Densho Digital Archive - Mitsuko Hashiguchi Interview (denshovh-hmitsuko-01-0030)

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JA: Again you alluded to your husband as being quite an activist involved with various groups. I understand he was very active with the Japanese American Citizens League. Can you relate to us some of his activities?

MH: Well, he was very active in JACL before I even met him, as I understand, by working with James Sakamoto's newspaper and right through the area, and then he worked in the, volunteered for Seattle JACL for different things, as I understand. And then he was very active in YPCC through the Young People's Christian Conference. He used to go all the time and lead in different organizations with that. And then during the evacuation time, he was the vice -- no, chairman, chairman of the Bellevue JACL and worked with the Seattle JACL. So his time was in Seattle more than Bellevue of leader, and, but he enjoyed working for the JACL and I think his brothers all did, too, at that time.

JA: Yes. I've seen his name listed as actually as being one of the co-presidents of the Seattle chapter in the early 1940s.

MH: Yes. That's when he got involved in all the evacuation plans, all the shots we had to get, and all the things that had to be taken care of. He did running back and forth so you can see how much help he was to me. I was grumbling by then, but he was over in Seattle more than he was ever at home because of all the paperwork he had to pick up at the JACL office.

JA: Being the city slicker that comes to work on the farm, how did the rest of the Bellevue Nikkei community treat him?

MH: I think they were very reluctant that he would not last very much, very long in Bellevue, but it was a big surprise to them when he made the adjustment. He was able to help the neighbors, like the Suguro family, he helped them a lot and different things. And he was available for anybody that needed help as long as it wasn't hard labor, he was available for anybody. So he helped in that way and so, eventually he was accepted by the Bellevue community.

JA: Did he strike up any real close personal friendships with people in Bellevue?

MH: Not exactly. Not at first. No, he was a Seattlelite.

JA: I have seen that Seichi Hayashida was his vice-chair?

MH: Oh yes. That's right. He worked with him, yes, because he was our neighbor. He was three doors down the road with us, so he was very close to Seichi Hayashida and the Aramakis were very close to us because they all lived in the same lane as we did in Midlakes.