Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Helene J. Minehira Interview
Narrator: Helene J. Minehira
Interviewers: Tom Ikeda, Kelli Nakamura
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Date: March 2, 2011
Densho ID: denshovh-mhelene-01-0018

<Begin Segment 18>

HM: We moved in in August before school, and it was less than two weeks from December 7th when we were evacuated. I remember distinctly, less than two weeks on a Thursday that we were --

TI: So maybe about eleven days after December 7th. And so the pig farms, the chicken farms that were all down there, they lost all that, too?

HM: No, they had, they were able to finish whatever they, they had started, so they probably sold all the pigs, and I'm not sure. I don't know the story on the other...

TI: But still, the property that they --

HM: They worked hard to, to get to that point.

TI: Because your father, earlier you mentioned, paid seven thousand dollars for those nine acres, and so he lost all that?

HM: All that, so we didn't have, the loan was just canceled.

KN: At that time, what do you remember thinking about that, that you'd lost everything, especially after, beginning of your story you were saying to, how you were bragging to your classmates that you now had land.

HM: I was really proud.

KN: And now it's all taken away. What do you remember, your reactions or your parents' reactions to be at, at that?

HM: You know, my parents never talked about it. I wish they would've told me their feeling, but they didn't say anything.

KN: What did you feel about events that had happened? I mean, it was a great adventure at the Japanese language school, but now where do you go?

HM: Where do we go? Then we were told that we have to get out from there, but the sad thing when we went to Honouliuli, there was a Jodo mission temple, when the FBI came to pick up the ministers you won't believe it. He wanted -- they had a brand new baby -- he wanted to hug his wife. She was holding the baby, so he wanted to hug her. They tore him apart from his wife, actually, so I hated the FBI. They didn't even give a chance for him to say goodbye. That's, that's the worst part of being in Honouliuli. I cannot forget that. They were doing what they were told to do, but did they have to be that mean? I don't know.

TI: And then, they said then you had to leave Honouliuli?

HM: Uh-huh. Where are we going? We had to look for a house.

TI: So where did you go?

HM: Well, it was hard to find, so my aunt on my, my mother's younger sister found us a house. We had automatic air conditioning. Floors, it had a lot of holes on the floor because it was an old, old house that they were able to find us, so there was hole right in front of toilet. [Laughs] So we always say, "Watch out now."

KN: There was an indoor toilet?

HM: Yeah, but the house was so old, so it had pukas here, the holes all over the place, but that's okay. We had roof over our head.

KN: What part of town did you move to?

HM: Wahiawa. But we had a place to stay, even, it was really, the termites were already holding hands, but a place to sleep.

KN: And in the meantime your father had continued his job as a railroad man?

HM: At the railroad, uh-huh.

KN: So you guys did have income coming in.

HM: Yeah, so, and in the meantime I was already out of high school. But although it was war, I had a wonderful high school life. I didn't, I didn't think I worried that much about war. I don't think so.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.