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TI: Today we are doing a Densho interview with Hitoshi Harry Kajihara. The date is September 11, 1997. We are located on the campus of UCLA attending the Voices of Japanese American Redress Conference. The interviewer is Tom Ikeda and the videographer is Matt Emery. Harry, I'm gonna start the interview. Before we get to the issue of redress, I wanted to actually get some background information, and I thought a good place to start is to talk about your personal experiences right about the time of the outbreak of the war. So why don't we start with what happened to you after Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor.

HK: Yes. On December 7th, Sunday, I remember very vividly and that was a long time ago, actually. I'm about seventy now, but I remember I was shocked. And I was going to Griffin grade school. It's a small school, three classrooms and I didn't know what was gonna happen to me so I was really apprehensive. And I went to school on Monday and the principal immediately called an assembly of all the students and she said that I was -- there were three other Japanese Americans going to this school in a rural area, Oyster Bay, Washington -- and she said, "Now, we're good citizens," that no one was going to be critical, or derogative, or physically... and so I felt very relieved. So that was for December 7, 1941. And I wasn't incarcerated until June 1942, and actually, I was in such a rural, rural community that I didn't think I was going. In fact, there was, we were about the last ones, I guess, removed, you know. And so we did leave in June. And one additional thing is that there was a Caucasian family who had no children, but when I went to school I used to go lunch to this, actually grocery store. So they wanted to adopt me for the duration. But as far as the government's concerned, I think I was a threat to security, so I was incarcerated. And I was thirteen years old that time.

TI: So this family wanted to adopt you, you mentioned they wanted to adopt you? And that was to keep you there instead of being, going to the camps, incarcerated?

HK: Right, correct.

TI: That was interesting, do you still stay in touch with these people?

HK: No, they're deceased.

TI: Okay.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.