<Begin Segment 7>

MN: So I was gonna ask you next, so after your contract at Idaho Falls was over, why didn't you return to Manzanar?

JK: Well, oh then they were having trouble at Manzanar. So we hear, later we heard about the riot in Manzanar. Said, "Uh-oh, we better not go back there because we might get involved in the firing of the guns." So by that time... now was Masa pregnant? No, not yet.

MN: So when you heard about this riot at Manzanar, was your brother Hideo okay?

JK: Yeah, he was one of the leaders, well, looked like it. Because the fellow next to him, or next to him, neighbor, was killed. And the fellow had his finger shot off. So they were right in the front lines.

MN: How did this news of the riot at Manzanar reach you?

JK: Well, it was released in the papers, I mean, it was in the newspaper. So...

MN: So that was another reason why you didn't return to Manzanar?

JK: Yes.

MN: So from Idaho Falls, where did you go?

JK: We went to Heart Mountain. And...

MN: How were you able to arrange that?

JK: Well, I guess our family, that's why we reunite the family, I guess.

MN: Because Masa's family was in Heart Mountain?

JK: Yes.

MN: So when you got to Heart Mountain, what was your impression of Heart Mountain?

JK: Well, it's cold. Twenty-eight below zero. [Laughs] But we had another unit, and next block.

MN: How would you compare Heart Mountain to Manzanar?

JK: Well, Heart Mountain was pretty well-established because they all came from Santa Anita. And, well, when I left Manzanar, we were still playing ball. Because I guess the office staff wasn't quite...

MN: So what were some of the first jobs that you had at Heart Mountain?

JK: I latched onto a fellow from Kent, Washington, and he was telling me about his father who was a traveling salesman from Washington, driving down to Oregon, California, and he didn't like people in California, Japanese, because they were so uppity. [Laughs] He was telling me all the bad traits of the Japanese. So he gave me a very bad impression of Japanese as a whole in California.

MN: And did you work with him?

JK: Yes. We were just warehouse men, just leaving things, opening boxes and supplying.

MN: What did your wife Masa do at Heart Mountain?

JK: Oh, yes, she took to the hospital right away. So she was a receptionist at the hospital, although the walk was, no car, so she had to walk. Because unfortunately, we did live a few blocks away from the hospital.

MN: That must have been hard because it was so cold.

JK: Yes.

MN: It was snow.

JK: But we had peacoats.

MN: Do you remember how you spent your first Christmas at Heart Mountain?

JK: Yes, we had a party in the mess hall, and, well, people made nigiris, and little sandwiches, something that people went outside to get. Yes, we were lucky because we had friends that went outside and were able to buy some things from the outside. And better than that, after I started working for the Sentinel, I was able to go out every Friday to print the newspaper.

MN: Well, let's stay with the winter of '42. Now, going into '43, do you remember what the New Year's was like at Heart Mountain?

JK: Well, I think we tried to whoop it up.

MN: Did you have a mochitsuki?

JK: No, it was too early. I mean, people weren't quite ready for heavy duty mochi to eat.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.