<Begin Segment 23>

TI: So you mentioned January of '45, you went to Pasadena.

MN: Yes.

TI: So why Pasadena?

MN: The sponsor was a professor at Cal Tech university, I guess you'd call it, institute. And he gave my brother a job at Cal Tech in the horticulture department, 'cause my brother was into the guayule project. That's another subject in camp, about camp, that he was working with, making rubber for the United States, because (rubber was not available) because of the war. And he took him, my brother, under his wing, and (they had a project in) Manzanar -- with the guayule project. And they made rubber, successfully made rubber out of the guayule plant. And it's another big story. But he sponsored our family to go to Pasadena, gave my brother a job at Cal Tech institute. And then we rented a home through him, and I was able to go to (Pasadena) junior college. But I did not feel comfortable there. I felt insecure, people were staring at me. "What's this Japanese girl (doing here)?"

TI: I want to ask you more about that, but before that, let's go back to those plants and what your brother did. So he was working with this professor at Manzanar, so it was kind of an experimental...

MN: It was an experimental study that he brought into the camp, to show that these people, the Japanese people in Manzanar are doing something for the government, for America.

TI: Because rubber was in short supply?

MN: Yes, it was impossible to get because of the war. And so with the guayule plant, which is native to the desert, they brought seeds in from middle California, and they planted seeds in Manzanar. They harvested it and they germinated it, everything was done in camp in the study, and people who were scientists in camp made a... what is that word? Not recipe.

TI: Like a formula or...

MN: Formula from, yes. To make rubber from this wild guayule plant, and they actually made rubber. And to this day, my brother and his son, who is a professor at UCI, or Pomona now, could get this guayule plant and make rubber to show people. He does this demonstration to the public now. To this day, he could still do that.

TI: So did this experiment ever take off and was used during the war?

MN: Well, the government quashed it because the big oil companies wouldn't let them do it, because it meant that they could not make synthetic rubber from oil, from their oil. And so they would not be able to make it, (but) they made (miniature) tires and stoppers and just wonderful pieces of rubber. Actually made rubber. But the government said no, Chevron and whatever company was too strong and they said, "No, you can't do it."

TI: Oh, that's interesting. I've seen, there's the government newsreel called Japanese Relocation, and they show a scene of them making, or trying to nurture the guayule plant.

MN: That's the one that my brother worked on.

TI: Interesting. And so this professor was impressed with your brother, so he sponsored him to come to Pasadena and help him at Cal Tech.

MN: Just gave him a job. But he did sponsor a lot of people, making sure that they were taken care of and (one) of those (guayule project persons, a professor, Shimpei Nishimura, deceased), was quite bitter because of the fact that they were working so hard to get this for the government, and they were stopped. So this man went to his grave with that secret and this thing, he would not give the formula away. But my brother knew it, and so he was able to do all that. But the machinery and everything was made in Manzanar. I mean, they designed the machinery to grind the seeds, and they had it made and shipped in. I mean, they had to design the whole machine. And that was, it was a wonderful thing. There is a documentary made by my nephew and my brother about that.

TI: Oh, just about this whole project? Oh, interesting. I'd love to see that. Was your brother bitter about the whole project not being...

MN: He was bitter, but he was more supportive of the fact of this Dr. Emerson, who was the one that... he said, "What he did for the Japanese in camp and what he tried to do for the government," he says, "I've got to keep this man's name in people's eyes, in the public's mind, because he did so much. And so that's why he'll, at the drop of a hat, he'll go to these different places and put on these demonstrations.

TI: Oh, interesting. Okay.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.