<Begin Segment 25>
TI: So eventually you had to make a living. So what kind of work were you able to find in Japan?
SY: Gee... I think we, my sister and I got a typing job, you know, at the military headquarters in Fukuoka. And there was another Nisei that had a job there, too. And we had a chauffeur. [Laughs] Yeah, we had a chauffeur. The car took us, picked us up in the morning and took us to the office, and then in the evening they took us back home.
TI: So this is different, too.
SY: This is, yeah.
TI: Especially for a typist to have a chauffeur, I've heard of others...
SY: Yeah.
TI: And why do you think you got this special driving, driver?
SY: I guess because we were working for the armed forces, occupying, occupying forces. Well, my sister actually started working for the city of... what would you say?
BT: Mayor?
SY: An interpreter for the... what do you say, mayor or something?
TI: The mayor? Okay, so like a personal interpreter?
SY: Yeah, not for the mayor but working in that capacity, you know.
TI: So this was the Japanese mayor, so like a interpreter, sort of a person as a, yeah, I guess between English, I mean, the U.S. military and the Japanese city government. So that made you and your sister really valuable because of your bilingual capabilities.
SY: [Laughs] I guess so. Maybe she was the reason she got the chauffeur, huh? You know, and not...
TI: We'll have to interview her. [Laughs] We have to understand this a little bit more. You got all these special privileges.
SY: Yeah, really.
BT: They're two pretty young girls who speak English and Japanese, right? [Laughs]
SY: Yeah.
TI: And so how long did you work in this position?
SY: Oh, gee... I think about a year, but I'm not sure. I don't think a year, because that place moved to Hakata from Kurume. We were working for Kurume in Fukuoka. And then that office moved to Hakata, and eventually my sister and I were both working for the armed forces in Hakata, for headquarters.
<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.