<Begin Segment 7>

TI: And you were going to talk about the next day, you said the next day was hard.

RY: Yeah, the next day was hard when I went to school because how kids are, they're running around saying, "Oh, the Japs this and Japs that," and I knew I was what they were talking about because I was Japanese. But I don't remember anybody giving me a bad time but it's just the way they were talking about Japan and all that I just felt kind of strange.

TI: And when they said this, was it more in general but was some of it targeted right at you?

RY: No, it was more in general, but as a kid you hear people talking and, well, the old saying, I are what I --

TI: I'm sorry what's the saying?

RY: They said I am one.

TI: Oh, yeah okay. Any adults like the teachers or principal, did they say anything that you can remember?

RY: Not that I remember, no.

TI: So any other memories from those weeks right after Pearl Harbor, any other incidents or anything that happened?

RY: Not really. It was just a lot of apprehension and uncertainty and we had a curfew and then we didn't know what was going to happen.

TI: And how about things like the FBI picking up people? Did you hear about that?

RY: Oh, yeah, a lot of people told us that they went into their house and they tore the house apart. And the thing that really sticks in my mind was they even went into people's houses and tore the Kotex box open and went through the Kotex and just shredded the Kotex to make sure there was nothing inside and they just left the mess and just left, you know. I mean, there was no search warrant or anything. They just came and did what they wanted to.

TI: And did you family ever get visited by officials like that?

RY: I don't remember, no. I think they mostly went to people that they had suspected of being sympathizers and teachers and principals.

TI: Yeah, I was just wondering if your family because your grandfather had been living with you and then went to Japan if that maybe put you under suspicion or anything like that but apparently not.

RY: Not really, no.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.