Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Miyoko Tsuboi Nakagawa Interview
Narrator: Miyoko Tsuboi Nakagawa
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: South Bend, Washington
Date: April 30, 2014
Densho ID: denshovh-nmiyoko_2-01-0009

<Begin Segment 9>

TI: So eventually you get to Minidoka. What were your first impressions when you got there?

MN: A very desolate place. We went, landed in, I think we landed in Hunt, Idaho, then there were military trucks to pick us up and take us to camp. And when we got there, I think our portion where we were going to be, we had... anyway, when we first got there, I remember it was dinnertime, I think, or anyway. And as we entered the mess hall and sat down, you know, it's so dusty that I recall the fruit, I don't know whether it was peaches or what, were already set out, the table was set with the fruit out. And it seemed like there would be a little bit of sand around it, because the sand would be drifting everywhere. And, of course, that was quite a change to come out to something like that and be walking out on the... not on the outskirts, but the pathways, and not right by, on the outer part of the barracks. Anyway, we were walking, and I remember there was a snake, and I figure it could be a rattlesnake, I don't know, and sagebrush, all around. It was quite a different thing altogether, I was very surprised to be at a place like that.

TI: And how about your living quarters? Describe where you lived.

MN: Well, we had the end room of the barrack because there were only three of us. And we had... what is that, a potbelly stove, and it seemed like it was iron cots, but I could be wrong. And let's see. We had... I was trying to think, did my dad make a shelf or something to put things on? But it was just a small area. And just for living, you would figure, that was just our living quarters, because we wouldn't be cooking or doing anything else, because we ate at the mess hall. And then bathing and everything would be... the bath and laundry was in another building. I remember being really sick one day while we were there, I think it was summertime, thank goodness... not thank goodness, but anyway, summertime, and I recall I had to, of course, go to the bathroom. But fortunately, since we were in the end barrack, end apartment, I was right close to the facilities, the laundry and the bathroom facilities, so I could get my bathrobe on and go out in the midday and go to the... [laughs]. But everybody else had to do the same thing. But that was awful, but it was one of those things.

TI: Now, when you would get sick, would your father try to take care of you? Like who would take care of you when you got sick?

MN: Where did what?

TI: So when you would be, when you were growing up and you would get sick, who would take care of you? Like if you couldn't go get food at the mess hall, would someone bring food for you?

MN: Gee, I don't know about that. I think we always ate at the mess hall. If I was too sick, I probably didn't want to eat food. But I don't recall anybody bringing anything.

TI: Now, when you would go to the mess hall, who would you eat with?

MN: Who did I eat with? Oh, we all had to eat at our own block. So I think when it was time, I think I just went there... I don't recall too much about who I went with or anything.

TI: So would you usually eat with your father?

MN: Well, my father, I think... no, I think we kind of went independently. Come to think of it, since I was working at the ad. building, I don't know exactly... I must have had some kind of lunch, you're gonna be there all day without eating. [Laughs]

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2014 Densho. All Rights Reserved.