<Begin Segment 26>

TI: It's about this time you also made another decision regarding your U.S. citizenship. You decided to renounce your citizenship, so can you talk about that decision, and how did that come up?

MY: Renouncing my U.S. citizenship seemed to be the most normal, nothing unusual event. Seemed to be the logical thing to do under the circumstance, so again, it was not a big issue as part of my life. The decision, I think, was made for me by the U.S. government, not me. That's pretty much how I looked at it, I think.

TI: Do you recall, kind of the process for you to do this? Did they approach you? Was it something that you went to a place to sign? How did this happen?

MY: I don't remember the details of renouncing my citizenship.

TI: Earlier you mentioned how your decision to go "no-no," you had discussions with a group of people. In a similar way, did you have discussions with others to renounce your citizenship?

MY: I don't remember. It would seem logical that I would have done that, but I don't remember.

BT: Well, would you explain what your reasoning process was and the logic of it?

MY: For renouncing one's citizenship?

BT: Yeah.

MY: Only in retrospect. In retrospect, I was a U.S. citizen, I gave up my Japanese citizenship, then subsequent to that, the camp, I had to go to camp, which I did. Subsequent to that I was signed up for selective service and then nothing happened. They kept me in camp regardless of what happened. And essentially my U.S. citizenship was a meaningless piece of paper. It didn't affect me one way or the other. So being a citizen, and I'm thinking... nobody questions my role as a U.S. citizenship today in my everyday life. Even up to the point of renouncing my citizenship and subsequent to that, the issue of one's citizenship is not a big issue. Nobody questions you, and nothing stops you from doing this or nothing allows you to do something, I mean, "allowed" because you're a citizen. And I never had that happen. I think there were certain circumstances, if I crossed the border they'll say, "Are you a citizen?" say you're gonna check up on it, and I would have to carry proofs of that. But I've never crossed the U.S. border, so I have no idea. So the issue of citizenship has never been an issue. The question of citizenship has never been an issue, so discussing that is not an issue, or was not an issue. And then as quietly as I had renounced my Japanese citizenship, it was nobody's business but my own, and it was my business now to myself according to my, for lack of better word, value system, ethical code or whatever. Well, this is logical thing to do for myself, so that's why it was done.

TI: Okay, so logical to give it up, and when you did that you also signed up to be repatriated, not repatriated, expatriated -- no, repatriated to --

MY: Repatriated.

TI: Yeah, repatriated to Japan. Tell me about that decision.

MY: That was part of mass psychology more than anything else. That was part of mob psychology, logical thing to do, everybody else was doing it, I'll do it too. It was not a well thought out, personally well thought out situation.

TI: And then about the time of when the war was ending you decide to not repatriate to Japan, to stay in the United States.

MY: Again, that was a logical thing to do, realizing to go to Japan after Japan lost the war, poverty, etcetera, so I, that was more logical than the original act.

TI: And then, was it then logical because now that you're gonna stay in the United States to --

MY: Stay what?

TI: To stay in the United States, to stay here, to then ask for your citizenship back? Because at that point then you start working for --

MY: Well, again, I was, about that point I was involved in getting my citizenship back and there were a number of issues for me, Wayne Collins group. Then the question about my age came up, can a minor renounce my citizenship? When did I sign that piece of paper? I didn't remember, so I never could answer that question, and so this was all hanging up in the air until the government said a minor cannot renounce, "you were a minor." So I didn't make the decision. The government made it for me.

TI: That, one, that you had not renounced because you were a minor, you mean that?

MY: Yes.

TI: Okay. Tell me about the Wayne Collins group, because you worked with them. Describe --

MY: No, I had little, if any, contact with the group itself. It seemed the most logical, one of the logical things to do is to get my citizenship back. Why I get my citizenship back, I don't know. It was sort of a mob psychology thinking, I think. I had not thought it out clearly as to why I wanted my citizenship back.

TI: Okay, good.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.