<Begin Segment 11>

[Translated from Japanese]

KS: Okay, moving along to 1943, do you remember the loyalty question?

TT: Yes --

KS: What kinds of things do you remember?

TT: -- I remember. I was called to the office, and asked what I thought. I told them I didn't want America to win or Japan to win. I just wanted the war to be over soon. That's what I told them.

KS: And do you remember how you answered the so-called, "loyalty questions," number 27 and 28, yes or no?

TT: I was never asked that individually, so I don't know.

AI: [To Ken] More about if other people were asked about loyalty?

KS: [To Tomiye] Do you remember how your husband answered the so-called, "loyalty questions?"

TT: I wonder if he was in the hospital then. I don't really remember exactly. I think he was probably in the hospital.

KS: And how did the people around you answer the "loyalty questionnaire"?

TT: Hmm, I never asked them.

KS: Well, okay. Do you remember the Hoshi Dan?

TT: Huh?

KS: The Hoshi Dan from the camps. You know, "wasshoi wasshoi," --

TT: Oh yeah, "wasshoi, wasshoi."

KS: -- and "Yamato damashii" --

TT: Yes.

KS: -- the group that advocated those things. Do you remember them?

TT: Yes, I remember.

KS: What were they like, the Hoshi Dan?

TT: I, well, never really thought they were bad. They just believed that Japan had won. They were like that. If the parents said Japan had won, the kids would believe it, and would sing, "wasshoi, wasshoi," They thought they had won, and they thought they were going to Japan. That's probably why they were doing those things.

KS: Which country did your husband think was winning?

TT: My husband understood some English, so he listened to the radio. He knew Japan wasn't winning but was losing.

KS: And then how --

TT: But, if you said that, they would say, "That person's an inu."

KS: Who was an inu?

TT: Those who believed in Japan's victory would call you so.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.