Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Jane Hidaka Interview
Narrator: Jane Hidaka
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Skokie, Illinois
Date: June 16, 2011
Densho ID: denshovh-hjane-01-0006

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TI: So you come to Chicago eleven years old, had your birthday.

JH: Right. Yes.

TI: This is August, so I'm guessing you now have to start school in September.

JH: Right. We went to, we were, we found an apartment with a lot of other Japanese people on the south side, and so I went to this school called Oakenwald. And that --

TI: Say that, say it one more time.

JH: Oakenwald, W-A-L-D.

TI: Okay.

JH: And so that was for seventh and eighth grade. And the teachers all loved the Japanese kids 'cause we were well behaved, we were quiet and we studied hard, and we usually did well.

TI: And so how many other Japanese kids were there?

JH: Oh, there was a lot in my class. I would say maybe, out of the whole class, maybe a third of them were Japanese.

TI: So was there ever any talk about the camps, 'cause I'm guessing that all the kids came from camp.

JH: Right, but I don't remember that, no. They probably asked us briefly where we were all from and they understood the situation, but no, I don't recall any talk about camp.

TI: And so when you say they understood the situation, meaning the other students, the teachers?

JH: The teachers, because they had to have asked us, they must've been curious, why is there this influx of all these Japanese children, right?

TI: Well yeah, I was curious if that came up.

JH: Not really. Not so much that I remember.

TI: Now do you recall in, given all the Japanese children, that any of them had any maybe emotional problems from camp, the moving around?

JH: Doesn't, I don't recall that, no.

TI: Okay. So you're going to school.

JH: Right.

TI: Tell me about life in Chicago. What was it like for you?

JH: Well, grammar school was probably quite a switch for most children because when we were in camp there were no libraries, and we really didn't have equipment. Nobody had a bicycle, although I probably was the only one who ended up with a bicycle because somebody was moving, one of the Caucasian teachers was moving and so Mother got, maybe bought the bicycle from her. I don't know. So I had a bicycle in camp, which was...

TI: In camp or in...

JH: No, in camp.

TI: In camp, I see.

JH: Yes, very rare.

TI: Oh, that is very rare.

JH: Yes, I'm sure. I don't know that I rode it around too much. Maybe I was too self conscious about it. I'm not sure.

TI: And were you able to bring the bike to Chicago?

JH: No.

TI: Okay, so you didn't.

JH: No, we didn't bring that. I don't remember it. I hardly remember riding it. I know I did, but Arkansas was so hot in the summer, right? All the women went with umbrellas and they were all faded from the use, it was so hot there.

TI: Now, in Arkansas, did you and your family, your sisters and your mom, ever go outside of camp?

JH: We went once to the little town that was nearby. I don't know how that happened, but just once, and I remember having ice cream, one and only time we had ice cream. And we went once to Little Rock. I don't know how that could've happened. See, I never asked my mother these things.

TI: And what was that like for you? I mean, I'm guessing when you're outside you'll see things like, you're in the segregated South, so you have blacks and whites and you have sort of, restrooms are for "white" and "colored," and did you see those things?

JH: I did see those things because I remember somebody saying that, it was pointed out to them when they saw the signs, "white only" and "black only," well, he didn't know where to go because he didn't think he was either. And so somebody, some Caucasian said, "You go there," and pointed to the white only section. Oh boy. So, but when we got to Rohwer I don't think we ever went out of camp. We weren't there that long, as I recall.

TI: Now, do you recall when you were in the Arkansas camps, seeing the Camp Shelby soldiers ever coming?

JH: No, no. See, Rich has that photograph of some of those soldiers coming back, but I don't remember seeing any of that. I'm sure they must have.

TI: Yeah, I think they had a USO there. I think quite a few came through there. Even when they're training they went through there, and then I think when they're returning also they probably came through the camp. So I was just...

JH: No, I'm like in another world, I guess.

TI: So going now to Chicago, so your mother was trained in this machine.

JH: Right.

TI: So what kind of work does she do when she goes to Chicago?

JH: Well, she was a bookkeeper so she was able to get work, and she supported us. She had three girls.

TI: And tell me where you lived or what kind of house you had.

JH: Well, we lived in an apartment building on the south side, and my first encounter with bedbugs. God, I still can remember that. That was terrible. But I guess we got rid of 'em eventually. But we, after... I went to high school all -- oh, from that particular apartments, then we stayed at an apartment building that was further north but still on the south side, and it was owned by a Japanese family, huge apartment building. So we were, we lived there for a while, and I guess it must've been a small place because then we moved from there to another apartment building, but more like the ones that you see in Chicago that are, like, U-shaped and three floors. Somehow we were always on the third floor. No matter where we lived we were on the third floor.

TI: And so you had all those stairs to always have to walk up.

JH: Yes. It was nothing for kids. So anyway, because then I remember we went to Hyde Park High School here in Chicago, which was a very well-rated high school.

TI: Good.

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