Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Sumie Suguro Akizuki Interview
Narrator: Sumie Suguro Akizuki
Interviewers: Shin Yu Pai, Tom Ikeda
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: October 30, 2008
Densho ID: denshovh-asumie-01-0005

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

SP: So after you were at Pinedale, you said that you were then transferred to Tule Lake. Can you tell us a little bit about your memories of that place?

SA: (...) Well, I learned how to twirl the baton. This Caucasian schoolteacher, he was teaching us how to, a bunch of girls, how to twirl the baton (while incarcerated). So my parents ordered the baton from the Sears Roebuck catalog, (everyone ordered from the) Sears Roebuck catalog (...). And I remember (baton twirling) brought me a lot of enjoyment.

SP: And was that teacher you mentioned your favorite teacher? Raymond Cheek?

SA: He was my favorite teacher. And he, when I went to the Tule Lake pilgrimage, my teacher (was) long deceased, (but) his son came on the pilgrimage and was seeking out students of his father. And so I met my favorite teacher's son (Martin) on one of the pilgrimages. And I remember in camp, too, that I had taken care of my teacher's pet turtle. It was a desert turtle which was called a terrapin, named Albert. And I was so worried, because he had gone on vacation and asked me to take care of this (precious) pet turtle. And I told his son, you know, "Your father had asked me to take care of his pet turtle and I worried about it. I thought it might die (...)." But, and he said that he still has the shell of this turtle, pet turtle decorating his, in his home. And he said, "Do you want it?" I said, "Well, no thank you." [Laughs]

SP: Yeah, it was a big honor to take care of your teacher's pet.

SA: Oh, yes. He was a very popular teacher. He had just graduated from I think Northwestern, and had his masters in music. He taught, (and) knew how to play many, many instruments, the violin and clarinet, (etcetera). Kind of going off the subject, but (...) at the pilgrimage, (I met) this dentist by the name of Dr. Murakami, and he (told Martin) that his father had taught him how to play the clarinet. (Martin) was happy to meet his father's (former) students.

TI: So going to this teacher, how would you say Mr. Cheek was different then say your teachers in Bellevue? Was it about the same, or how, what made him different or the same?

SA: He took a (special) interest in all of us (as individuals). Really, he was a wonderful teacher and well liked. And so many people remember him very fondly.

TI: So he went to Northwestern graduate. So that's a major university.

SA: Yeah, he did. (Received) his master's.

TI: Lots of opportunities.

SA: I'm sure he did (have other opportunities).

TI: Did you ever have a sense of why he decided to teach at Tule Lake?

SA: I don't have any idea. But he, like I said, he took a personal interest in all his students. And I wrote to him, even after the war years, and even visited him in Hollister, California. And he invited me over, and met him (and his family). He had a stroke and he died several years after that, I was happy to have the opportunity to see him after the war.

TI: And so you don't really have a sense of his motivation, whether it was perhaps religious or, I'm just curious, what made him decide to do that.

SA: I couldn't even ask him, maybe, I, excuse me, but I have this picture. Sorry, that I have to refer to this. Maybe you could delete that part. (Narr. note: Maybe he was sympathetic to our being behind barbed wire. He was a very compassionate person.)

SP: Of you and his son.

SA: [Showing a picture] Yeah, and he wrote an article in the newspaper in the Morgan Hill Times. And this is him. And this is...

TI: Why don't we hold this up, so we can see him. So right there, so that's Mr. Cheek's son.

SA: Son, Martin.

TI: And next to, is that Dr. Murakami?

SA: Dr. Murakami, I believe that was his name. (Narr. note: Dr. Murakami (retired) from D.C. said he was a cosmetic dentist whose patients were Madeline Albright and Senator Warner of Virginia.)

TI: The clarinet.

SA: (...)

TI: Right, yes, so I saw this.

SA: And he wrote this in the (Morgan Hill Times) and I got this through the internet, through the internet.

TI: Good, so I'll hold this.

SA: He said he felt that his father was looking down on him when he took the pilgrimage to Tule Lake. And we had stayed in Tule Lake until the very end, so Mr. Cheek was there from the very beginning until the very end.

SP: So that was about a four-year span you were there?

SA: Yes, four years. Uh-huh.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.