Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Akira Otani Interview
Narrator: Akira Otani
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Date: March 3, 2011
Densho ID: denshovh-oakira-01-0011

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TI: Okay, so you're driving home and you make it home, so what happens then?

AO: Well, I finally made it home okay but then we got to stay at home with the rest of the family for a while and then after a while as we were gathered in the living room, then we noticed some people come to the door with a couple of cars. And then of course, they announced themselves as FBI people and they were there to come to arrest my dad.

TI: And about what time in the day was this?

AO: I cannot remember, it must've been some time in the late afternoon or early evening, I don't know, I cannot remember.

TI: And what was your reaction when you saw the FBI there?

AO: Well, the reaction was there wasn't much you could do because they had... they were armed. And they said they came for Matsujiro Otani which was my dad and my dad was inside, he had already been shook up quite a bit from the events and he was resting. And of course they said they wanted to see him to bring him out, so I think one of my brothers or sisters went inside the bedroom to bring my dad out. Then we had a brother-in-law living in a back house, he was a police detective with the Honolulu police force and so somebody went over to call him and he came over too and said, "What's going on?" And of course, the FBI people, the thing I remembered was they waved their firearms and said, "You stay out of this, can't you people understand that we have been attacked by the Japanese and that we are at war, we are arresting Matsujiro Otani, period." And so by then they were practically dragging my dad to the car. And of course my mom said, "Well if you're going to take him, take me too," because he wasn't a well man even then. But they waved her away with the firearms. They said, "No, you stay away, we just want him." So they were taking him to the car, the car was out in the front, and so my mom rushed in and went to get some, I don't know, I think got some pair of shoes and some overcoat or some kind of clothing anyway and tried to give to him but the FBI people wouldn't allow that so eventually what she did was she finally got to throw it into the car as he was going in. And that was it for the longest time as far as my mother was concerned, or where the family was concerned in seeing my dad.

TI: It was interesting that, you know, your father, so your brother-in-law was a Honolulu police detective and that had no impact, that the FBI didn't give any consideration or anything.

AO: None whatsoever.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.