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TI: And so how did you get from Japan to -- well, before we even go there, so you have your passport, did you have any contact with your parents or your sister before you left Japan?

RY: Oh, yeah, yeah.

TI: And so what did they think that now that you had your American passport?

RY: Well, I don't think I really cared. I said, "I'm going to go back." But then the only problem was that at that time we had no access to American money and so I had to find a sponsor so to speak. And I wrote my uncle in Hawaii and he sent me the money for the boat fare to go back. So that's how I got back from Japan to the States.

TI: And your parents and your sister stayed in Japan?

RY: My parents and my sister stayed, and then after I got back, then my sister came.

TI: And so she went through the same process of getting her U.S. passport and doing all that?

RY: Yeah, 'cause she had her passport too.

TI: Now did your parents ever come back?

RY: Yeah, after me and my sister came back my mom says, "If the kids are going back, I want to go back too." And so I had to get a visa for quota. I got a quota for my mom, she came back and I guess my dad got a little lonely by himself so he said he wanted to come so I had to get a visa quota for him too. So eventually the family all got together and we were living in Monterey and they were living in Monterey. But it took a while before my dad got back. By then I was married and had a kid or two.

TI: And this was while you're in the air force at this point?

RY: I was in the army. See when I went back to Hawaii, like I said I wanted to go back to Japan as part of the occupation forces and so I told my uncle that I'm going to join the army and he wanted me to stay and go to school. He said he'd pay my way through college and all that but I said no, I want to go back. So when I went to the recruiting office they were recruiting linguists for Japan, and since I knew the basics, read and write basics, and speak basics they said, "Okay you can put in the army language school in Monterey and go for nine months and then go back to Japan." And I thought, I figured that was the best way to... that was a guaranteed assignment to Japan. So that's what I did, I joined the army and signed up for the army language school in Monterey and I went to school there for nine months learning Japanese.

TI: And when you were learning Japanese, that's when your parents came?

RY: No, they came back later. My sister came back.

TI: And then how did it feel going back to Japan as part of the occupation?

RY: I was, felt like really cocky, you know.

TI: 'Cause here you were an American.

RY: Here I am an American. I'm coming back as a "conquering American." not one of the...

TI: And so did you go visit your parents and people?

RY: Yeah, it was funny. My dad, he was always into the military uniforms and stuff and he got happy when he saw me in my uniform and all that. I guess he knew I was right. I didn't want to stay in Japan like that.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.