Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Yasu Koyamatsu Momii Interview
Narrator: Yasu Koyamatsu Momii
Interviewer: Sharon Yamato
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: October 25, 2011
Densho ID: denshovh-myasu-01-0020

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SY: So now you were there only a year.

YM: Yeah.

SY: And then how did, how is it that you were able to leave?

YM: Yes, there were people leaving even early in the year, especially if they were going away to school 'cause there were a lot of services where you could apply and try to find a suitable school. So some of my friends left, like in March of '43, which meant they were in camp only, not even a year... not even a year, because we were half a year in Santa Anita and two, three months, well, five months... anyway, they started to leave --

SY: They started to leave fairly early.

YM: Yes.

SY: And these were people that were college age.

YM: Right. They were.

SY: As opposed to people who, like you. You had already gone to college, so what, did you think about leaving?

YM: Just employment is what we went out for.

SY: So you were thinking about ways to leave.

YM: Right. So they had a classified ad, an opening here in Cleveland, opening here in Detroit or something. It was usually for domestic work. They were looking for domestic work, so if you wanted domestic you could just go any time 'cause there was lots of jobs available. But I went to Cleveland because my brother had gone before me to school, so he was there.

SY: I see. And he liked it. Did he write back and say he liked it there? Is that why you went?

YM: No, not necessarily, but at least he was there. [Laughs] It's a little bit better than nobody.

SY: And it was better than camp.

YM: Well, yes, I guess it is. Yeah. I remember I went to Newberry's and I thought, oh, I want a pumpkin pie with whipped cream on it. In those days they used to have little counters at the dime stores.

SY: And that, so you were looking forward to it, and your, and your cold glass of milk, right?

YM: Yeah, glass of milk.

SY: So you, how did you get out of camp? Did you take another train?

YM: Yes, I left in early October, and all trains go to Chicago, so we stopped in at Chicago and took a transfer to Cleveland.

SY: You left by yourself?

YM: Yes. There was, most people who left would head for a hostel 'cause there was a hostel in almost all the big, large cities. So you enroll, I mean register, at the hostel and you're allowed to stay there about two weeks, and you should find housing or a job.

SY: So the job wasn't necessarily waiting for you when you got there?

YM: No. You could go there and look for something.

SY: So they let you leave even though there was not a specific job that was...

YM: Well, I looked for domestic, so I went to two, three interviews and -- I don't know if you've ever heard of Shaker Heights, but that's Cleveland's old area, but it's kind of a nice area -- I went there and the maid's room would be up on the third floor but it had an elevator. [Laughs]

SY: Fancy.

YM: And I ended up in a place called Cleveland Heights, which was a newer area, not the old, like the... anyway, so I finally went there.

SY: And it was a residence?

YM: Yes, it was a couple in their late thirties, and she wasn't able to have children so she adopted a little girl and so the next year she had a little boy. Happens, you know. And so the boy was six months old and the little girl was a year and a half. So I went there and I stayed about six months there.

SY: They just wanted someone to take care of the house?

YM: Yeah, house work and --

SY: Baby?

YM: The child, children. Not the young one, she took care of him 'cause he was only like six months old. But the young one, yeah, the older girl, and housekeeping.

SY: I see.

YM: And a little cooking. We didn't do much, too much cooking. They were not fancy. And the husband ate out every lunch, so dinner was simple 'cause he had a good lunch outside.

SY: So they were obviously well off enough to afford a domestic.

YM: Yes. And I didn't know it, but there was another girl there before me that was somebody I knew, and I didn't know until years later that she had been there before me.

SY: At the same house? So what was that experience like? Were they nice to you? Was it --

YM: Yeah, they were very, very nice people. But I remember vacuuming the stairway and I'm sitting there thinking, what am I doing here?

SY: Well, it's not your first choice.

YM: Yeah, you know? So anyway, about end of six months I went and the lady was very upset because it takes time to train and to have another new girl. She was pretty upset. But it was just time to go. And then I went, there was a lady who rented a large house and she had, they made a co-op out of it where there were about seven or eight living there, and they were all working and there were more men, I think there were two ladies or something and the rest were men. And this one lady was a nurse and she, she said, "Oh, Yasu, come help us. Help 'cause we're so tired when we get home," to cook and... so since I wasn't doing anything -- and I don't even know where I stayed in between that time. [Laughs] But so then I went into this co-op house and did some cooking, and I think I got room and board or something for it.

SY: And this was a Japanese American woman?

YM: Yes. No, the lady was, she was from Sacramento area. She was a missionary to Japan and somehow she's connected to this whole evacuation because she was at the hostel. She used to help at the hostel with, well, employment and stuff like that. She was, and so she spoke Japanese 'cause she was in Japan at one time. So anyway, she was, she rented this house and started this co-op house, so I went there and worked for a while. And then --

SY: It was, but she was someone who was kind of trying to help all these kids.

YM: Yes, exactly. That was her whole idea, of helping.

SY: And you were someone that she could hire to work there.

YM: Uh-huh.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.