<Begin Segment 15>

SY: And then your father had...

NS: No, my father was taken. We didn't see my father for a long time.

SY: So when did that happen?

NS: Well, before the war, don't forget, some of these people was taken in to another camp. He was... I said why did they take him, and he said because he was, my brother was taking judo, and then all my family was going to Japanese school. And then all these committee that my father was in, Japanese committee, he was in Japanese what do you call, kenjinkai or whatever it was, I don't know. So my father was taken in. So I never saw Father right after the war.

SY: Do you remember the day that he was taken?

NS: Well, right after the war, yeah.

SY: No, I meant when they took him.

NS: Yeah, oh, they came after him, yeah. I saw him going, yes.

SY: And who came?

NS: Hakujin guys with a guard.

SY: So there were two guys?

NS: They took him and we didn't know where he went. Then finally, later on, they took him to Tujunga or someplace. So we went to see him after that. It was a guarded place; he was in a cage. He was in a cage-like place. So we say, "Hi, Papa," and we can't go inside, 'cause they won't let us inside.

SY: So it was a prison.

NS: Yeah, yeah. It was prison.

SY: And he was with other...

NS: Japanese, other Japanese, oh, yeah.

SY: Do you remember how many?

NS: Oh, yeah. Well, Papa's group was about maybe a hundred.

SY: And he was in his own little...

NS: Well, they just had one room together with everybody else.

SY: But it was, it had bars around?

NS: Oh, yes. This place was, the bar was high. So we can't, we can't even shake hands, we just say, "Hi, Papa," and that was it.

SY: And your whole family went to see him?

NS: Oh, yeah, we went to see him.

SY: And so you knew that he was, that's where they took him.

NS: Yeah, they took him. We found out where he was, so we went there.

SY: So he was not even involved in...

NS: Well, like I say, he was in Japanese community thing, and we went to Japanese school. That's what it was also. And like I said, he was taking charge of the Japanese Nihongakko, parents thing and things like that. And then my brother used to take judo and kendo and all that.

SY: But when your father was taken, then he couldn't help your family move and pack up everything, right? So he was not involved in packing up and getting ready to go to camp. So was it your oldest brother...

NS: Well, it wasn't much of a deal. We didn't have that much... we could only take clothes, don't forget, we couldn't take any furniture. Just clothes only. It wasn't hard, we just have to buy the suitcase and pack the clothes.

SY: So how did your mother get along without him?

NS: Oh, yeah, she was sad. She was worried. She got sick, she wasn't eating, and I said, "Mama, shimpai shinasai, Papa's okay." So she was worried about my father.

SY: And the only word you got was that he was in Tujunga?

NS: Yeah. That's when my mother got sort of better because they thought they're gonna kill him or something. She had no idea.

SY: No idea.

NS: Well, I didn't know either. They didn't tell us anything. I mean, it has been happening, being killed and everything.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.