<Begin Segment 13>

MN: Now on the day you were to enter camp where was your gathering point?

AI: We gather in Long Beach near ocean. And come to think of it, I think we were close to the end of red line, trolley line, I think the end of the station there close to because that's... we were two groups separated to go to Santa Anita Assembly Center. And the first group got on the red car, they left. We were supposed to get there seven o'clock in the morning and I think around eight o'clock or so the first group went with trolley and the second group is go with your own car in a caravan. So we left the Long Beach area about ten o'clock and I guess we went through the Lakewood and so forth, I remember that we passing by the Douglas aircraft plant and it took us about one hour drive to get to the Santa Anita.

MN: So you went in the car caravan but it wasn't that new car that your brother bought. You had another car?

AI: No, we sold our cars so we went with Mr. Hamano's car. He had a Chevy coupe.

MN: Do you remember what month or day you left for Santa Anita?

AI: I think it was April 5th.

MN: So you took Mr. Hamano's car to Santa Anita.

AI: Then as soon as we got there we had the baggage inspection so I guess, so we weren't carrying any contraband or whatever. And soon as the inspection's done then they issue us the tag for the room, which room to go and button for the mess hall. Later on I found out there was a blue mess and a white mess was open first and we got the blue mess buttons. And after we got the tag then we started going to look for the room. We don't know where to go so the group was there before us we stopped one of the guy and we asked, "Can you tell us where this room is?" I show the tag. And he says, "Oh, I'll take you," so he took us to the room which was a horse stable. And you got to the horse stable and the horse stable floor was a newly paved with asphalt and it's still warm at the time. Probably they did it in the morning or the night before something like that. And the smell of the manure and the asphalt combination was about ready to throw everything out. Then I look in the room, there's still manure on the wall, it wasn't completely washed. And I thought, oh my god, this is where we're going to sleep for the... how long? It was a really sickening feeling.

MN: How about the food?

AI: First two, three days we all had diarrhea, everybody, and the toilet is one long building, all the toilets are lined up. And we had to line up and wait your turn to get in there and here you got to run. It was horrible.

MN: Any idea what you ate that gave you diarrhea?

AI: I think most of the food that we were eating is the army supply so shouldn't be kicking too much about what they fed us but either -- I don't know what the reason for that everybody had diarrhea but maybe they opened the can too long before they cook because they're cooking for hundreds of people in one mess hall. So they had to prepare early in the morning for that and it might be open too long, whatever the reason that we had diarrhea.

MN: So once you got over this and you settled in Santa Anita, what did you do? Did you find a job?

AI: Later on more people came in and they started building the barracks in parking lot so the people came in later they all got the new barrack to live in. And all those people there, they need another mess hall so they opened the red mess which is in the grandstand lobby. And I worked in that mess hall as a pantry and we used prepare the salad, fruits, dessert fruits and the salad. And there was three of us all day we were there chopping lettuce, chopping this, chopping finger. [Laughs] And that was my job. Then the other people, they used to make camouflage net, I think that was a major work in that Santa Anita but I enjoyed the mess hall.

MN: Now you mentioned this is a mess hall after the new barracks in the parking lot were built. Were you able to transfer into the new parking lot?

AI: Our family friend, Yatabe family, move in from stable to new barrack. They were farming together in Compton and so we went and visit them and one of the boy's room there was enough room for two more beds so we asked them, "Hey, can we move in?" So they said, "Sure, come on," so we asked the administration to move into there and we move in there.

MN: And so you and your brother moved in there?

AI: Yes.

MN: What happened to Mr. Hamano?

AI: Well, he moved into his stepdaughter's together. They were in the new area also, they're from Pasadena.

MN: Now what did you do in your free time at Santa Anita?

AI: Just roam around. Nothing you can do. We used to go see... well, they had some activities, they were playing baseball, there was a lot sumo. They built the dojo and they were having sumo so we'd go see the sumo. Other than that it's not much you can do, play poker a lot of time.

MN: Did you win a lot of money in poker?

AI: No, we played penny poker, no money.

MN: Santa Anita had a riot, where were you when the riot broke out?

AI: You know, I never heard that. I heard that later when everything was all over and I heard but at the time I wasn't aware of that. Maybe I was working or whatever but I wasn't anywhere near the riot.

MN: Now you received your first telegram from your mother in Japan at Santa Anita. What did that --

AI: No, no, not Santa Anita, that's in Jerome later.

MN: Oh, I thought you got one in Santa Anita.

AI: No, no.

MN: Oh, okay.

AI: I got two of 'em when I was in Jerome.

MN: Okay, you're a Kibei, did the Niseis give you problems?

AI: No.

MN: Did you go to a lot of the dances?

AI: In Jerome, yes.

MN: But not at Santa Anita.

AI: Not at Santa Anita. I don't think we had it, Santa Anita. They might have had it but I wasn't aware of it.

MN: Now you worked on the farm so you would be considered a country boy. Did you the city boys give you a lot of trouble?

AI: No, in Santa Anita there's a group of boys from East LA. Which they wore zoot suits and we kind of figured that they were a bunch of gangs so we stayed away from them so we had no trouble. I mean, I had no trouble.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.