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TI: And so when you mentioned girlfriend, did she start off just working for you first?

FS: Yeah.

TI: And can you briefly explain how you met her? It's an interesting story.

FS: She was from Manchuria. She came back, stowaway, father and mother and sister passed away on the trip out of Manchuria.

BT: Refugees.

FS: Refugee. And she reached this harbor where there's supposed to be a boat to take her to Japan. But before she got on the boat, there's some old Japanese army corporal, old man, long time, befriended her, and he told her to cut her hair, make it look like a boy. Gave her a GI uniform, Japan uniform, and then told her to get on a certain kind of boat. He said, "There's a place that you can hide, because I've been on that boat before. So he told her where to hide, and the boat sailed one day later, luckily. Furnished her with water and dry food, you know, like what do you call it, biscuits or something. So she was on that boat, I think, four days. And then finally the man told her, "Make sure that the next day after the boat lands, the next yonaka, midnight, get off." So nobody know. So she did that, and then she got on a train, and she was going to, she didn't know where to go because she was in Manchuria for quite a while, so she lost all contact with Japan. She didn't even know where she was born. And then no family record, that was gone. So she had, clueless. So she got on this first train, and that train landed in Hiro, where I was working at supply. And then I was in that... where was it I met her? Looked so haggard, dirty, big woman, too, she was about 5'6", big for a woman. And looked like a young boy, look liked that. So I said, "What's wrong with you?" And dirty, god, she was filthy. He or she. Won't talk, so I turned around and said, "Look." I said, "What are you doing? Nani shiteru no?" And she started crying. She said, "Wakaran." I said, "Where do you live?' "Shiranai." "Doko iku no?" "Shiranai." "Don't you have no place?" Said, "Shiranai." I said, "When did you eat?" "Four days ago." This woman must be hungry. So that time it was about five-thirty at night, and I was staying in a Japanese home. The owner, they call Oya-san. "Oya-san, nani ka taberu mo aru?" she said, "Nokoru mo aru yo." So she said mugi rice and white mixed. But she won't give me that, she'd make me white rice only, 'cause I was giving her all kind of food, you know what I mean? Bringing it home from the mess hall. I had a special way to get it out of the mess hall, camp. I didn't have to go through the main gate. I had a secret way to get out, secret way to get in, oh, man that was a beautiful place. I could take a truck of food out of there, nobody catch me.

But anyway, I had the Oya-san fix her with food first, and she smelled the food and she started shaking. She couldn't eat. Just couldn't eat. She was so filthy, so I said, "Oya-san, furo mada aru?" "Mada nukui yo," she said. "I thought you was gonna go in," so she had the fire going. I said, "No, you better put her in." She came out like a human being. I said, "Oya-san, you better help her." I said, "I don't know..." I said, "Oya-san, are, otoko onna shiran," I told her. I didn't know whether it was a man or a lady. She said, "Ah, sore sugu wakaru yo." And Oya-san yelled out, "Onna yo," she said. Girl. So she'd dunk her head in the water and washed it clean, soaped her, and then the clothes were so dirty, so you know what a kimono yukata? Light one they use in a inn. Put that on, and the yukata came up to here. It's supposed to come here. [Laughs]

TI: 'Cause she was just so tall.

FS: Yeah. So then the only clothes I got was, they call in monpei, it's some kind of kimono-style pants. And she had that, monpei is adjustable to any height. So she gave her that. And then next day, they fed her. She finally ate, and then she threw up. She couldn't hold it. You know, sometimes too good a food, huh? So I told her, "You better slow down." 'Cause I knew what happened, the food was too rich. So I told Oya-san, "Okayu," you know. You what okayu... and she made okayu with some sweet potato mix and things like that. That she was able to put down.

TI: It's an amazing story. It's almost like you were destined to meet.

FS: Yeah, in a way.

TI: She was coming and just came right together.

FS: And then the next day, I took her to work. I said, "What the hell am I gonna do with her?" She stayed in my room that night because I couldn't, I didn't want to kick her out, where's she gonna go? Oya-san said, "Kono hito nai, iye mo ne, dare mo oran no yo." "She don't even know where she's gonna go." "Doko iku wakaranai." I said, "Oya-san, doshitari?" "Shou ga nai ne, tomeru hoka nai ne." She said, Oya-san said, "I got extra blankets." So instead of putting her in her room, she put in my room. So I was sleeping with an unknown woman. So I told her next day, "Wake up, you got to go, get up, we got to go eat breakfast." And she just followed me like a dog and went to the mess hall. I fed her, and then I made her a pot washer. I mean, what else could I use her for? So I told her to wash the pot, and then sweep this place, do this, do that. I gave her four or five jobs. And then in no time, she was finished. She said, "Sunda, sunda." She was the only person in my life who came to ask for work.

TI: That's interesting.

FS: Nobody else in my life has asked -- not even my wife. After she do something, my wife, she do something, she just walk away. She don't come back for more work, she just walk away.

TI: But in some ways, she must have been so appreciative. You essentially saved her life.

FS: Probably, probably. Yeah, so I got, when I was in the mess hall, I fed her the first person, then lunch I fed her again, and I fed her in the storeroom because I didn't want her to jeopardize with the other help because they might think she's funny woman, you know. She was funny.

<End Segment 40> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.