Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Betty Fumiye Ito Interview
Narrator: Betty Fumiye Ito
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: April 5, 2006
Densho ID: denshovh-ibetty-01-0011

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TI: Okay, so February of 1941. So, so you were a young mother in 1941 with a daughter. So at this point, I want to jump to December 7, 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Describe to me sort of where you were when you first heard about the bombing at Pearl Harbor.

BI: Well, I was at my mother's home the day before. My husband took a friend from Alaska who was an acquaintance of my mother's sister, and he came to Seattle and my husband took him out to Bellevue. So we had dinner there, and I had the baby, I had Ayleen, and he said, "Well, why don't you stay here and I'll come after you in the morning?" or the next day, which was Sunday. So that's what I did, and he took the friend back to Seattle. And waited for him to come back the next day, he didn't come 'til towards the evening. In the meantime, my two brothers had gone fishing and they came back very early. And we wondered, "Oh, my goodness, they're home already," and they came running into the house, says, "War, war. Pearl Harbor was bombed," and that was the first time we heard. My parents and my sister-in-law and I were home, and we hadn't turned the radio on, so we didn't know what had happened until they came home. So, "Where's, where's Pearl Harbor?" [Laughs] We were shocked to hear.

TI: Do you recall any comments or discussions you had with your mother or father, after this had happened?

BI: No, I think we were all just in a state of shock, and didn't know what was going to happen.

TI: And so as you heard this, so you're with pretty much your, your family, and your husband and his friend were off sort of touring or visiting different places, so there's no way for you to get in touch with him at this point.

BI: No, uh-huh.

TI: So you're just waiting for him to come back.

BI: Yes, uh-huh.

TI: And so what did you do during the day while you were waiting?

BI: Oh, I think we were just visiting and cooking dinner.

TI: Were you, were you worried at all about your, the safety for your husband while he was out there, or anything like that?

BI: No, because I didn't know the war had broken out.

TI: Oh, but after you found out, though, after you found out --

BI: Oh, yes, after we found out, "Where's Ken?" Yes, we were wondering, where in the world is he?

TI: But eventually he did, he made it back to the farm.

BI: Bellevue, uh-huh.

TI: In Bellevue.

BI: Yes, uh-huh.

TI: And do you recall what his, his thoughts were about the war?

BI: Well, he didn't have much to say, but he was really kind of in a state of shock. After dinner, we left early to go home, and we thought, "Well, let's go by Welly's house and see if he's home."

TI: I'm sorry, you went to whose house?

BI: Welly, Welly Okamura. (Narr. note: We just wanted to visit with Welly. "Welly" was Shoji Okamaru, an American-born 1939 graduate of the University of Washington, who was then the Chancellor of the Japanese Consulate in Seattle.)

TI: And who was that? Who's Welly?

BI: He was our, he was Ken's best man at our wedding and a close friend, and he used to work for the Japanese consulate. So we used to socialize together, so I said, "Well, let's go see if Welly's home." Looked at his apartment window, it was dark, so we went home. And went, I think, yeah, we went to bed. Then the telephone rang, and wanted Ken to come to the office.

TI: I'm sorry, so who called that night?

BI: The FBI called and wanted him to come to the office. So that was around midnight, and so he --

TI: When he got the phone call, or after he got the phone call and hung up and says he has to go to the office, did you, did he seem concerned or worried about anything?

BI: Well, he looked like he wondered why, uh-huh. So...

TI: And do you recall how you were feeling when he left?

BI: Well, I was nervous, I didn't know what was going to happen. And so, but he said, "I'll be back in a little while." And I waited and waited and went to bed, but I don't remember sleeping. Then there was a loud pounding on the door, and I didn't know who was at the door at that hour, and I was afraid to open the door. So I went upstairs to get my brother-in-law, who was living with us at that time, and I asked him to come down and see who was at the door. And there were two men, said they were FBIs, and they wanted to come in. I don't even remember showing us their badge or... they just said they had to come in, so we let them in. If I were alone I would never let 'em in, but my brother was, brother-in-law was with me, so we let them in. And they said they had to search the house, so they wanted to know where Ken was. And I said, "Well, he was called to the office." And I think they called the office to see if he was there, and he was there, so then they wanted to search the house. (Narr. note: My brother-in-law was Henry Ito, who was about 11 to 12 years younger than Ken. Henry was born in the U.S. but had just returned from Japan.)

TI: Now, did they have any, like, a search warrant or any papers to...

BI: Now, that I don't remember.

TI: But they probably, then, asked your permission to look around the house?

BI: Well, they just said they had to look in the house.

TI: So what was that like? What did they do?

BI: Well, of course, I was in my nightclothes, and so I went to close the bedroom because Ayleen was sleeping, I didn't want her to wake up, and they followed me in and looked around the bedroom. And I had to go the bathroom and they followed me to the bathroom and wouldn't let me close the door. And then they started pulling out the drawers in the living room, and so I said, "What are you looking for?" You know, I was very ignorant and innocent, and I said, "What are you looking for?" and they wouldn't say. And then they wanted to search the upstairs, so they went upstairs and looked around and came down. I don't remember much conversation, and they left.

TI: Do you remember if they, if they found anything that they took with them?

BI: I don't think so. I don't think they found anything. (Narr. note: Year later, after the war, Jim Inouye, Hatsumi's husband, asked me whether we received a Christmas present they had sent to Ken's office. It was a doll for Ayleen and a permit to get into Ken's office so no one else could have gotten in.)

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.