<Begin Segment 21>

TI: So let's get to...

HH: So we were able to travel on the Japanese National Highway that way by detouring somewhere. The jeep has a little wider wheel base, but a truck is much bigger. But we were able to keep on going after that incident. Then on the way we had to go to the next province from Tokyo, which was Fukushima. And it happened to be that road looked like it was going through this place called Nihonmatsu in Fukushima-ken, Fukushima province. And I had letters that my mother-in-law, that she gave me, if I ever were able to mail it or something like that in Japan, in Tokyo, that she wanted me to have these letters to take with me. And also I had another letter from Minidoka camp for one of the Christian leaders in Tokyo, who was in hiding. Anyway, so I had some knowledge of people because my wife's family, mother, came from Nihonmatsu. And it just happened that we were going through that town, very small town, because it's more of a farming area north of Tokyo. And it just happened to be that when we stopped to inquire, we found out we were right in front of the house of the grandmother, Shiz's, my wife's grandmother. But there, only the children were there. And then by the time I inquired, there was a few older people, so I asked about the name and everything, and says, "Oh, it's here." So I knocked and nobody came out of the door, and so I went in and she was sitting there and I introduced myself. I think she was more worried about, I was wearing a uniform and everything else. But anyway, I had just a little chance to have a chat with her.

TI: So do you think she knew who you were after you talked to her?

HH: Yes, I introduced myself, that I have a letter from the daughter.

TI: Well, actually, the granddaughter.

HH: Granddaughter, that's right.

TI: So was she pleased, or do you think she was still more surprised than...

HH: No, because ever since after that, if we went to Japan, we would stop and visit them. And we found out that my wife had cousins still living there. So that was one of the spots that we always stopped.

TI: Oh, that's a good story. So let's...

HH: And then eventually... and another interesting thing is I was able to find two other aunts in that area, so that was some kind of strange kind of meeting, and I have pictures, big pictures of these aunts.

TI: So you had a camera during this period, so you took pictures, and you were able to keep some of these. That would be interesting to see.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.