Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Margaret Junko Morita Hiratsuka Interview
Narrator: Margaret Junko Morita Hiratsuka
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Skokie, Illinois
Date: June 15, 2011
Densho ID: denshovh-hmargaret-01-0006

<Begin Segment 6>

TI: But in these prewar years, were you aware of any presence by naval intelligence, U.S. naval intelligence or the FBI in terms of, of monitoring the activities of what was going on at the Holland Hotel?

MH: Yeah, I think we felt that the FBI was watching.

TI: And do you have an example?

MH: Well, we felt like the phone was tapped.

TI: And so that was consciously that, your father was sort of conscious that, thinking that the phones were tapped?

MH: Uh-huh.

TI: And so what would that mean? I mean, would he be careful what he would say over the phone, or what would that mean?

MH: Yeah, I suppose he would be. But there was, in the FBI reports that we got, under the Freedom of Information Act, they talk about confidential informants who were reporting on the activities of my father.

TI: So in that case it's not necessarily FBI agents, but it might be community members who were, who were essentially spying on your family, on your father.

MH: I think so, because in some, in one of the reports it would say the confidential, the informant said that my father said such and such, that he was in the Japanese army or...

TI: Which he was.

MH: He was, yeah. It was no secret that he... and they would report whatever he said.

TI: And when you look at these reports, were they dated before the war or after the war in terms of --

MH: Before the war. Yeah.

TI: So even before the war the FBI was, as you mentioned earlier, monitoring your father, possibly tapping the phones. Did he ever mention when he would take these, especially naval officers, around, were they ever followed? Did he ever talk about that, being followed by FBI or anybody tailing him?

MH: My father never said much. The only reason I know anything is because I have the FBI reports, and they even knew that we had a 1941 Chevrolet and the license number. It's all in the report.

TI: So they were, yeah, they're tracking, following. Now, you're the fifth child, so you had, like an older brother who was quite a bit older, did he ever come under suspicion by being the son of your father, and was he ever targeted in any way?

MH: Not that I know of. I don't know. I never paid any attention when I was young. It's only later on that I started reading these FBI reports or the naval intelligence report, that I became interested in this.

TI: How about any interaction with the Japanese American Citizens League? Did your brothers or your father or any of your friends, were they associated with the JACL?

MH: No. In fact, my sister, I think, was against it.

TI: And why was that? Why was your sister against, this is Ayako?

MH: Yeah. I'm not sure. I can't say why she might've been against it. She didn't, well, we just didn't belong to that.

TI: Because sort of during this period, I mean, around the war, right before and after, there were members of the JACL who were working more closely with the FBI.

MH: Yes, they did.

TI: And so that, I was just curious if there was any, any, perhaps someone from that organization was perhaps watching your family.

MH: I think they might have. They might have been, yeah.

TI: Okay. And right now, and I'm just, you don't have to mention names or anything, but does the family suspect certain people but you just prefer not to talk about them?

MH: Yeah. I'm the only one.

TI: Okay. You're the only one who won't talk about it? [Laughs]

MH: Who, who's really suspecting anybody. I mean, the others just, of course, a couple of my brothers are, have died already, so they haven't dug into the history.

TI: But what you suspect by living through this, looking at FBI reports, that there were potential people who were members of the JACL who might've been watching your family and perhaps feeding information to the FBI.

MH: Could be, yeah, 'cause otherwise they wouldn't blend in at these parties that they had.

TI: Especially when you mention how there were people actually quoting what your father said in these situations.

MH: Said, yeah.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.