<Begin Segment 11>

TI: Well, let's, let me back up a little bit now, back to December 7, 1941.

JS: Yes.

TI: How did you hear about the bombing of Pearl Harbor?

JS: Well, I think we heard it on the radio. And I don't recall the reaction that I had, except we were certainly alarmed and knew that it would affect us in some way. But, see, I was eighteen then, so... eighteen, yeah, I think it was. So it was, because I knew it would affect us, or our families. We were shocked and alarmed, but what could we do?

TI: How about your parents? Did you ever talk to them or hear them talk about...

JS: Yes. Well, not at that particular time, but shortly thereafter, my father was visited by the FBI, and he was taken to the immigration detention in Seattle. And so I can't remember how many days after Pearl Harbor, but it was shortly after Pearl Harbor.

TI: So do you remember when that happened and how you felt about that, or the family did?

JS: No, except at that point, because I was the eldest at that -- incidentally, my sister, my elder sister Midori, had, had been sent to Japan to go to college after she graduated from high school, and that must have been around '36 or so. So she was in Japan, and so I was the eldest child at that point at home. And so I did recognize that I would have to have some responsibility for the family, especially since my, since my father was taken to the detention area.

TI: Why do you think your father was sort of selected by the FBI?

JS: Well, he had served in the Japanese navy, and I'm sure that the U.S. had some record of that, and so I believe that was the reason.

TI: And so when your father went to the immigration station, did you or your mother go visit him?

JS: Yes, I did. I went to... and that is an interesting thing because I was, when I visited my brother -- my father, and he came out to an area where we could talk, he was not totally upset. He was concerned for the family and reminded me that, you know, since I was the eldest, I'd have to look out for the well-being of the family. But he wasn't frightened, he wasn't bitter or anything. He had his faith to fall back on, and felt pretty comfortable. And I think I recall him saying that, "Don't worry," he hasn't done anything, so it'll all work out. But there was an interesting thing. As I left my father, and of course, there was a guard there, a Caucasian individual, and I was more upset with my father being there than my father was. And so I was telling this guard that, you know, "What sort of justice is this when he has done nothing, and yet he's being detained?" And the thing that I recall about that is this Caucasian guard -- and I would guess that he was in his mid-thirties -- he said to me, he said he has a job to do, and he's compelled by the rules, and... but he said to me that, "When you get a chance to vote, the only way you're gonna change these things is by your vote." And I still remember that man telling me that, and he was not angry with me, although I was angry with him, but he was not angry with me. And he was rather kind in saying, "If you think this is improper or wrong, then the way to correct it is by your vote." And I had to, I still remember that man saying that to me. I should have thanked him, but I don't recall that I did.

TI: Because what he was doing, he was acknowledging that you were a citizen --

JS: That's right.

TI: -- and that you had a say in what happened in this country.

JS: Yes.

TI: That's good. So what happened to your father?

JS: Well, he was sent to Missoula, I think it was, where they had a camp for aliens. And he didn't, he was returned to us before I left Minidoka, but of course, we went to "Camp Harmony" in Puyallup and then eventually to Minidoka.

TI: Okay, so I just wanted to finish up with your dad. So your dad went from the Seattle immigration center, then was shipped to Missoula.

JS: Yeah.

TI: And then eventually rejoined the family when you were at Minidoka.

JS: Right.

TI: So we'll get back to that a little bit later in terms of picking that up.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.