Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Art Ishida Interview
Narrator: Art Ishida
Interviewer: Martha Nakagawa
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: August 24, 2011
Densho ID: denshovh-iart_2-01-0018

<Begin Segment 18>

MN: Now do you remember when you left for Tule Lake, what year, what month?

AI: I left Tule Lake?

MN: From Jerome to go to Tule Lake, was it '44?

AI: I was in Jerome for a year and a half so I went to Jerome October '42, '43, '44.

MN: So probably the winter of '44 or January maybe? Does that sound about right? January '44, February?

AI: Somewhere around there I think.

MN: What do you got there? Is that your cheat sheet?

AI: October 7th, '43, went to Tule Lake.

MN: So when you got to Tule Lake, it's getting cold. What was your first impression of Tule Lake?

AI: I felt like I was in the last jail, last place I'd be in. 'Cause I really, didn't wanted to go and I got kind of sent over there.

MN: When did you arrive at Tule Lake, in the daytime or the nighttime?

AI: Nighttime.

MN: So when you got there at night were able to see anything of Tule Lake?

AI: No, all I saw is truck took me to the room and there was a one gentleman in there, older man, and that's the only thing I saw first night. And I didn't like that man. So next day or two there's another friend went together so we got together and he was in the same situation, stranger and himself. So he didn't like that so we talked about some way we get together again, get the room for our own, and we found out that there was one empty room in Block 62 if I remember correctly. So we got together and then there's another guy from Jerome went that from the Block 8, three of us got together and we said, "Hey, there's one room open. Why not three go in there?" They say, oh yeah, great, so we went administration we asked if we can move in there three of us. They said okay no problem so we got the room. But the only reason that room was open was that there was a talk going on says ghosts comes out from the room, young lady. Found out that young girl died in that room so they were saying that there's a ghost in that room so nobody wants to go in that room so it was fortunate for us. [Laughs]

MN: Did you ever see a ghost in that room?

AI: Never saw a ghost. We had a happy time there.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.