<Begin Segment 10>

MN: So 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked. And what were you doing on that Sunday?

TH: Sunday, well... I don't remember what I was doing, but the next day, Monday, I went to high school, then I was told to go home, probably because I understand, I heard that some Japanese Americans were bullied by the classmates, so probably that was a good idea.

MN: So was it only the Japanese Americans who were told to go home?

TH: Yeah, as far as I know.

MN: What was your reaction when you heard Pearl Harbor was bombed?

TH: Well... of course, it was shocking, but I really wasn't too mature, I guess, growing up, to understand what's going on. At that time, there was an organization called Heimushakai, which asked for donation to help the military in the United States, and my father put my name on it. This was, of course, before the war.

MN: And did that affect you after Pearl Harbor?

TH: No, I don't think so.

MN: Did your parents close the cafe on that Sunday?

TH: No, my father was starting to make a go of it, but the store's liquor license was taken away, so basically he had no business. So he tried selling candies and chewing gums and those little things. He was really trying his best to make a go of it.

MN: So after Pearl Harbor, the liquor license for the cafe was taken away?

TH: Yeah.

MN: Did you see FBI agents coming around that week taking people away?

TH: I don't remember, no.

MN: Now, in the spring of 1942, your family moved out of Oakland. Where did they go and why did they move?

TH: Well, we moved to San Lorenzo, which is a little inland from Oakland. My father felt, I think it's... well, might be helpful to move inland where his haiku friend had a farm.

MN: Did you have to help out on the farm?

TH: No. I just sort of roamed around the farm and painted, did some watercolor, which I enjoyed.

MN: Now, around this time that you moved to San Lorenzo, in Southern California, the Terminal Islanders got kicked off Terminal Island. Had you heard about that news?

TH: No, I didn't know anything about it.

MN: When the United States issued orders for Japanese Americans on the West Coast to be imprisoned and in camps, how did you feel about that?

TH: Well, I didn't really feel... well, I suppose that's the way it is.

MN: So no anger or sadness?

TH: Well, I read somewhere where the Japanese are very accepting, you know, shikata ga nai type of thing, and try to make the best of the situation. Of course, looking back, it's kind of amazing that most of the Japanese and Japanese Americans just follow the government's order and went to the assembly center, then to internment camp. I don't know. We seem to think that it was kind of a natural thing that happens. But as far as I'm concerned, like myself, I was taken to Japan when I was small, then moved back to United States, and then move around, so I thought that's the way life is.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.