Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Tom Matsuoka Interview
Narrator: Tom Matsuoka
Interviewer: Alice Ito
Location: Ridgefield, Washington
Date: May 7, 1998
Densho ID: denshovh-mtom-01-0023

<Begin Segment 23>

AI: Did, before you went, did you get to visit with your family?

TM: What?

AI: Could your family come and talk to you or visit with you before you went to Montana?

TM: Montana?

AI: Before?

TM: No, before Montana, we tried it about the birth certificate, to the Hawaii corresponding, nothing. [Shakes his head] We can't do nothing. They just, letter come back. They say is no certificate, that's it. So I couldn't do anything. Well, anyway, that's that. I went to the Missoula no camp and here comes Okada no Ban. "Oh, you mo kitan ka? Well, that's too bad. You know this camp business is nothing to do, and all day long there is nothing to do. So best way is volunteer to do something." "All right. What are you doing?" "Well, I am helping in the kitchen so you better go to the kitchen too and do help, same things what I'm doing." That's what Okada said. You know what was is meshitaki? That is making the rice and great big aluminum pan and steam and you make rice in the steam. He ain't never done anything like that. But good thing there is the one, one person from California and he was an ex-Navy, I think, and he knew how to cook rice in those steam, steam big bowl. And we done. He is a big shot and then we work under him and we used to make that rice. It's all right, but gee, wash that big bowl. That's quite a job. Well, anyway, then that is morning we make rice.

Then noontime -- I mean, after that, nothing to do and everybody nothing to do. All of a sudden -- I don't know who started -- go outside, pick the rock, and polish the rock. By gosh, that thing is really came popular, something to do in the camp. Everybody pick rock, so did I, too. I sure pick. You picked a rock, go to the bathroom, then bathroom there is concrete cement so we polish the rock on the cement. And then they gave us blanket. You polish the blanket, you wipe the blanket. [Laughs] And they issued jackets and stuff, fit just right for all the Nihonjin. That's, I found out that American government, I think, they made whole bunch for Chinese shokai seki army. I think they issued lots of those jackets. And that's the leftover, see. That's why they, they issued to the Japanese prisoners like us. Sure funny.

Then like I told before, it's lots of sheep carcass. And they even feed us tripe. I don't know you know that or not, but stomach of the cow. But you'd be surprised though, some of those cook, they know how to cook that, the tripe. Some person, they had a restaurant and they is, their restaurant is so low-class restaurant so they make the cheap, real cheap food, real cheap dinner. And by gosh, pretty good. Of course, we have to eat that, otherwise nothing to eat.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.