<Begin Segment 13>

[Translated from Japanese]

KS: Okay, well, going back to the night you left the camp --

TT: Okay.

KS: What happened then, December 17th or 18th, 1945, when you left Tule Lake?

TT: Around one a.m., they came in a jeep to pick up me and the children only, and took us to Klamath Falls in a jeep. And then, from there, there was a railroad train going through there, and it took one day to get to Los Angeles station. And when we got there, an army car came to pick us up. I thought America was a great country.

KS: Why is that?

TT: Because I never requested anything, but they came to pick us up and took us all the way to the barrack.

KS: Did you have any hostility toward the U.S. government?

TT: No, I didn't.

KS: And then, after that, you returned to Los Angeles, right?

TT: I was in a trailer camp in Burbank for three years. That place was going to close, so I had to look for another home. But the children were small so no one would rent us a house. And a person without a husband... they found out I had no income, so they wouldn't rent to us.

KS: And where was your husband during that time?

TT: He was still in the hospital in Tule Lake. They told me that once I settled down in Los Angeles, he would be sent to us. He couldn't return home because the children might catch his tuberculosis.

KS: When did your husband become ill?

TT: Right after the war started.

KS: Okay, what do you remember about the time you arrived in Burbank?

TT: To where?

KS: Burbank --

TT: Burbank?

KS: Yeah.

TT: In Burbank, the women who had husbands could properly have their husbands work with the electric cords. They could make sure the electricity would come on, the people who had husbands. But, I didn't have anyone to help me, so I was helpless.

KS: Afterward, he went to Long Beach --

TT: My husband went to Long Beach -- before that, there was a tuberculosis center in Hill Crest, and he was there for about two years. But it was a private one. And after about two years, it was going to be closed, so he was sent again to Long Beach.

KS: Then, after that, you met a Quaker named Nicholson, didn't you?

TT: Huh?

KS: Nichol -- Nicholson, the Quaker.

TT: Yes.

KS: Could you tell us about him?

TT: Um, Minister Nicholson was a Quaker. Minister Nicholson wrote a book. For the Japanese, he was very... during the war, he was the person who sent goats to Japan. Since so much milk comes from goats, he wanted to feed milk to the children of Japan. So he sent many sheep to Japan. He worked very hard to help Japanese people.

KS: What kind of things did he do for your family?

TT: He always visited the hospital and comforted the sick people. If there was anything needed, Minister Nicholson would buy it for them. He worked very hard for the sick people.

KS: When you left Tule Lake, what kind of things were your children saying? How did they feel?

TT: They were still quite young, so they just did what their parents told them.

KS: Um, in Los Angeles --

TT: There really wasn't any question.

KS: Were the kids happy to be returning to Los Angeles?

TT: Well, since they were still young, they probably didn't think about that. On the train ride home, they said nothing. For the whole day they ate nothing. They just sat quietly, passing the time.

KS: And then, when you returned to Los Angeles, what were your impressions?

TT: Well, the government gave us aid until Johnny started to go to school. That was very painful for me. So when Johnny started school, I refused the government aid, and I worked very hard doing piece work at a sewing factory.

KS: Were you glad to have returned to Los Angeles?

TT: Well, glad or not, we just returned to where we were supposed to return.

KS: And then I heard that your brother moved from Hawaii to Los Angeles.

TT: Yes.

KS: Could you tell us a little about that?

TT: Now my brother is in a retirement home on Boyle Avenue. He's two years younger than I, by the way. His wife passed away. And men can't cook, right? That's why he's living in the retirement home now.

KS: And when you were in Los Angeles, were you living in your brother's friend's house?

TT: Yes. We visited him, and he said the house next door was vacant, so we moved in.

KS: And then you started attending church, yes?

TT: I started going to church when I was in [inaudible]. A neighbor was going to the Hollywood Independent Church, so they said, "Why don't you come along." Since I was invited, I started going.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.