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TI: Well, so after the bombing of Hiroshima, August 15th is the date that Japan surrendered. So you remember what happened, where you were when you heard that?

PY: Yes. I got sick around August 13th or 14th, and, you know, we didn't have enough food and I didn't know what to do. But before, before, I don't know, one or two years before August, August 15th, my father, my parents told me that we have a relative in the Tokyo area. He went to the, he graduated from medical school in Osaka, and he's staying in the Tokyo area. And he gave me the address, Tokyo address. It's not in the city of Tokyo, it's outskirt of Tokyo. His name is Kazuo Yanagawa. He was a medical officer, about captain in military rank. So I didn't have food to eat, I was so sick. I remembered his address, so I went to his home. And Mrs. Yanagawa was so nice. They didn't have no children, but, you know, you can't buy milk in town. But because of, that was a little outskirt of Tokyo, she had all kind of better food than what we had in middle of Tokyo. So she fed me, she got the milk and beef or whatever, and I became all right. And then on the day of 15th, Captain Yanagawa told his wife that he got to go downtown today because there is a very important message, he got to go to his company and wait for the message. And that was the message from the emperor, that they're going to surrender.

TI: And so did you hear from Captain Yanagawa about the message, or did you hear through a radio?

PY: I guess I heard on the radio, I guess, yeah.

TI: And what was the reaction that you had when you heard?

PY: Well, we knew before that Japan was, they didn't tell us the truth, we were bombed so much, and then the atomic bomb or the Hiroshima bomb, this and that. We knew that we have to, to survive, we have to surrender. So I was, in a way, this is it. This happened, and it really happened. So I thought, "Hey, I better go back to Atata, Hiroshima." So right after that, I told Mr. Yanagawa and his wife that I'm going to the Tokyo station and buy the ticket. And I went to Tokyo Station but I couldn't buy the ticket. I stayed at the station about two days, I think, to get the ticket.

TI: And why couldn't you get a ticket? What was the problem?

PY: There was no plane -- no train. And then because the train was used for emergency or military purpose, so for regular passenger to ride the train, we had a very hard time get it. So you have to line up overnight, this and that, and finally I got the ticket. And those days, right now, from Tokyo to Hiroshima take only about four hours or so, but those days, it was overnight, more than twenty-four hours.

TI: Do you recall -- because Japan had surrendered, the mood of the people, what people talked about? Because Japan had just surrendered, do you remember talking to anyone about this on the train or waiting for the train?

PY: No. I guess by then, we gave up already, yeah. We knew that we cannot because we didn't have enough food, and many thing was very hard to live in Japan. So in a way, we felt that this is it, we've gotta surrender.

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