<Begin Segment 23>

[Ed. note: This transcript has been edited by the narrator]

TI: So I'm going to jump to December 7, 1941, that Sunday when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Can you explain how you heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and where you were?

SA: Well, you know, it was a Sunday, and I went to church, and with three of my other friends, four of us, we decided to go to a theater uptown. So after Sunday school was over we went to the uptown theater, and about, I don't know if we were even a quarter of the way through the movie when we were (suddenly) interrupted. The lights all went on, and then this voice came out (of a speaker), because in those days you couldn't flash anything on the screen. And (someone) said, "We are at war. Jap planes (are) bombing Pearl Harbor." Well, the minute they said, "Jap planes," you know, you realize you're an American, but you realize you're of Japanese ancestry. And with the lights on, everybody looked at us, and we were just frightened. We were actually panic-stricken. And so we raced out as fast as we could (...) and streaked for home. We just (parted our ways) and went home. And I wondered if my folks had heard, you know, and I realized as I got home, they certainly did. They were just ashen-faced, both of them, not saying a word.

TI: Yeah, go back to the theater, I want to get a little more description. So how many of, you and your friends, how many were there?

SA: There were four of us.

TI: Four of you, and then...

SA: It was Mariko (Nakata), Mitsuko (Shimomura) and (Tokuko Naito) and I.

TI: And describe how you knew, or you said you felt panic-stricken.

SA: Well, because they all were looking at us.

TI: And were there any comments, or just stares?

SA: No, they... well, I don't know if they said anything, I can't recall. But it was just the look of hatred in their (eyes). It's hostility, you could sense it. And we're, we didn't know what to do, so we just ran out.

TI: And literally just ran out or walked out really --

SA: Well, (we) got out as fast as we can and then we ran. [Laughs] I don't know, we're in our teens. But I realized as I came home that it's not going to be easy. And I'm sure that's when, you know, all this went out to the high schools, too, on how we should be treated. Because at home, the Caucasians are going to get (mean), well, the media had (already) turned on us.

TI: But tell me first about going home and talking with your parents.

SA: Well, there was nothing to talk about, much, because they weren't talking. But I could tell from (their faces and their) body language, they were as frightened as we were. And then to top it off, that night, the FBI came and took Mr. Tsujimoto, upstairs (in Rex Hotel) away. And (...) his wife relied heavily on my mother for support. And so we thought they rounded (some up that next night), that was the first sweep. How they did that so effectively, I don't know, but they must have known, because my dad was taken in the second sweep, and that was in (mid-February, 1942).

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.