<Begin Segment 16>

SY: And then when you went to camp, when did you hear where he went after Tujunga? Did you hear anything about after...

NS: Oh. Well, they were still there when we went to camp, and then they released them. The government released all the people that was in camp. They released them to go to the family, so then he came to the camp.

SY: And you remember how long that was after you got there?

NS: About a month or so.

SY: So he then came. Do you remember him arriving at camp?

NS: Yes, oh, yes. Not just my father, all the people that came, too. So we went after him at the station. So my brother went there.

SY: Did he ever talk about how he was treated?

NS: Oh, no. He was talking to Mom about it, not too much.

SY: You didn't know.

NS: I guess they were told not to say anything or whatever, I guess.

SY: But he seemed fine?

NS: Oh, yeah. He was happy that we were there, I mean, we got together. He got so thin, he got sick, you know.

SY: While he was in Tujunga?

NS: Yeah.

SY: So he lost weight.

NS: Lot of weight, but he was okay.

SY: But he didn't say that he... I mean...

NS: Well, he said they were treated mean. Not mean, but they didn't treat him properly. Sometimes they won't give him food, or sometimes they just won't pay attention to them or anything. And they found that Nihonjin people had, Japanese used to say gaman, you know. You can take it, in other words, what they did to them. So they behaved, and none of 'em tried to fight or anything like that. So I guess they let them go.

[Interruption]

SY: So you think it had to do with them all being farmers?

NS: Well, being Japanese, and being concerned, like my father was in the Japanese community thing. He was very active, always took part in it, so this is why. His name was on... I think there was, they call it, afterward my father said they call it inu. I don't know how you would explain it, like a person telling...

SY: Someone who's...

NS: What would you say? Like Japanese, you say inu, because they're the ones that telling other people, to the people, said, "That man is doing this and this and that." So my father was so mad. He wanted to find out who it was because how would they know? How would those hakujin people know what my father was doing?

SY: So was he... but did he, we he upset enough that he would talk about it with other people, the whole...

NS: Oh, yeah, afterward. Oh, yes. Then when they get together and say, "Inu ga konna koto shita," and they want to find out, and they'll say, "Koroshite aru," he'll say, "kyoshite aru." [Laughs] He's telling, Papa and Mama say, "Sonna koto iwanai no."

SY: What does that mean?

NS: Well, he wants to kill this person that reported for my father to go in camp. How otherwise they would know that my father did all those things?

SY: So he was kind of...

NS: Upset.

SY: But he was kind of vocal about it. He was not someone who just sat back and said everything is okay.

NS: Oh, no. He said, "Inu ga otta kara," or something, Japanese people... he said if he found out, he's gonna kill him, he says. [Laughs] Mama said, "Sonna koto iwanai no." My mother was so... my father was so mad.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.