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TI: Okay, so I'm going to bring you back to when your father was, first went to the immigration center in Seattle, and then he was then taken someplace else, but eventually the family found out where he was, you weren't sure how, but where did they take your father after the immigration center?

MT: As far as I know, he ended up in Missoula, Montana. I don't think there was any interim area where he was taken, I don't recall that. But it took a while to find out where he was.

TI: And do you recall whether or not your father was able to send the family a letter? Do you recall correspondence?

MT: Not right away, but I think that eventually we started the correspondence.

TI: As part of that, I mean, when he was at Missoula, you were able to write letters to your father. And let me get these in order here, but we were able to see four letters that you wrote to your father. And your niece actually typed them out for us, and so I was wondering if you could just read these letters. The first one is dated January 6, 1942, so this is about a month after he was picked up. So here's the letter, could you read that for us?

MT: "Dear Papa, how are you getting along? We are all in good health, so do not worry about us. Here in Seattle it is still very cold. There is ice everywhere, and everybody goes skating, even on Hashimoto's garden. We sent you the boots today, also your nightgown, four pairs of wool stockings, handkerchiefs, pen and ink, writing paper and envelopes. We hope they will reach you safely. Mother wants to know if you need any shirts or overalls. Please write us for anything you need. We couldn't get licenses for our cars yet. We are now trying to transfer the car titles to Yoshi's name, then we can get the licenses. We will send the cards to you to sign. We borrowed one thousand dollars from Carlo and five hundred dollars from a friend to pay Jimmy. Mama got the rest. We got the signature card a few days ago, so I think we can get the five hundred dollars from your account. All of your friends send you their best regards. Goodbye."

TI: Do you remember writing that?

MT: No, it was so many years ago, but I was kind of surprised to see this.

TI: It's almost like your role was communicating for the family all this information, that you were the one that, I guess you probably talked with your mother and you figured out what needed to be communicated to your father, and you wrote it down and mailed it to them.

MT: Yeah, I was wondering where my sister was, the oldest in the family. [Laughs]

TI: You mentioned she might have been in college at this time?

MT: No, no. Well, she was going to school, that's true. I think she went to the university until the war, I mean, not the war, but evacuation. And this is while we were still living right in Seattle.

TI: Yeah, so we're still in Seattle. So here's another one about almost three weeks later, on January 25, 1942. So why don't you go ahead and read this one, too.

MT: "Dear Father, how are you? Here at home everyone is in good health and we are getting along all right. On Friday, the signature card you signed reached us, but we are still waiting for a letter from you. For the first time since the cold weather started, we planted some onion and radish seeds. Snow spoiled most of the vegetables except spinach and onion. Tomorrow is the day when the trial starts, isn't it? We don't know when yours begins. Mother says that she wants to go and see you soon. We are all waiting for the day when you will be able to come home to us. Tell Mr. Hisayasu that his family is all right. Please take care of your health and write to us as soon as you can. Goodbye. P.S., Mama might go to see you very soon."

TI: So this is when he was still in Seattle, he was in Seattle and they were going to do a hearing for him. And then there's a break, so after the January 25th, your next letter comes in April. So you're still in South Park, but I think at this point your father probably has been moved at this point, this is April 3, 1942.

MT: "Dear Papa, how are you getting along? At home we are all in good health. Mama wants to write to you, but she is quite busy now. She will write later. We are cutting spinach, but it is cheap. We have an order for two hundred boxes Monday. Radishes are big now, too. Papa, all the other fathers write that they are working in camp, but you don't say anything about what you do during the day. Don't you do any work? Mama wants to know all about it, and she says to write us more often, maybe once a week. This week is spring vacation for us, but Kazuko is still going to school. We are sewing some clothes. We have begun a little packing for evacuation, but we do not know when we have to go. I think it will be quite soon. They will put us on the Puyallup Fairgrounds for a while. If Iku bakes some cookies this week, we will send them to you. We also have a box of Girl Scout cookies saved for you. Please tell us if you want anything and we will send it. Papa, I have written several letters to you, but you don't give me any, you send them all to Mama. We want some letters from you, too. We received the property reports you wrote about on Wednesday. I guess that is all, take care of yourself and please write to us soon. Goodbye."

TI: Are these kind of reminding you of anything as you go through this?

MT: [Laughs] I'm surprised, I'm really surprised reading these letters.

TI: What surprises you?

MT: I don't remember them.

TI: How about the information there? Is there anything that... I mean, you mentioned names of people, do they kind of bring back some memories?

MT: Yes, yes.

TI: So what kind of things?

MT: Oh, I'm really wondering how people that we knew back then, whatever happened to them, because it's been so long, I especially have lost touch with everyone.

TI: In the first letter when you mentioned, like, borrowing money from Carlo and a friend to pay Jimmy, do you know what that, was that for the land, or do you know what that was for?

MT: Yeah, it must have had something to do with it because Jimmy is the person whose name was on the property.

TI: Okay. And then one more letter, this is right before you go to, or not Puyallup, but probably leave for Pinedale, and this is April 30, 1942.

MT: "Dear Father, we sent your suit and hat today. We hope they will reach you safely. Also, we are sending ten dollars in money order with this letter. Please let us know if anything new turns up. Last week we received typhoid shots about four days apart in preparation for evacuation. My arms got sore and I stayed out of school two times. From tomorrow noon we can't go inside the city limits, so we can't go to school anymore. We quit yesterday. The principal told us we can get our credits and grades and that I can get my diploma without finishing the course. Kazu is quitting tomorrow. Today the Higurashis' left to go Puyallup and the Hisayasus' went to Spokane. We didn't tell you very much about what has happened in South Park. Tetsuo Nobuyama got married to Kiyo in March, and Takashi Mukasa married again last week. About a week ago Tsu sold his car to a boy, and he's awfully lonesome without it. Maybe we might sell the Plymouth, too. I know you wrote me a letter, but I couldn't read it. Would you try to write in English next time? We are all very well and are getting along okay. Do not worry about us. When we learn when we are moving, we will let you know right away. Goodbye." Oh, my.

TI: Yeah, I mean, it's like there's lots of things you probably have forgotten about, but these letters are precious.

MT: Yes, I know.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.