<Begin Segment 33>

AI: So, before our break you were just telling about arriving in Japan, and when was it that you arrived in Japan?

AO: It was about January 15th.

AI: 1946?

AO: 1946.

AI: And you were saying earlier that your father really didn't believe that Japan was devastated by the war until he got back to Japan. What, as you were making the journey through the area to, back to his home, did he start realizing what the situation really was?

AO: Yes, he did, because as we were traveling south is that... he liked to read books, so he went out to see if he could find some books to buy and, but he came back with no books. I asked him, "Try to find something for, to eat," and there weren't any vendors because they had, they didn't have anything to sell, and beside, they were probably, been told that, "This train is carrying evacuees of Koreans," and that's why no one came. But all during the traveling south, they didn't, there was no conductor to check the tickets and so no one even cared who was aboard the ship, aboard the train. And there was one man that boarded the train that was sitting across from me, and he had lunch. He opened up a nice white nigiri sushi and then they were eating peanuts, too. And here, we were given hardtack and Japanese hardtack is small little biscuits, and they were hard. They didn't taste too bad, really, but the military hardtack was much better, much more nourishing. And so this man was eating this white sushi and, but he did share some, something, too, as I remember. I don't remember what.

But after long hours we finally arrived in Fukuoka. But before going back to, going to the train station, I had been told by other boys that whoever stops and say that they will carry your baggage for them, don't let them because they will put 'em on these three-wheeled vehicles and they put on their -- they're called sanrinsha, which means three-wheeled vehicle. You put it on there and they'll take off with your belongings. We were warned about that. And then also, one man stopped and he says, he motioned to put it on top. And I looked at it and what he was carrying was what we... what is known as night soil. You know what night soil is? And it's all messy on top of the covers. And I didn't want to put my belongings on that. But for him it would've been fine because he would have run off with our belongings. And that's what I, I experienced that. And my first impression when I arrived and walking, I felt that I have entered an area twenty years behind the present age and so I went back, backwards.

AI: So, in other words, the Japan that you saw in 1946 reminded you of the 1920s in the United States?

AO: Yes, because they didn't have anything and no modern transportation. See, the cars were very, very few and the trucks were quite old.

AI: And you were saying earlier that some of the vehicles were run using charcoal?

AO: That's after I arrived in Fukuoka and going to work. And the reason why they could run on charcoal is that they have a big tank that's like a heater. And they would put burning charcoal at the base of it, and they have a little opening to put it in. Then they have a crank to blow to make the charcoal hotter. And the fumes would go over a tube and go down to the carburetor and so the fumes, I believe they were mixed, mixed with water. And so with the vapor of the water and the fumes of the charcoal would act as the gasoline, power, fuel to go to the carburetor of the car and it was very, very crude. And as they would get up speed, sometimes it'll pop and like backfire and make noises and just barely move the vehicle. And some of the, like a Chevrolet, sedan are also converted to burning charcoal. And then they have this big tube over the roof of the car. And every now and then they would have to stop and crank up the blower and make the charcoal hotter. It's quite a sight. [Laughs]

AI: That's incredible.

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.