?

TY: ...

MK: [Jpn.] I don't know much about Caucasians. But I heard other people say so and so I think it's probably so.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] I have never had such an experience. Yeah. But even now, a friend of mine who made a Caucasian friend says a Caucasian friend is easier. The Japanese are more difficult. Uh-huh. The Caucasians are more open.

TY: [Jpn.] I see.

MK: [Jpn.] And Caucasians are open about themselves. They tell others openly about themselves. The Japanese people cannot do that. Yeah. The Japanese cannot... what shall I say... Japanese first generation immigrants. The Japanese, the Japanese who are living in Japan are all that way. Because it is a small country. You cannot do anything openly, can you? But the Caucasians are big here, big in heart. Everybody. Uh-huh. Yeah.

<End Segment 75> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.