<Begin Segment 33>

AI: Well, before the war broke out, something else happened with a relative of yours, also. You had a relative who was attending UCLA. And can you tell about him?

RM: Oh, yeah. This my second cousin, not the cousin, but, well, I always call cousin because get too many of 'em there... but anyway, this Harry, his English name is Harry, Harry Yoro Omoto, and when he came down there he was a junior already, well, sophomore, but he stayed with me and went to UCLA. And what he did was he was born in Compton and little far from Compton, too, unless he get in dormitory. But anyway, he was commuting and my place was a handy place because I had a extra bed there. And so he stayed with me and used my car, I had a private car and I didn't need transportation because the company let me have the truck, my own to go around. So he used my car during the weekday and go to school, commute and go through on Olympic Boulevard and only thirty, less than thirty minutes get to Westwood and UCLA. And that was alright and routine that when all of a sudden Consular General office in Los Angeles, Japanese consul, came down and offered him deal and this too good to be true and so with the...

AI: What kind of deal?

RM: But anyway --

AI: What kind of deal?

RM: Proposition was that, go to Japan or exchange student. And the Japanese government would pay the fare and the tuition. What a good deal, you know, don't have to pay any money and government, I thought it was a good deal. So he agreed but it kinda, that made, make him mad because Japanese got a sneaky idea. They tricked to him to send him Japan. And so happened that he was, went to Compton and Saturday school because the city people go to Sunday school.

AI: Oh, for Ja --

RM: Because church, things like... but the countryside or the field they, Saturday is Sabbath day, because Sunday you have to work in field and Monday produce goes in. So Monday is a regular working day. So Monday is -- Sunday is their Monday, see. So Saturday, this off day so they, he goes to Japanese school or church, everybody goes Saturday. So he went to Japanese school only once a week but he learned the Japanese. And he's fluent Japanese without going to Japan.

AI: So he had never been to Japan before?

RM: No, never been to Japan. He grew up and he went to Compton High School, to UCLA and he's smart, so, the engineering, so that's why the Japanese government had eye on him. And what he did, was instead of Japan, sent to South Manchuria and Dairen, Koka Daigaku, in Japanese says industrial college because it naturally same thing, transfer there. Then as soon as did it, the Kwangtung Army, that is Kwangtung means Japanese army in Manchuria called Kwangtung Army and draft him because of age and put him in the Japanese army.

AI: So --

RM: So in other words, he was just being kidnapped in another way, in a nice way.

AI: So really, what you meant when you said the government, the Japanese government tricked him by offering him --

RM: Yeah.

AI: -- what sounded like a good deal for education, but as soon as he was there, they drafted him into their army.

RM: Yes. Well, right now it's different way. When my daughter,Fumi, was at UC -- I mean, University of California, she went to scholarship, attend the ICU, International Christian University, junior year, my daughter came back and graduate. But see, the exchange student, he thought it... well, that was prewar but just before war broke out he went there.

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.