<Begin Segment 49>

AI: There's so many more questions that I would love to ask you and it's only because our time is running short that I hesitate to continue here. I did have one question that I'd like to ask and then give you a chance to say anything else that you'd like to add. But my, my last question is: now, when you were younger and going through the World War II years and then difficult years after that and facing some difficulties in getting your employment, well, during all that time, you had to deal with a lot of things, but you didn't -- you, you had mentioned to me that when redress efforts first started happening, that like many Nisei, that was not of great interest to you.

GY: Uh-huh.

AI: But at some point along the way, you -- it seems like you did start thinking about the injustices that had happened and that the government had, make a mistake and then admitted it. When did that start entering into your, your music and your development in your, your performances with the poetry and the reflection? Can you tell a little bit about that?

GY: In camp scene, we had to live the life of camp, to accept life as it was. At the time, we didn't think about it in terms of injustices and so forth. There's sort of a Japanese philosophy of shikata ga nai. This means we had to accept what we could, do the best we can. And after the camp, it was a matter of resettlement and resuming our lives as citizens, growing up, possibly marrying, raising families, so forth, finding a job, so forth. But in our latter year -- later years especially, I, as I think in terms of redress, so forth, in my -- as far as I'm, understanding is concerned, I feel very strongly that Sanseis had a lot to do with the redress movement. And I felt -- I think they felt as an outsider to see what was happening to their parents. Maybe their, their point of view was different and they could see the injustice that was done. And because of that and their interest in our history and the sudden... oh, what shall I say? Well, I guess the impetus for redress aroused a lot of interest in term -- on the part of the Sanseis and others, what happened and whatever before that. As questions were asked, why didn't you talk about it, so forth. And so people started to write, and I think younger academicians were -- started to get oral history, write about it, do research, became big, big, bigger, bigger. And so that right now it seems like we're overwhelmed by the internment scene, just overwhelmed by information available and so forth. But it was a really big part of our lives.

But as a part of that, it was just -- well, in terms of my entire life, it's just one, one-seventy-ninth of my life in terms of being in the camp. And I lived through it, and it seems to me at the present time in terms of my mental state, in terms of all that happened, that -- looking at my life today, I just feel very fulfilled. I'm doing what I want to do. I'm not wanting with anything. I've got stimulation from whatever I'm doing and the music, so forth. But then because of the interest in the occupation -- no, excuse me -- the internment and so forth, people, people asking questions. I did, did my own research and discovered like poetry of Lawson Inada, thing. And that's cool, boy. There was a lot of -- not too much poetry was written, but here were people always talking about how cold, or the food is bad, or the train ride was bad, but Lawson is talking about something special about -- for example, I just... this poem about the assembly center, Fresno Assembly Center, about it cost money to go to the fairgrounds, but we got in free to live, Fresno prison camp. You know, poems that sort of adds a little bit more -- a deeper feeling interest about, about camps. And so, that I started to, sort of, get a feel for that. I guess maybe that sort of changed me. About the condition in camp, people there. The hakujin woman who stayed with his -- her Nisei husband. It was more than just my being there, playing, going to dances kind of thing. And I sort of developed an interest in things other than camp. Of course -- and I could look back at it and say, if I became destitute and life was on -- I was up on skid row, that would be something else. But I feel very satisfied with what happened to me. And I thought, well, to tell the story and people want to hear about it, okay. Maybe I can do my, do it my way by using music. And so I came to do what I did the other night, reading poetry by several young Sanseis and to use music that I like to augment what I did. That's what I'm doing now.

AI: Is there anything else you'd like to add? Something else you'd --

GY: No, not at the present time because it's 4:30, and I said I'm going to be there at... [Laughs] I have to call Helen right now because she'll be waiting right now.

AI: Well, we thank you very much for your time.

GY: Is that okay?

AI: Certainly. Thanks so much.

GY: Yeah.

<End Segment 49> - Copyright © 2002 Densho. All Rights Reserved.