<Begin Segment 12>
TI: And during the summertime, what did you do?
KY: Yes, I worked on the farm. Worked on the farm so that my father and my older brothers would have an extra hand.
TI: Now, you mentioned during the break, we were talking about how in 1940, your father and mother and three younger sisters went to Japan to celebrate the 2600th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese empire. Do you recall that? Do you remember that time period?
KY: I don't remember much about them other than at the time, I don't know if I really spoke to my father much about that. But then I know that the year 1940 was the 2600th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese empire. And Father being an ex-draftee, said, "Hey, I gotta go over there." And the Japanese government was encouraging people from overseas, "Come help us celebrate." So my father, at the time, mother and three sisters went.
TI: But it sounds like your father was very proud of being Japanese.
KY: I believe he was. I believe he was one of these gung ho types, you know.
TI: So I'm going to... so you started the University of Washington in 1938. So 1938, '39, '40, '41, you were almost ready to graduate when December 7, 1941, happened.
KY: Exactly.
TI: You were within months from graduation.
KY: Right.
TI: So let's first talk about that day, Sunday, December 7th. Do you remember that day and what you were doing?
KY: Not that vividly. Not that vividly. At that particular time, end of my... I was living at the Japanese Students Club on campus. Yeah, Japanese Students Club building, in the dorm, I guess. I don't remember too much about the building, exactly where it was, what floor I was living on, I don't know. But I was at the JSC, we used to call it, Japanese Student Club.
TI: But do you recall when you first heard the news about...
KY: Lot of people say that, and they say, "Yeah, I was doing this and I heard the thing and I didn't believe it." I don't remember. Of course, my memory is real bad, especially the last couple of years. My wife keeps telling me, "Hey, your memory is terrible."
TI: No, that's okay.
KY: But even before, I don't think I remembered much about December 7th as such. I knew I was in Seattle, yeah.
TI: Well, yeah, during this time, I was wondering, had your father and mother and sisters, had they returned yet from Japan?
KY: No. What happened was, in 1941, my father had become ill. And he was in Japan and he, what we called inaka, in rural area, that is Kumamoto. And, of course, this is during the war as far as Japan was concerned, so they didn't have much medical help or medicine for the populace, 'cause it went to the military first, priority. But he was, became ill, and as a result of that, they were in Japan, and then in 1941, the U.S. and Japan relations became very strained, and there were very few passenger ships between the two countries. Before they knew it, the war began and they were stranded, stranded in Japan. So had my father and three sisters in Japan at the beginning of the war. So during the war they were there, and we got no word from them, except that my father died two years later. And I learned about it through an International Red Cross postcard. And apparently the postcard made its way from Japan, went to Russia, and then across Europe, and then went to England or someplace. And then it crossed the Atlantic, which was in Allied hands, so went thataway and then came to Tule Lake. Where in the heck did I learn about it? Must not have been Tule Lake, must have been after that. Because this is '43, yeah. Anyway, I learned that my father had died during the war. Found out about it through International Red Cross.
TI: And that had been, what, two years after the war had started, and that was the first word you had about...
KY: Yeah, about my family and about the fact that my father died. Yeah.
TI: And do you recall what your thoughts were when you received that postcard?
KY: No. But I'm sure I had some strong thoughts and so on, but right now I can't say.
<End Segment 12> - Copyright (c) 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.