Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Hideo Hoshide Interview I
Narrator: Hideo Hoshide
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: January 26 & 27, 2006
Densho ID: denshovh-hhideo-01-0055

<Begin Segment 55>

TI: So here you are now at Minidoka. How was Minidoka different than Tule Lake?

HH: Well, Tule Lake, for one, it was not a segregated camp, and also I believe that they had the largest number of volunteers for the 442nd, camp.

TI: So just in terms of that, I imagine, so here you came from a segregation camp which, especially as people who answered "no-no" came to Tule Lake, became more and more pro-Japanese.

HH: Yes.

TI: And in fact, you mentioned how it made it harder for the people who were, say, more "yes-yes" over time, for those people. Then you went to Minidoka, which you just said had the highest number of people who volunteered for the, say, the army, the armed forces. So it was a very, I'm guessing it was a very different feeling when you went from Tule Lake to Minidoka?

HH: Yes. And then also, we knew -- I did, too -- all the people from the Seattle area.

TI: So was it kind of like a reunion for you, seeing lots of people?

HH: Well, yes, yes. And that's where I saw Jimmy Sakamoto. But there's also, my wife's friends were there, too, so it was like a homecoming for us, if you want to call it home. [Laughs]

TI: Well, so you went there, but you still had this job that you were going to get to, the OSS. So how long were you planning to stay at Minidoka?

HH: Well, I had to wait until they told me that they were ready for us, because they were just organizing, and I don't know if you had that facility which was in Virginia, no, Maryland, close by, but away from Washington, D.C.

TI: So while you were at Minidoka waiting, what did you do at Minidoka?

HH: Well, I started working for the community analysis department, which was right on one end of the, again, the newspaper, the Minidoka Irrigator. So there was a door that connected between the two in the barracks.

TI: But before you go there, explain a little bit what a community analyst, what your job as community analyst was. What did you do?

HH: Community analysis was kind of like an organization headed by a sociologist. And mine happened to be Elmer Smith, who was a sociology professor at that time I think from one of the, I think a Mormon college.

TI: Like a Brigham Young or something? Not that one.

HH: I don't know if it was... but anyway, he was a professor of sociology.

TI: So when you worked for a sociologist as a community analyst, what kind of things did you do?

HH: Well, we were kind of like a scene, or eyewitness kind of, about the conditions, and if there was any gripes or something like that that people had, we would kind of try to say what the problem is.

TI: So you'd write these sort of reports up and submit them?

HH: Yes. If there is any, like especially when there's a riot or something like that, or a disturbance, and they want us to check out to see what was the cause, so they can remedy it.

<End Segment 55> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.