<Begin Segment 10>

HM: When he went to New York, I guess he needed money to live in the apartment there, so she sent it.

BN: So he was on the first group, and he left pretty early.

HM: December 7th he left.

BN: Well, but he was at Sand Island for a while.

HM: Oh, (yes). I don't know how long he was at Sand Island.

BN: So you must, you wouldn't have ever visited him?

HM: No, I never visited him.

BN: You were probably too young, but a lot of the families opted to join the father on the mainland. Was that ever discussed that you know of?

[Interruption]

HM: I don't remember my mother even asking us if we wanted to go, but I had a good friend in Japanese school, and her father was interned. And eventually, they all went to join him and then they left, they went to Japan. They went back to Japan because I guess they had an option to go back to Japan if they wanted to.

BN: Which family was this?

HM: Akata. Well, see, she was my best friend in Japanese school, and I know that she left to go to the mainland and then to Japan. And I never got to see her after that. Well, she came back after she lived in Japan for many years, she did come for a visit. I didn't have a chance to talk to her about how things were in Japan. It must have been hard. But she married an American fellow in the service, so I guess they came back to the mainland.

BN: What was her name?

HM: Akata. Eleanor Akata.

BN: I knew them.

HM: Huh? You're kidding.

BN: Married Shiz Takoshi. They were like, she was one of my mom's best friends, and I grew up on the mainland. We spent every Christmas, Thanksgiving, etcetera, with them. So there's, my mom and the father still, her husband, are still very close. 'Cause Eleanor died.

HM: Eleanor died, (yes). Oh, my gosh, what a small world. [Laughs]

BN: And then, you know, their kids are like my cousins, and close, we're still close. Dave, the older, is in Florida, and the second, the girl, just had a baby, in Southern California.

HM: Okay, now, I didn't know her brothers because they were older, but I knew a sister, Ruth.

BN: Ruth, yeah. She just passed away.

HM: Oh, she passed away? That's too bad.

BN: It was a couple years ago.

HM: This is incredible.

BN: So she was your close friend.

HM: Yes, in Japanese school, and her father was interned. And so they went back to the mainland and eventually to Japan.

BN: Right, right. My mom also was in Japan, so they, her and another friend, Lillian, who we just saw yesterday, they were kind of close friends in Japan all from here. And they all ended up in L.A. and I grew up with them.

HM: Oh, gosh. This is something.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.