<Begin Segment 37>

AI: Well, speaking of fighting, I think you mentioned elsewhere, in one of your writings or in your other history, that the girls' school, you actually had some drills.

MK: Yeah, right.

AI: Could you describe that?

MK: Yeah, it was a naginata. In the mornings we would strip down, have a white top on with the monpe on and we'd have the teams red, (or white on) the hachimaki and it was a kind of a drill that we had. It was cold, it happened to be, I remember it was cold. We all had a bamboo stick and as the commands were called out we would go forward, forward, mae, mae. Meaning, and then we were told that when the shinchuu, Amerika-no shinchuugun comes, you know, dosuruka. So we would go forward forward, and we were told, they didn't come out to say that we would be raped, or whatever, but that's kind of the thing they were preparing us for. And I remember we, suddenly people were wearing pigtails, with braids. But then in high school, there was one time when we were gonna go, all go the factory to help out with the war effort. Well, then, we were told we have to cut our hair and just bundle it with a rubber band. And that's what we did. So, everything was done by order. And you know, everybody was in line, nobody -- like America today, you know, people express their own feelings, but that's what we did.

AI: What was going through your mind? Here you were being told, all the girls were being told, "You have to be ready because if the American army comes, you're going to be attacked, you have to be ready." In your mind, what did you think about that, when you heard that?

MK: Well, I kept thinking, "How foolish." Because, you know, the American soldiers have guns and here we have a bamboo stick. But then, you just, you're, it's a mass thing. So, just like a puppet you just follow. I mean, I couldn't cause any wave and I couldn't cause any disgrace to my parents so I continued to do the thing.

AI: And, I think you also mentioned some, in your other interview, that there were some times where you had to for -- to fit in, and to survive, and be part of the group --

MK: Right.

AI: -- that you had to say things or go along with the things that were being said. What kinds of things would those be in talking about the Americans or talking about the war effort? What kinds of things were you expected to, to say or to go along with?

MK: [Sighs] I think, a lot of it I couldn't verbalize. But, I mean, let me see... the things, the ridiculous things that I heard I would say, how stupid, you know, how stupid. They described the Americans as such vicious, mean people. And I knew otherwise because I lived it and I lived with the Americans and we never experienced that kind of thing. Even during war, and so, well, let's see... I (...) can't think of any... but the lectures we, auditoriums that we had with the principal in the auditorium, assembly, we would call it. We had these propaganda speeches by the principal. And I remember his name, Fujiwara Sensei. Do you want me to tell you a couple of them? Really? Okay. That was when he, I think the first story he said was about the bread, saying about the people, that God was gonna make bread. And he put in some loaf of bread to be baked and he pulled it out. And he found that, oh, it was too dark. So he made another batch and he put it in the oven and he pulled it out and it was too light. So, of course he said that, well, the middle would be just right. So he'll take the middle number of timing. So he put in another batch and he took the middle figure timing, to bake the bread. And it came out and he said it was just right. And that's the Japanese. And see, he says, "See how beautiful it is?"

And another time, I think when things were really getting worse he, another one I remember so vividly is the one he said -- well, of course, the Japanese navy was so popular and strong. So he would say, well, when the (navymen) look over the Pacific, the dark-eyed Japanese (...), the (pupils) are brown, and so they can absorb the light much more than the blue, light blue eyes and so they can see so much more over the Pacific. And he said, "The Amerikajins are kinpatsu, you know, the golden hair and the blue eyes and they're blinded by the sun so they can't see far away. And so, you see the advantage (...) we have." And here, inside, you keep asking me how I felt. I thought, "How stupid." And I couldn't even tell any of my friends this. So it's a very private thought that I thought. "How sad. Does he expect people to believe that?" I mean, I certainly didn't believe it. I knew enough science or whatever to -- that it just -- you know, something that I just personally could not accept. And I thought, gee, how ugly this must be, truly a desperate wartime situation. So, I'm sorry, but these are -- I knew that, yeah, as things went on, it just -- Japan was really getting in a desperate situation.

<End Segment 37> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.