<Begin Segment 36>

AI: Well, before that point came, before that time, still in 1944, the war was becoming very, very serious. And as I understand it, things became harder to come by. Things were scarce, food and other things were harder to get. And I'm wondering, what, how did the war touch you and your family? Was your area bombed? What kind of things happened there?

MK: Oh, okay. Well, I remember seeing, (...) Okayama came before Hiroshima, so Okayama was being bombed, the city of Okayama, we lived just on the outskirts where we could see the B-29s, in those days, it was B nijuu kyu, B-29s circling around. And you can actually see the American insignia on the plane. And before this, we used to have air shelter practices, you know, (for) the air raids. And by the time Okayama came, I mean, we heard in the news that oh, Tokyo, Kobe, they were all being bombed. But then by the time they came to Okayama, we no longer had those air raids, I mean, practices. We never even went into the air shelters because -- we had them in our backyard, but we never did that. We just, just stood outside and just saw the plane just circling right above us and going back to drop more bombs on Okayama. That's how long it (continued) -- it kinda desensitized us. I mean, the fear, or whatever, you just have to live it. And otherwise you'd be living in the hole, constantly. But I remember, we just stood outside and watched the plane go... make (circles) around and going back. And we knew that's what they were doing, circling and going back to Okayama to be bombed.

And it was soon after that that Hiroshima was bombed. And, but that was the time that we didn't know what it was. But it was the most beautiful -- in the morning; it was the most beautiful orangey, pinkie, red. I mean, there was... I don't know what you call it. The whole sight was beautiful. Only to hear that it was a atomic bomb, all the buildings burning. Now we didn't see the cloud, but it was the skyline that was all red. But it was after you... hearing what had happened, it makes you choke to think that... and we didn't have any relatives living in Hiroshima so it didn't touch you to that degree, but however, the enormity of it all, we didn't know.

AI: Well, when, even before the atomic bombing, when you saw the B29s coming over and you knew that they were circling around to go and drop more bombs, what must you have been thinking? That here you are, you're American, you know those are American bombers?

MK: You know, you just, you're so numb. Because we'd been hiding in the air shelters for how long? We'd been doing this for almost a year, every time we hear the siren, as a class, when you're in school you do that, you tuck under. And we used to do those air raid practices. And at home you have those little dugouts that we went to, out in the field, rice paddies, that you get desensitized. I think by, by the time Okayama was being hit, I mean, I remember we didn't even go. We did, at night, cover up the window so the lights couldn't be seen, but however, we only had one light bulb anyway, 'cause this is the sparse home that my father built us, so. But, yeah, I think we were desensitized. Living this for months, weeks and months, oh, it wasn't a year, but I mean, by that time...

AI: Were you ever fearful that the bombs would actually come to your area?

MK: Yeah, but I think it's the Buddhist way, you accept it as a fate. I mean, that's the way it was gonna be and we couldn't do anything 'cause no one had arms. We couldn't fight them.

<End Segment 36> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.