<Begin Segment 20>

TI: Okay, so January you leave Heart Mountain.

MS: Yes.

TI: So under what circumstances did you leave?

MS: Well, I, the Quakers were very, very wonderful, and they really contacted many of the colleges and universities to make sure that they would be able to take Japanese students. And they set up a network, and so were ready to choose and pick. And so, but then before you were able to leave, I had to be, you know, clearance from the FBI and the army and the navy. So it took about a month before we got clearance and left at that time.

TI: Do you recall what kind of paperwork you had to fill out to get a clearance?

MS: No, I don't remember that.

TI: Was there an interview or anything like that with anyone?

MS: No, but you were... I can't figure out what we did. All I know is I did get admitted to Hamline University in St. Paul. And when I left, I left with another person named Ruth Matsuo, and she went to St. Catherine's... she went to a school in St. Paul. But we were on this train with a lot of GIs and their wives or girlfriends. And one lady said, "I hear that the Japs are cutting off people's heads." And then one lady said, "I lost my wallet, but some Japanese person found it and returned it." So she was a little bit more, you know, friendly than the others. But they kind of, we really kind of stayed as quiet as possible because we really felt the hostility. And we arrived in St. Paul.

TI: So describe, when you're at St. Paul, how many other Japanese were there, how you were welcomed?

MS: Yes, there were a lot of students, yeah. St. Paul was a wonderful place, it really was. I didn't get along in Hamline very well, but because it was very traditional. And we had a dean that was old, but it was okay. But I had a Japanese roommate, and she was from Fresno. And we're not used to the kind of climate. I have never seen such terrible lightning, rainstorms, as I've seen in the Midwest. Terrible, scares you right out of your mind. And I remember we'd push our beds together because we'd see the flashing of the lights and the thunder and so forth, it's terrible. But it was, what was interesting is, I guess, Fort Snelling, they had the Japanese American soldiers after a while. And the International Institute there was very welcoming, and we had a lot of activities there. So we would go there and socialize, and it was, they were very, very kind about it. But the population in that St. Paul was very interesting, 'cause my sister and brother-in-law moved to St. Paul, and we lived in this neighborhood. And one day I went down to this corner store, it was run by a little Jewish man. I was the only one in the store, and we were talking away, and he said, "You Gentiles." And I'm looking around. [Laughs] It dawned on me that he was talking to me. Because back here, we would have been the ones that they were talking about. Something very complimentary about, "you Gentiles." But it was that kind of a community, very, very caring, very loving. And Amy and my brother-in-law kept up with their friends for life there. And it really was an interesting place.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.