<Begin Segment 11>

TI: So with the war ending -- it's now over, the war is over. So September 1945, what did you do next?

WS: The first thing that I did was I went back to Seattle and anyway, I made about two or three trips to Tule Lake.

TI: So explain that. Why were you going back and forth from Seattle to Tule Lake?

WS: Well, see, going back to Seattle, there was no, there was no open job for a Japanese. So people would have a hard time finding a job. And I had a hard time looking for a job to do something. Well, in the hospital, like the Providence Hospital, they wanted a janitor. They want somebody who'd be able to take care of the surgery room immediately after operation. And they had to clean up the mess, and anyway, they couldn't find any appropriate worker who would be able to do that kind of a work. So I guess they just wanted to push that out to the Japanese that was returning without any job.

TI: And so is that what you did when you came back to Seattle?

WS: Yeah, I had to work the janitorial work.

TI: At Providence Hospital, okay.

WS: Yeah.

TI: And so when you came back to Seattle, where did you live?

WS: We moved into the Japanese language school.

TI: And so tell me about that. So did your family, who in your family lived at the Japanese language school?

WS: Yes.

TI: So who else besides? It was you, your wife, your daughter, how about your parents? Were they with you?

WS: Yes.

TI: And your sister also, was she there?

WS: Yes.

TI: How about your wife's family, where were they?

WS: Wife's family, they were there at the... well, they got the name of all these people at the Japanese language school. The list of people there... don't you have that list?

TI: No, I do, so I want to understand. So was your wife's family also staying at the language school?

WS: Yes.

TI: Okay, so it was your family, and then your wife's family, did they have another room then?

WS: Yes. Some of 'em was segregated with a curtain.

TI: So in your room, how many people were living?

WS: I can't seem to recall.

TI: So it was you and your wife and your daughter, you had your parents, your sister, so that's six right there. Were there more people living there?

WS: Yeah, more people. It was her parents. [Indicating videographer]

TI: Her grandparents?

WS: Her parents was in the same room with us, too. See, because I guess the room wasn't enough for everybody, and I think they had to double up and triple up. So that was the best they could do, for people to stay in the area.

TI: And how long did you stay at the Japanese language school?

WS: About a year or so maybe.

TI: So it was a long-term housing place for people. I mean, some people stayed there for even longer, for years. And how would you compare the living conditions at the language school with, say, the barracks?

WS: With the what?

TI: How would you compare the language school with, like, Minidoka? Was it easier at Minidoka or easier at the language school?

WS: Well, Minidoka, they did all the cooking for us, and they gave us the room. So it wasn't too bad of a comparison. But then as far as the Japanese language school was concerned, I don't think they'd have a chance to compare it equally. Because it would be, you'd have to be doing your own cooking, which makes lots of difference.

TI: And so where would people cook at the language school?

WS: Where was that, anyway? Was that on the first floor?

TI: Yeah, the first floor there's one kitchen I know of. Did everyone just use that one kitchen?

WS: Yeah.

TI: That's pretty small for all the people who lived there.

WS: Yeah.

TI: I interviewed people, and they talked about that some people were pretty depressed after the war, and that there were maybe one or two suicides at the language school. Do you remember that?

WS: No, I don't remember.

TI: Okay. They said, I think it was some Issei men who, and a couple of them committed suicide.

WS: Oh. I don't remember. I was looking at the list of people in a different part of the house, the room, but I don't recall lots of the names.

TI: Now at the language school, were there ever any... I guess events or parties?

WS: The what?

TI: Did you ever have any parties or anything at the language school or festivals to celebrate like Oshogatsu, things like that?

WS: No, I can't remember.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.