<Begin Segment 14>

TI: So it sounded like you didn't go to school very much longer after December 7th.

TO: No, no. That was it.

TI: But in those few days that you were at Kent junior high school, do you recall how the teachers and administration handled the outbreak of war? Was there, like, an assembly, or did teachers talk to the classroom about what happened?

TO: Boy, I definitely don't remember anything, the reaction of the teachers or anything like that, good, bad or anything. It's kind of interesting that I didn't, but I don't recall anything being said, other than just talking among us Nisei at that time. Because I think that, I don't know what the percentage of Nisei students was at that time, but it was a pretty high percentage of us initially going to junior high school at that time, and high school for that matter.

TI: Do you recall amongst the Niseis what was said at that time?

TO: I don't recall anything definite, other than generally, "How are you guys doing?" And I don't... I don't know what the situation was in the city of Kent. I'm sure there was some discrimination, but I didn't hear too much about any bad things going on at that time like maybe in parts of California, that house was burned or anything like that. Maybe there was, but I don't recall anybody involved in anything like that.

TI: Well, how about when you were working down by the Columbia River, was there a sense of what was happening or what might happen to, say, your parents or to the Japanese Americans on the West Coast?

TO: We were so isolated down there that we had no communications with anybody, we just talked among ourselves. We just didn't know what was going on other than we heard that we had to go back because we heard that we were going to be evacuated and that was about it. So I don't recall anything distinctly, that was distinct that I can remember.

TI: Do you recall any problems traveling back and, or actually back to Renton?

TO: Definitely. We had to get some okay from the local sheriff or something to travel back to Seattle. But this Kaz Murakami was quite a bit older than I was, so I was kind of like his kid brother that just tagged along.

TI: And when you returned home, what was it like? I mean, what had happened in that time period you were gone? Anything?

TO: Yeah, those signs were posted around our neighborhood, you know. Trees, we had very few telephone poles, but there were telephone poles. So we definitely got the message that we were supposed to get ready to move out.

TI: And did you, what did you think when you saw those signs? I'm guessing the signs are those "notice to people of Japanese ancestry" to have to leave the area and things like that? What were you thinking?

TO: I was very frightened for myself and for my parents and our family. I didn't know, because by then, I was, had the role of being the oldest son, even though I had some older half brothers and sisters, I was the oldest son at home. So I was very concerned about what was going to happen to our family. I had no idea what was going to happen, because absolutely no idea. And I was quite young and innocent and not too familiar with the way the world worked, how things were. But other than being concerned and worried, that was about it.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.