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AI: Well, let me move on here to another subject. And you were, all during this time, Jack is still in the TB ward, and you've been walking back and forth going to visit with him. And then came the question of separating from his folks. For a while you were still living...

KM: Yeah, together.

AI: ...all together in the same barrack. Can you tell me what happened about the issue of separating from them?

KM: Yeah. Well, my folks went to so-called matchmakers and said that it was kinda hard for me to commute the distance, and it would be more convenient for me to be right there in camp two. And so, "Would you go to the, my in-laws to give me permission to be separated." Because of Jack's sickness and the nature of his sickness, as much as, well they wanted me so badly as his bride, but soon after they turned against me. And I think what she was trying to do was she was trying to relive her life when she was back in Japan, and trying to live up to [Laughs] stepmother and mother and daughter-in-law, that connection. I just had to be almost like a slave to her. I think I said something about when she -- and then she was only thirty-seven years old, and she was going through her change. And every time she drinks the medicine, she gives me the instruction of the medicine, how many hours to take, and I'm supposed to remind her and spoon feed her. And if I miss that day she said, she'll tell me, "You don't think of me. You don't care for me. That's why you forget. If you really cared for me you wouldn't forget." And so it was really, and when she doesn't feel good, she'll go lay down. And then when she gets up, I'm supposed to go right away, be listening to her noise and put her clothes on, put her shoes on, comb her hair -- at thirty-seven years old. Can you imagine? As much as I wanted to express my inner feeling, I couldn't say anything. And then sometime, I would forget or I, especially like early morning when rising I would oversleep. And then my sister-in-law would come to the window and tap my window and say, "Hurry up and get up because my mother..." And she was really trying to prevent that bad feeling. And so those are the things that I remember of my sister-in-law, that she was trying to help me and yet she didn't want mother-in-law to hear about it. [Laughs]

AI: Oh dear.

KM: Yeah.

AI: And so the nakodo did help at...?

KM: Yeah, so they separated me. And upon separation they said, like I said before, we all took some food in case. And so they said, "You divide that in half and give her half, 'cause she's gonna have another family, separated." And she said she would. And after we got to my new quarters, and I opened it, she gave me everything -- 'cause I packed it too, so I knew what was in there. And I was expecting everything would be half. And all the things that was good like pineapple, canned pineapple wasn't in there. It was just like apricots and things like that. And then I thought, "Oh, she was so generous with the sugar," and I look and it was salt. And no sugar was in there. [Laughs] So I finally went to my uncle -- Jack's side uncle -- and I said, "Uncle, I want you to come and see what I got." And he went back and told. And she said, "We, I ate it all." And she, we didn't eat any of it when we were together. But she just was constantly telling lies. But nobody would stop her. My father-in law wouldn't stop her. And she always tried to do it when he's not around.

AI: Oh dear, what a situation.

KM: And so I was in a real tight, in-between. I would tell Jack, but Jack was in a position where he couldn't say. Sometime he did tell his dad, but his dad wouldn't believe it. And then what he would say is, "After all, she sacrificed her life, and came to take care of you. So don't say those things." He was just... so we had a real, it wasn't a real free life in camp. Then when Jack and I would walk together before he got sick, we would walk together. And then my mother-in-law would come home and say, "My aunt," our aunt, his aunt, "...saw you two holding hands and walking in camp." And says, "That doesn't look very good." So when I wanna go to canteen, or do something, I'm to take her, not go with Jack. And so, oh, Jack, he was kinda angry, he said, "Well, we're married, what's wrong with going together?" Why should I go and always go with my in-laws? But, I don't know what the custom was, but she was certainly different and I got a real taste of being bondaged. [Laughs]

<End Segment 31> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.