<Begin Segment 8>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: More and more people suspected as potentially dangerous were arrested in the camp.

I1: How many were eventually arrested?

TY: I think all of the buildings with fifty people in each were full. I think there were five buildings.

I1: About 200 people?

TY: It was over 200 people.

I1: I see. We were talking about the hunger strike after yesterday's interview. We heard that there was another hunger strike. Is it possible that people in another barrack were on a hunger strike as well?

TY: What do you mean by another barrack?

I1: I mean if it was possible that people in a different barrack were holding a hunger strike at the same time as you were.

TY: I wasn't aware of it. Not at all. Bob Hayashida and others from the motor pool were there too, but he did not participate in the hunger strike. They all had already been released.

I1: There were four barracks. Did people have freedom to move among the barracks?

TY: We were free to go in and out of the buildings and take a shower anytime.

I1: You were able to move around among the buildings in the stockade.

TY: Yes, we were in there. Explanation was offered at the beginning. They told us that the stockade was built in compliance with the international laws that regulate how many square feet should be allocated per person and so on. There was a mess hall. But we didn't have any cooks. We needed to figure out who would cook. I volunteered to do it. I got vegetables and meat from the military section and cooked. We still had plenty of food in the refrigerator when we went on a hunger strike. I locked up the mess hall to keep everyone away. I remember eleven of us were on a hunger strike.

I2: It's odd that you are not aware of another hunger strike if that really happened in November of 1943.

TY: I never heard of it.

I2: Some people claimed that they were on a hunger strike. I'm afraid they are all passed away, and we are not able to verify it.

TY: That's strange. I initially thought that people from the motor pool might have been arrested somewhere else and gone on a hunger strike. But Bob Hayashida was in the stockade.

I2: It could have been during the time you were in the bullpen. Possibly during the two weeks you were there.

TY: Could have been. People from the motor pool...

I2: I remember that to be in November. That seems to be the only possibility.

TY: So...

I2: You were in the bullpen for two weeks since November 5th. Then, you were transferred to the stockade.

TY: Right. I was transferred.

I2: How long were you in the stockade?

TY: Until August 24th. I was unconditionally released on 24th.

I1: The number went up to about 300 at one time...

TY: About 200 to 300 people.

I1: But the number went down gradually and eventually went down to eleven, correct?

TY: The FBI and Dies Committee showed up randomly 24 hours a day and took anyone kept in the stockade to another place for individual interrogation. As a result of the questioning, the number went down. We were the last ones left there. [Laughs] Besides three of us, Kai, Kuratomi and active young guys in the Kai group like Kazama were left there.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright (c) 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.