<Begin Segment 31>

[Translated from Japanese]

I1: How did you find out you were about to go back to Japan? Did they tell you the ship was to depart and you would be on it?

TY: When a DOJ officer came, he said, "We can schedule your return trip in the near future if you wish to go back to Japan." I asked, "Japan is far away. Would it be a while?" He answered, "No. It won't be long. It could be soon."

I1: Did the DOJ officer come for the hearing?

TY: He came for the confirmation.

I1: For the confirmation hearing?

TY: Yes. They must already have some plan at that point. I counted on the ship. We arrived Japan on the ninth day after we had left the Portland navy base by the army transport ship.

I1: Was it that short?

TY: On the ninth day. The sea was rough, and everyone got sick. It was so stormy that the captain ordered to head south. The ship was geared toward Hawaii. Then, they said, "That's Hokkaido." I think it was the ninth day. We saw several Japanese battleships anchored in Uraga without flags or cannons. There were also several submarines made of bamboo. We realized the Japanese defeat for sure.

I1: You heard about the Japanese defeat in the United States, right?

TY: Yes. In the voice of the emperor. The chief of the mess hall said to us, "Come to the mess hall. There will be very important announcement." I wondered what it was.

I1: Was it about the end of the war?

TY: It almost sounded like Korean, "Enduring the unendurable and suffering what is insufferable." It was unfamiliar Japanese for our ears. Some listened to it, saying, "It is propaganda. Something is wrong." But that was the voice of the emperor.

I1: Some people are saying they didn't understand what the announcement was. You heard it, were told the Japan lost the war but couldn't accept it until you saw it with your own eyes?

TY: American newspapers and radios reported the unconditional surrender of Japan. The city of Santa Fe celebrated it with fireworks. The head of the Santa Fe Camp was a good person. He said to us, "You went through a lot of difficulties for a long time." "The war is over now. Let's be friends again as we used to be." [Laughs] He said it in his farewell speech.

I1: "Back to be friends again."

TY: That was a very American way of thinking. I've met a lot of great individuals in the States. You occasionally encounter someone strange, and things get tough.

I1: How was the officer at the final hearing? Was he a nice person too?

TY: Yes, he was. I almost always get nice agents. The FBI agent Smith was in Japan before the war.

I2: Did you meet that FBI agent in the stockade?

TY: Yes. I met him in the stockade. I met him about three times.

I2: They kept asking you to retract the renunciation of your citizenship until you boarded the ship. Is that correct?

I1: I don't think it was retracting the renunciation. I think it was retracting the request to go back to Japan.

TY: No, it was also about renunciation of the citizenship.

I1: Is that what you were told?

TY: Yes.

I1: It was not allowed. I mean renunciation requests made by Japanese were initially all rejected. I wonder what level of authority he had to mention that.

TY: The DOJ officer kept asking, "You expressed your intention to renounce your U.S. citizenship while you were at Tule Lake. Have you changed your mind?" I said, "I haven't changed my mind." They persistently told me to let them know if I changed my mind.

I1: They were talking about retracting your renunciation of the citizenship. Not about your request to go back to Japan?

TY: They were talking about both.

I1: Both?

TY: Both. They also told me to let them know if I changed my mind about going back to Japan.

I2: Were there any members of the Kai group on the same ship?

TY: Yes. A few were there including a young member, Kazama.

I2: Some members of the youth group in Tule Lake also were on board, right? How many were there?

TY: The first ship had about fifty people, I think. Diplomat to Europe Mr. Oshima and his group were on board. Ambassador to Italy, Mr. Shiraishi, his family and other diplomats were there too.

I2: Did you cook in the kitchen on the ship too?

TY: Mr. Oshima and other people wanted to eat Japanese food. So I said, "I will go see what we can do." I went down to the kitchen and found rice. I said, "Let's make rice balls for them." I remember we didn't have anything for toppings, and I used extra salt for flavor. We didn't eat much on the ship though. We couldn't eat much.

I1: Because of the motion sickness?

TY: The smell of the paint was overwhelming. That ship was very troubling for unexperienced passengers. The smell was everywhere on the ship. It pitched like this. Everyone went on deck for one hour every day to get fresh air, but it was very stormy.

I1: It was winter too.

TY: December is a big stormy month.

I1: It is rough in the winter.

TY: We passed by Kiska Island. The American soldier explained, "Japan once occupied that island." I asked, "What is happening there now?" He said, "Everyone died there. All the Japanese soldiers died."

<End Segment 31> - Copyright (c) 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.