<Begin Segment 13>

MN: How long were you in the Philippines?

JK: Not too long, because as soon as I got there, we were going up with the GHQ.

MN: That's General Headquarters in Tokyo?

JK: [Nods]

MN: So what did you do at GHQ?

JK: Well, we waited for a long time for the units to follow from Philippines, from wherever they were to settle in Tokyo so they could ask for Japanese...

MN: So GHQ was pretty close to the emperor's palace. Did you get a chance to see the emperor?

JK: No. We never got a chance to see him. We did MacArthur because he was on the opposite side of the boat.

MN: You're talking about the signing of the peace treaty?

JK: Yeah.

MN: Were you on that boat?

JK: No.

MN: How much interaction did you have with the Japanese people?

JK: Yeah, well, we found them to be very curious and trusting. Yeah... it's unbelievable how people can get brainwashed. But I guess wartime does change people.

MN: When you arrived at GHQ, what did Tokyo look like?

JK: Well, in some places it was a mess. Just outside of Tokyo... well, I can't say that. The American bombers were so skilled that they left like the... would you believe MacArthur's home was left all alone? Because the bombers were told not to destroy the parliament building. So, well, yeah, it's... I don't know what you call it, fate. Japanese people were fooled so easily.

MN: How did you feel about seeing all that devastation?

JK: Well, the devastation itself was self-caused because all paper, wooden, and yeah, it's...

MN: Well, let me ask you about the other Niseis in the area that you met. Did you meet any Nisei WACs, the Women Army Corps? Were they there?

JK: Well, we saw the Nisei, some WACs and nurses, they came because they were assigned from headquarters. They were assigned... they were assigned to a building, so it was a main attraction for our GIs. [Laughs] So it was a fun time for some of the men.

MN: Did you often visit them? You were married.

JK: Yes, they knew I was married.

MN: So not much fun for you.

[Interruption]

MN: Jack, I want to ask you, I know a lot of the people and even the Nisei soldiers got into the black market. Did you get into the black market at all?

JK: Well, we touched upon it lightly. We couldn't help, we couldn't help anybody without becoming involved. My friends got sent to Okinawa because they were in the black market. And luckily for some of us, it wasn't a major offense. It's too bad we had to say "he was bad" or "he was wrong," but it's too bad.

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

JK: We went to the dances because Tokyo was bombed. So they moved to the suburbs. And I had a friend that had an in with a dance group. So there we were, dancing away.

MN: You mentioned that you got into selling recycled coffee grounds? What was this all about?

JK: My friend, who was a Nisei, had a vision of becoming a big coffee ground black marketeer. And he had the American chefs dry out coffee grounds to resell in packages. I don't know how it turned out.

MN: Where did you get these coffee grounds?

JK: From the mess hall of the GI, coffee, cafeteria.

MN: So you just dried them out?

JK: On the roof.

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