<Begin Segment 15>

TI: So let me make sure I understand this. So the Japanese military leaders, after the first bomb at Hiroshima, knew that there was gonna be a second bomb, and that was Nagasaki. And then they thought there was gonna be a third bomb, and that third bomb was gonna be Tokyo?

MO: Uh-huh.

TI: And so when you heard that, what did you think?

MO: We all got out of Tokyo, our workers, and they told us to. But at that time, the emperor came on the radio and said, "We're going to unconditionally surrender. We don't want any more killing." This is what the emperor said. And so we were so overjoyed.

TI: And so when you say overjoyed, that was how you felt?

MO: Yes.

TI: How about the people around you? How did they feel?

MO: Within our... everybody was so happy because it's haji, you know, embarrassing for the Japanese especially. But we cannot let anymore killing.

TI: And how about the military people? When you think of...

MO: They felt the same. In fact, so there were three or four soldiers that did hara kiri.

TI: And how did you know that they did hara kiri?

MO: In fact, they were in the same compound, and they were not there. They were all, they had killed themselves. Embarrassing to meet their members, that they did unconditionally surrendered. Japan cannot do that, they think they've got win everything, they have to win. But they had gone through that for many years. But that was a day that so many soldiers that decided to keep their honor.

TI: But you were saying also that there were others who felt that they were glad the war was over because the killing would end.

MO: Oh, yes, uh-huh. In fact, we are just, I remember that August 15th, we all hugged each other and just cried.

TI: And who were you with when this happened?

MO: All those people working in the General Headquarters.

TI: And so more than, you were with, like, nine other Nisei, so was that group, and Japanese included, too?

MO: Uh-huh.

TI: Okay, and they were all hugging.

MO: Yes.

TI: Even though Japan had just lost, had surrendered?

MO: Oh, yes.

TI: And this was General Headquarters, so the... interesting.

MO: In fact, we had evacuated from General Headquarters because they kept on bombing the General Headquarters, and we didn't, we couldn't depend on what they were going to, what was going to happen. Although they said they didn't want to bomb the headquarters, you never know in the last minute. That's why when they, the general headquarters, our group evacuated to a nearby, another station, another town, and that's when the emperor made his announcement.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.