<Begin Segment 14>

[Translated from Japanese]

NM: You moved to Okinoerabu Island. It's not a big island, is it?

TF: It's a small island.

NM: What was it like when you were there?

TF: We didn't have electricity, and we didn't have bathrooms. Just outhouse. They had storm doors but not shoji sliding doors. When the doors were open, there was no screen, and it was just wide open. It is a southern island.

NM: Yes, it's located in the south region.

TF: The wind just blew through the house.

NM: Did they have a military base there?

TF: They had a radar facility on top of a mountain there.

NM: Did Michael work as a technician at the radar facility again?

TF: That's what he did.

NM: How was your life there?

TF: I never imagined such a life. It was a good experience. I had two big clay containers about this tall in the house. A boy brought fresh spring water in a bucket and filled them after school every day.

NM: You didn't have running water.

TF: He was hired on a monthly basis to fill up the containers. My landlord had a pump in his place. He also owned a kimono clothing store. He had a pump in the back of his store. I used to do my laundry at the pump. I sometimes went to a spring where other villagers went to.

NM: You lived in a rented house. Michael did not live in the house, did he?

TF: He had to go back to his base. That was a rule. Ten o'clock curfew.

NM: Ten o'clock curfew. He had to go back at ten.

TF: Shuttle trucks came to pick up everyone hanging around in the town and took them back.

NM: Was the base close to the town?

TF: It was distant. It took more than 20 minutes to drive.

NM: American soldiers could come out to town during the day on their vacation days?

TF: They did.

NM: And they were picked up by bus before ten. [Laughs]

TF: They needed to go back by ten.

NM: You were married but were not able to live together, were you?

TF: We could not. He had to follow the curfew.

NM: Did you report your marriage to the military?

TF: No, we didn't. They could have sent him back again if they had found it out.

NM: You kept it secret from the military.

TF: We didn't actively keep it secret.

NM: You just didn't tell them.

TF: We didn't. We didn't really need to. We couldn't apply for financial aid for independents either.

NM: I see.

TF: It was just our private matter as individuals. We knew he would face a court martial if we told them. It was against the military law.

NM: Because you got married without approval. How about the village people? Was that a small village? What was the relationship between the villagers and the military? Was it good, or not so good?

TF: I heard there were some issues later on. Some soldiers probably behaved selfishly. But it was a resource for the village. They had restaurants and beer gardens.

NM: It was their income source.

TF: I was financially helping them. That was the only revenue source. They were not able to openly complain. The military also hired local employees like houseboys and mess hall workers. They provided jobs. The village people didn't openly criticize. I saw some small issues discussed in newspapers later.

NM: How did they treat you? You lived alone, didn't you?

TF: They didn't like me. There were Mike's cigarettes left around in the house. Someone informed the police on me. They came over for an investigation. I think they were from Okinawa or Kagoshima.

NM: Was it a problem that Michael came to your house?

TF: No. There were cigarettes in the house.

NM: Oh, yes.

TF: They were sold on the black market.

NM: Oh, I got it.

TF: That's why.

NM: They thought you might be selling them on the black market.

TF: It was just a false assumption. They came to investigate. We were friends with a local police officer, he lived in the neighborhood. He lived right across the street. Mike was taking a judo class from him, and we were friends. We showed him our marriage certificate, and he knew we were married.

NM: He knew you were married.

TF: He did, and he helped us. We did have the police visit us for an investigation though. We took them to the local police officer and didn't get into any problems. I found out later that someone informed the police because a lot of American products were around in the house.

NM: It was done behind your back.

TF: Yes, that's right.

NM: Someone did it.

TF: The military allowed only single soldiers stationed on the island. It was for health reasons as they did not have bathrooms or running water. That was not up to their standard. The rules prohibited family members to live on the island. It was for single soldiers only. There were some women going out with soldiers, but they were just girlfriends. They probably were envious of me.

NM: I see. They didn't give you a warm welcome then.

TF: I loved reading and didn't mind being alone. I didn't care. I talked to another woman or two, but I didn't really have close friends. I didn't pay attention to others, but some people probably didn't like me. They occasionally gave me dirty looks. I went to confront one woman. I was the first one who married an American soldier there. She didn't think marriage would be possible until then. Neither did the other village people. They had assumed marrying an American soldier was impossible.

NM: They did.

TF: They started to realize marriage was an option. Some probably wanted to get married. I heard this woman spread false rumors about me, and I went to see her. I asked her why she was doing it while she herself wanted to get married. She said something to me in the island dialect. It just sounded like scratchy noise, and I didn't understand a word. [Laughs]

NM: [Laughs] You didn't. It is hard to understand island dialect.

TF: [Laughs] I didn't understand at all.

NM: It must be hard.

TF: I told her to speak English. She wanted to marry an American. I told her I would understand her if she speaks English. That was the only issue I encountered. The rest of it was paradise. [Laughs] I was running around through sugar cane farms. What I remember best about the place is they had a lot of geckos.

NM: Because it is warm there.

TF: The house had an open ceiling for better ventilation. It only had beams going across. They were running around up there and sometimes fell down. [Laughs] I had a mosquito net all through the year. I was afraid of them.

NM: You never know when they fall down on you.

TF: When a gecko came down for the first time, I ran all the way to a sugar cane field. [Laughs] I couldn't even scream. I was terrified.

NM: You probably had never seen one before. [Laughs]

TF: I looked around and didn't see anything. I was told it must have been a gecko when I mentioned that something came down. I was told they eat flies. They are pretty beneficial and nothing to be afraid of. But I was horrified at first.

NM: You had a sort of fun and different life there.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.