<Begin Segment 21>

MN: Now, how would you compare the Tule Lake barrack to the Topaz barrack?

TH: Well, I think it's basically the same, except the arrangement was different. In Topaz, we occupied the end room, but in Tule Lake, we were in a... not the end, but kind of in the middle. And when I got there, the room was empty. The previous owner must have moved to another camp or relocated. The room was basically clean, but there was some things scattered. So I remember when I got there, there was a box of graham cracker lying on the floor, and I was hungry and I thought about eating it, but then thought, never know how long it's been lying there. So there was a stove -- how do you call it -- the belly, black stove, and it was very cold, so I went near the boiler room and got some coals and started the fire going. I didn't have anything to do, and I saw the bare walls, so I found magazine, movie magazine, and I decided to paint the face of the, I don't even know who it is, Lana Turner or somebody like that. It came out pretty good. I put the frame around it, painted the frame. Then finally in February, my folks joined me. I understand they, my father, stepfather answered "no" and decided, applied for repatriation, so that's the reason that I think they were able to join me.

MN: What did they say about the painting on the wall?

TH: I don't know.

MN: They didn't say anything?

TH: No.

MN: Now, did Tule Lake have an art school?

TH: Yeah, there was an art school.

MN: And where was this located at?

TH: It's kind of very end, overlooking the newly built section for the Manzanar people. So it was the very end of the camp, and it's the regular barrack, partition in the center, and one section was for arts class and other section was for music class. I used to hear somebody practicing Chopin on the piano. And as far as the arts class, it was, oh, there were really talented artists from Manzanar. I was able to learn a lot by watching them paint. And the teacher, I think, teacher, was a very free type of class. I wasn't sure who the teacher was, it was Mr. Morimoto who was in his mid-forties, probably he was the teacher. So it was a good class.

MN: And you also went to the camp library to further your art education. How did you do that? What did you learn at the library?

TH: Oh, what did I learn? As soon as I found out there was a library I went there and have some books. I was able to read quite a bit, and I learned a lot about English, I learned English through my interest in art books. And also there were books in Japanese and both in English also.

MN: So this was kind of an English lesson for you, too, then, reading these books?

TH: Uh-huh.

MN: Did you exhibit your paintings at Tule Lake?

TH: There was a camp-wide exhibit, large exhibit in camp in the auditorium of the high school, and that I remember. But toward the end, 1945, I had a chance to have a small one-man show in the ironing room, which was located next to the mess hall. And I hand-painted the fliers, and my stepfather helped me to paste it around the barracks.

MN: So when you had this one-man exhibit, how did the people react to your paintings?

TH: I have no idea.

MN: How would you describe your painting at that time?

TH: I was really in the process of learning a lot of different styles through looking at the reproductions which I took out from the library. I learned about Van Gogh, Renoir, and other impressionist painters. For a while I imitated a style like Van Gogh or Renoir.

MN: How many pieces did you exhibit at this exhibit?

TH: Not too many, maybe ten pieces.

MN: What happened to these paintings?

TH: Some I was able to take with me. Actually, I think I was able to have them sent to me when, later on. Some I tried to carry it, which, those are the ones that got kind of damaged, because I rolled the canvas and it cracked.

MN: Now, you also did a painting for Dr. Marvin Opler, the community analyst at Tule Lake. How did this come about?

TH: Well, it seems to me that Dr. Opler happened to see the painting I did of somebody's dog, so he came over and asked me if I could paint his two daughters who were, I don't know, probably five and seven. So that's how it happened. And, well, I went to his house and made some sketches.

MN: How many times did you go to his house?

TH: I can only remember two times. First time I went there to sketch his daughters, the second time, he and his wife invited me for dinner. So he came to pick me up and we had dinner, which I felt very uncomfortable. I wasn't used to Caucasians, being invited by a Caucasian family. But anyway, after the dinner, he was a very busy man, and also his wife was connected with the school. Maybe she was a teacher. So he left me with some art book in the living room and I didn't know what to say. I didn't know whether I, if I said I wanted to go back, it'd be kind of rude. So I stayed until after midnight, and finally Dr. Opler said, "Well, it's time to, maybe it's time to go back."

MN: Now, before you left camp, in August, end of August 1945, Dr. Opler again asked you to do some drawings. What was this for?

TH: I think for the research paper maybe. I did a couple of pen drawings, I don't know. I don't think it was that good, but anyway, one was about an old man in the boiler room, and one was about a man carrying coal. And actually, as far as leaving Tule Lake, I think my family received permission to leave the camp earlier than we left. We left in March of 1946, March 17th. But I guess we were kind of afraid to go leave the camp.

MN: Before we leave camp, I want to ask you a little bit more. What about the Sokuji Kikoku Hokoku Hoshidan? Were you part of the Hoshidan?

TH: No.

MN: Did you ever get pressured to join them?

TH: No, I didn't.

MN: What did you think about their name?

TH: Well, these people were kind of, somebody I wasn't connected with. I had my own circle of friends who basically thought the same way I did. Lot of 'em were from art school from Topaz, so what they were doing really didn't concern me. Only thing is in the early morning, I could see their, "Wasshoi, wasshoi," and bugle call. They didn't really have too much to do with me.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.