<Begin Segment 22>

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

TI: Well, after about a year, your parents wanted you to help them resettle. So the war had ended --

SA: That was (1945).

TI: -- and they wanted you to help them resettle into Seattle. Can you talk about that at this point?

SA: Yes, well, that was kind of defeating to me, because I thought I was gonna get my RN and I could go through (to finish). And then when I got this telegram, I think they sent (it), that I had to come back and get them out, I thought, "Well, why couldn't someone else do it?" But my brother was already in the military, and my sister had her hands full with (her husband's) side. There was, the (mother-in-law) there, (and) six brothers, there were five at war. And the one remaining (son) was her husband who was (turned down. He had vision trouble and was) diabetic, so he couldn't volunteer. But all his brothers were in the army.

TI: So your sister had married, and...

SA: Married a Bainbridge (boy).

TI: And her husband had six brothers...

SA: It was five, but (her husband made six) in the family.

TI: And the five brothers were all serving?

SA: Yes, they were all in the service.

TI: What family was this?

SA: Okazakis from Bainbridge Island.

TI: And so her hands were full, as you say.

SA: Oh, yes.

TI: So you were the one called to help.

SA: I was the only one that could take them out (of Minidoka). So I asked (Sister) Antonia if I had to go, and (could I) leave, if (I left could) please take me back. I had hoped -- 'cause I said I may not be able to come back, but if I could, I would like to (return to complete the courses), even if I was lagging behind. And so she said it was all right, and of course I didn't have enough money. We got fifteen dollars' allowance (a month), but you know, it's wartime, and we had (to buy clothes, cosmetics, personal necessities, even) white stockings, if we went out on a date, we used to dye 'em beige, and then we'd come back and bleach 'em out white and wore it. It was that bad. But it only covers what you need, (the fifteen dollars), so there wasn't much left. So then the other fellow students helped (me by chipping) in, and I got thirty-six (...) dollars, which helped me (buy a ticket) for the Greyhound ride. I had to take a bus, of course, to Seattle, and as I said before, it never occurred to me, I never, well, you never have experiences like this, so (it was) a new thing to me. I boarded the bus, and then when we stopped for lunch, I realized I don't have enough money if I used that (to eat). 'Cause I had the bus ticket, but it was one way, again, because I wasn't sure if I needed to (return or) do anything else, (I didn't want to spend it). So there was a young group in the back of the bus, and (some) older people, (...) all Caucasians, but the group in the back I was with, and we were singing songs (together). So I got to know them, and then the older people I was talking to, and they were wondering what I was doing on the bus. So I told them, and I don't know if they realized the enormity of what I was saying, I don't think so. They just knew that I was young, and I was going back (home), and I didn't have any (money). So then it was one of the older men that told me what to do. And so when we got to the lunch counter, I wasn't gonna eat, I figured if I can get water... he's the one told me, "Order hot water," so they (brought) it, and then he was telling the girls, they were ordering soup and sandwiches, to get the ketchup bottle from down that way. So then he told me to put it in -- I don't know if he did it or if I did it -- and then he stirred it around and says, "There's your soup," (tomato soup). Then he gave me his crackers so then the other girls started giving me their crackers from the soup. So that's what I had the entire (ride). I don't know how long that trip was, it was by bus, so I suppose it took at least two days (or more. A lot of stops cross country, Minnesota to Washington).

But as (...) I always say, the Lord is with me, because (when we) stopped in Spokane again, and Kaoru Ichihara boarded. (...) she asked me where I was staying (in Seattle). She was the secretary at Bailey Gatzert school (where I attended), that's how I knew her. And she recognized me as one of the students, of course. So she said that, when she asked me, I just all of a sudden realized I had nowhere to stay. And I thought, "How stupid," but how did I know what Seattle was like? So she offered her place and I was so glad, 'cause she was, "un-boarding" her house, so to speak, they all put boards (to close homes), those that could, over their house windows, (doors, etcetera), just like Higo Ten-Cent store. So I got to stay there, and I was fortunate, to (have a place to sleep) when I went -- I didn't know where to go to find a job (for my folks), but I was limited on time because I didn't have enough money (to last long). And if I was going to make it back, I'd have to (find them a place) and I had to get (a) ticket back (to St. Mary's in Rochester).

TI: And when you first got back to Seattle, describe Seattle. How had it changed?

SA: Oh, it had changed because there was a lot of blacks (as a minority group), for one. And of course Chinatown (and Japantown) was now all Chinese, there wasn't -- in fact, I think it's the dissolution of the Nihonmachi. Because we didn't come back to it because it was gone and it was taken by, like in our case, by the Chinese (...). Rex Hotel upstairs was also, and all the hotels surrounding, were run by either whites or Chinese. So only those who outright had sons, twenty-one (years of age), or so that owned the place could come back. So it was a big change, and if I walked down there, there's no one I knew (...).

TI: And when you came back to Seattle, how many Japanese were back in Seattle?

SA: There were not that many, but they were coming back because I could see them at Yesler housing (...). And they were staying at the Fujin Home, that's (with the) Japanese Baptist (Church), and the (other) churches were crowded, (as well as the) Japanese school, (all were) loaded. They had a lot of rooms there, so there were families all over. (But) my folks (...) hadn't returned because they were waiting for me. That was the situation, (but I was already eighteen). And so the only thing I could think of was (who knew my dad). (I) went down to (where he bought) his produce, maybe I can go there, (I thought), and that's where I headed for, Western Avenue. And luckily, I found someone who knew (my dad), and that was (Mr.) Prato, who sold produce to him (prewar). He was the middleman at the time, between the farmers and the grocers. So he had gotten, fortunately, quite wealthy, 'cause he inherited, I think, (...) a lot of the (Japanese-run) farms, and I don't know how much, but he had a Medina home (now), you can imagine, and he had, I think, about two acres. And so it was "park-like," and he could use help, he said, as we sat and talked. So it came out that, I said, I'll make a deal. I said, "If you can meet them in for me (from Idaho) and take 'em," because the main thing for me was safety at that time. 'Cause even Reverend Andrews was having to ride "shotgun-like," with the Funais, as they will tell you later, (to sell their farm-products), and it was still bad. Tacoma had this great big, kind of, (trouble) that got publicized in the media, and this man was saying, "We don't want any Japs back here." (The Japanese) were having trouble getting (hair cuts), even the veterans (...) had trouble. And in Hood River, (Oregon), they wouldn't put the Japanese (Americans of World War II) on the honor roll, and (in) the cemeteries, they had overturned the Japanese cemetery stones. It was a bad time, but I didn't know much of that 'til later, (of) what was happening to the others. All I knew was I had to get (my folks) a job, and I had to get out of Seattle (quickly) if I wanted to continue (my nursing). I had no skills at that point. So I was lucky, he said he'll take my father, and I think it's because I said, "You don't have to pay him. I'm after (their) safety at this time."

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.