Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Richard Iwao Hidaka Interview
Narrator: Richard Iwao Hidaka
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Skokie, Illinois
Date: June 16, 2011
Densho ID: denshovh-hrichard-01-0009

<Begin Segment 9>

TI: So tell me about your mother during this time. It sounds like she was pretty much overwhelmed with not only the family but then the business, your father leaving, so describe her state at this point.

RH: Well, it was hard for her because she didn't know what was going on, period. She didn't know what to do, she didn't have any idea of how to... what to do, board up the place. My friends came over and they helped a lot and said we got to board up all these windows and all these doors and got everything ready. And we boarded up the best we could, but you know, no matter how good we did it or how much we did, they still broke in and did whatever they wanted. Because they knew that we weren't going to be there.

TI: And so your father had sent a letter telling your mom to sell things but it was just hard for her to do all that. But she eventually did sell stuff but very --

RH: Some, but not enough.

TI: So now that you've boarded up the business and it's time to go, describe what happened then? What happened next?

RH: Well, I remember the day that they said you got to be gone from the state of California or you're going to have to report to a certain spot, a certain place. I think it was the bus station, anyway, it says, "Be there or we will come and pick you up." So being that we didn't have any transportation to get there we just waited for them to pick us up. And so they just put us all on the buses and took us to the bus station and then we're transferred... no, then we went to the train station and got on the train and went to Merced.

TI: Now at this time there were five kids, you were the oldest? And how young were your two sisters? They were the youngest.

RH: Oh, the youngest, she was just a toddler, could hardly walk, yeah, I don't think she was walking yet. '40, oh no maybe she was walking because she was born in '40 and we left actually in '42.

TI: But still quite young.

RH: Yeah.

TI: Two years, maybe two years old or so.

RH: Right, about two years old, yes. Because I think we were transported in May, May of '42 and she would have been two in March.

TI: Okay, so a little bit older than two. Was there anyone to help your... so it's your mother and five kids, was there anyone there to help your mother during this traveling to Merced?

RH: No, I guess the Murakamis could have helped. We were close to another family and they could've helped us, yeah, because they were manager of a hotel and so they didn't have a lot to take.

TI: Okay, so when you get to Merced -- or before we go to Merced, was there anything else that happened during that time period before the assembly center or the journey to the assembly center that, a memory or incident that happened?

RH: No incidents but I remember every now and again we would go down to the railroad tracks where they were transporting these people from Stockton or Sacramento area and they would go by on the train. We would see them and we'd wave to them hello and goodbye.

TI: So they were all Japanese?

RH: Yeah.

TI: And when you saw them, what were you thinking when you saw them go by?

RH: Well, I was thinking that we'll see them in a camp but when we got there it was big camp, you didn't know where anybody was. Unless you want to go to the main office and find out and give names and finding out where they were living. But I didn't know the people that well.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.