<Begin Segment 12>

MN: So within a few months Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese. Now, what were you doing on that Sunday, December 7th?

JM: We were playing basketball, then somebody came, says, "Japan bombed Pearl Harbor." I knew where Pearl Harbor was because we were, went to Hawaii. We were really surprised, but when we thought about it, that's what they were talking about in Japan. Everybody knew there was gonna be a war. So I don't know the politics behind the war, but apparently America put a lot of pressure on Japan. I guess it had to do with oil.

MN: So when you heard Pearl Harbor was attacked, what were some of the thoughts going through your mind? Did you think this was gonna affect you personally?

JM: All the FBIs came (in the) middle of the night, came knocking on the door. I look out the door, window and see, oh, big FBI guys, about three or four of them. They came bargin' in, they went through every room. I had a bow and arrow 'cause at school we had a bow and arrow club. They confiscated that. And we burned lot of stuff, Japanese, anything that's written in Japanese. And my father was taken away, so he wasn't home, so nobody, just my mother and my (...) brother and sisters.

MN: The FBI, when did they come to your house?

JM: Oh, they came that night, eleven, twelve o'clock at night.

MN: So your father was already taken away that day. Did they catch him out in the ocean, or how did they take him away?

JM: He was, they were notified to come in by twelve. They were coming in, but one of the boats were having problems, so he stopped to help 'em out. By the time they came in it was about three o'clock, so they didn't even have chance to call home or come home.

MN: So did you know what had happened to your father?

JM: We got notice that they're gonna take him to a camp someplace, so all the bus, they're gonna pass by the house.

MN: But initially they didn't take him to camp, they took him to the Terminal Island prison, right?

JM: Yes, from the prison they transferred him to another place. And I remember we were all waiting by the street, then we saw our dad in the window. My daughter was --

MN: Sister.

JM: [Laughs] Sister, she must've been about three or four. She went running to the bus and hollered, "Papa, Papa, don't go. You're not gonna be able to come back." And we don't know where she got all this information. Then all the ladies started crying.

MN: Did you know where they were taking your father?

JM: No. (...) I know they were going out of the state. I heard they went to two or three different places.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.