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TI: Can you tell me about the ceremony, the marriage ceremony? How did you do that?

JH: We had to go to -- wait, one thing before. While I was manning the JACL office this Aiko Kawakami came to me and said, "There's a man that wants to talk to a man." So I said, "Hayakawa, sir." And he said, "Do you know a Mrs. Yamada?" And I said, "Yes, she teaches Japanese language in Edenvale and Trimble Road." And he says, "Have you heard of her propaganda about Tennouheika, banzai and all that kind of thing?" Not in those exact words, but I said, "Well gee, I don't know because I have never been in her class." And he kind of got firm in his conversation and he says, "Have you heard of any activity against the United States?" (I said no). And he, he was really upset then. He said, "You're a representative of the Citizens League and you're not turning in anybody of un-American activities?" I said, "I'm sorry, sir, I don't know. I don't know, so I can't tell you." He was pissed. Jeez. Then he hung up, so I hung up. That was one of the so-called close shaves. By then the president and executive came in and I told 'em. He says, "You did good work. You don't know, you don't know. What else can you say?" I felt good. [Laughs]

TI: Good. Thank you for that story.

JH: Now, proceeding to your...

TI: Yeah, the wedding ceremony in camp, I'm curious how you did that.

JH: We went to the social welfare department to get a release. By the same token, the welfare department gets in touch with the Cody powers to make arrangements for a wedding, in other words, who's gonna perform the wedding, what place, and so forth and so on. And while we were waiting there a case worker comes and talks to this hakujin superior. She says, "The client said she's willing to give up her husband for two thousand dollars cash." In other words, it was a triangle and she was gonna give up, give up her husband. [Laughs] That's just a side I...

TI: So it's just something that you overheard, a conversation.

JH: Well, they talk right in front of us. Why don't they shut the door? My goodness. Well, that's alright. Anyway, we had to get our blood test, so forth, and that was all clear, and then we were told to meet at the administration office a given time in the morning. I think it was a Saturday. And this lady chauffeur and so-called, what do you call them, security, another Nisei, older Nisei, and the best man and my wife's sister and myself went to the judge's house. We got married there.

TI: And this is in Cody, Wyoming?

JH: Yeah.

TI: Okay.

JH: Well, he was, he's a judge, but it was justice of the peace then. And his wife stood as witness. Then we went someplace for lunch, I think. I ordered salad and I got creamed corn and carrots for salad, other than the steak and potatoes. [Laughs] Vegetables were scarce there. Then we came home. And Sunday -- yeah, Saturday was the wedding -- Sunday we had a Buddhist wedding ceremony at my dad's apartment, and then Monday we, I mean Sunday we had the reception, and Monday we moved into our own apartment. We had, she went and put lace curtains and this kind of stuff, and I bought a vanity and a chest of drawers from Sears, made it nice. But no honeymoon. Where can we go? Yellowstone is fifty miles away, which is fine, but where's the wheels?

TI: Yeah, right. Or permission to leave.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright &copy; 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.